Exquisite Earns Its Name in the NY Times

Exquisite, a Jamaican restaurant at 218 Parkside Avenue (across the street from the train station) got a nod from the New York Times yesterday.

The $25-and-under column turned its attention to sandwiches and featured Exquisite for its breakfast sandwiches of saltfish and bake. The saltfish is stewed with tomato, onion, green bell pepper and just enough scotch bonnet pepper to give it kick, then stuffed into frybread ($3). It comes mixed with okra or cabbage or - for a little more money - ackee. According to the Times,

The bake is warm, fresh and just a bit greasy; the ackee is nutty and slightly sweet; the salt cod is tangy, zingy and belly-filling. Put them together, and you have a glorious morning meal. Ackee and saltfish is Jamaica’s national dish; the bake only makes it better.

This isn't the first time Exquisite has gotten a positive nod here on Hawthorne Street. Back in 2007, when we held our one and only "annual" Jerk-Off, professional food writer Paul Lukas deemed Exquisite the only jerk chicken in the neighborhood that he'd travel for (though the winner was Hammond's on Nostrand).

I'm glad I caught this news early in the morning. Now I can swing by Exquisite on the way to work.

Coming This Fall: Children's Resale Shop in PLG

We're always eager to spread rumors about other people's local businesses, so we're especially excited to announce a new business of our own: This fall, I'm opening up a children's resale clothing shop here in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. We'll sell not only gently used clothing, but children's books, toys, gear and even a few new items and gifts.

I'll save the details for later. For now, I'd just like to get word out to all parent types that we're looking to buy inventory for fall and winter. Here's what we need:

• Children's clothing (up to size 8): needs to be clean and in excellent condition; sizes from 4T to 8 are especially needed
• Children's books
• Baby carriers, slings
• Shoes
• DVDs
• Toys/puzzles with all pieces

If you've got some clothes your kids have outgrown, email me at brooklynite282@gmail.com and we'll arrange for an appointment.

New Local Food Shop Needs Your Input

Great news, people: Our friend and neighbor, Taeko Suzuki, is planning on opening a small, upscale grocer here in PLG -- a place that will sell fresh bread, quality cheeses, pestos, and other things you can't typically find here. In order to do so, she needs your help: please take a few moments to fill out this survey. She'd like to hear feedback from the community on what kinds of groceries you'd like to see more of in PLG. This will help her finish the business plan and negotiate her lease (She's looking at spaces on Flatbush).

Taeko has impeccable taste, and we expect that anything she's involved in would be excellent.

GROCERY SHOPPING SURVEY

(Photo: Nova Scola)

Bubble Tea in PLG (Almost)

Is Mulberry Street too far for your bubble tea fix? Is the Sunset Park Chinatown too inconvenient since you sold your car? Not to worry - you can now get bubble tea as close as Caton Avenue.

Green Lake (795 Flatbush (gmap)) has bubble tea, homemade (?) flavored iced teas and smoothies. I don't know how long they've been selling these things but it is new to me, so it goes on the blog. I was in a hurry, so I judged a book by its cover - the menu seems to be pretty standard Chinese take-out. If, however, it has more of an authentic-Chinese / dim sum thing going on please tell me in the comments. (Seriously. Please tell me this!)

Fact that may be interesting to only me: In Googling for a restaurant link, I learned that there is a town called Brooklyn on the shore of Wisconsin's Green Lake.

Fenimore Stoop Sale II Tomorrow (Saturday, June 26)

Where can you enjoy the opportunity to purchase piles of cheap baby/toddler clothing, shoes, toys, adult clothing, chandelier, vinyl records, books, CDs, furniture, kitchen items, household items, and more? The Fenimore One stoop sale, that's where. From 10ish to 4ish.

Notes From Community Board Meeting: Safe Streets, Rapid Buses and Scary Water

There was a lot going on at the Community Board meeting Tuesday night so let's jump right in...

EMPIRE/OCEAN/FLATBUSH TRAFFIC CALMING

The most exciting news to my mind is that the Empire/Ocean/Flatbush intersection is getting a revamp to make it safer for pedestrians. We've been calling for this for two years now and are pretty impressed with the Department of Transportation's response:

• 3 of the 4 crosswalks at the intersection will get new splitter islands: raised platforms with trees and other plantings placed in-between north- and southbound lanes. The islands will slow down traffic and give pedestrians a refuge in case they get stuff between lights.
• Left turns from northbound vehicles on Flatbush (onto Ocean) are now banned. The DOT found that no one was doing left turns here, anyway, so it won't hurt traffic flow.
• Ocean Avenue will get a a new curb extension, which will slow down turning vehicles and shorten the distance pedestrians need to travel to cross the street.
• Alignment of traffic lanes will be improved.

Our neighbor, Dynishal, raised the point that the traffic lights for cars on Flatbush are out of sync, so DOT Rep Hillary Poole said she would look at that.

Plans to remake the intersection should begin in a couple of weeks or so. Fire up!

NOSTRAND AVENUE SELECT BUS SERVICE

The improvements to bus service will also have a direct impact on our neighborhood, whether you ride this bus or not: faster buses means more riders, fewer cars, and better air quality.

The Select Bus Service (SBS) will replace the limited bus on Nostrand. There will be two stops in PLG, one at Empire and one at Clarkson. A few highlights from the meeting:

Phat Albert's Building Featured On Brownstoner

Brownstoner has featured 495 Flatbush—aka Phat Albert's—as building of the day, in an effort to get readers to see beyond the $1 t-shirts and toilet seats and to appreciate the building's history and beauty.

Neighbors here have long fantasized about turning this place into a gym, school (the Lefferts Gardens Charter School was interested), or other community space, but the owners ain't selling. There's also been talk of landmarking, which would be swell, though I'd be content if they could just get all the giant beer billboards off of the walls.

(Photo: Brownstoner)

Inflation Hits "No Flyer" Signs

After selling out of its first batch of "No Flyer" signs, Hawthorne Hardware has made the controversial move to try and make a profit: instead of selling the signs at cost, for $1, Hawthorne Hardware is raising the price to $1.29. Consider yourselves warned.

RELATED:
Cut Down Litter with "No Flyer" Signs

More of the Same on Flatbush Avenue

Last week, I poked my head into the storefront at 544A Flatbush (next to Gino's, south of Lincoln) and a guy told me that a coffee shop was going to be there, but I couldn't tell if he was just telling me what he thought I wanted to hear, or if there was actually going to be another cafe in the neighborhood. Now that the store's sign is up, I'm leaning toward the former, as this is bound to be a coffee shop in the way that Popeye's is  a restaurant. This place's last incarnation was a sell-your-gold shop; it lasted for maybe 6 months.

Meanwhile, 608 Flatbush (at Rutland), former home of Rosa's Beauty Shop, is now being renovated and is slated to be…. 99 cent store? Beauty salon? 99 cent store? Beauty salon? And the winner is… beauty salon! On the bright side, the old place looked like a dump, and the new business owners are putting money into the renovation, with new floors, lighting, and refinished interiors.

Renovations are almost complete at 593 Flatbush (next to Cafe Exhale), a new store that will sell African-themed clothing, mirrors, various herbal concoctions, and trinkets. The new wood floor looks nice. The rest of the decor is a combination of mirrors and purple.

In other store news, the pet store I reported earlier? Probably not going to happen. The lease was never signed, and rumor has it that the aspiring owner is now considering grad school as an alternative. Yes, kitty litter or Kierkegaard: it's a tough call to make.

PLG World Cup Update

Things have just gotten a little crazy in PLG. It took a lot of crazy results for it to happen, but the next game for the United States will be .... Ghana.This is kind of a worst-case scenario for me because I was really hoping to keep rooting for Ghana in the World Cup. Sadly, I can't do that anymore.

As readers of this blog know, Meytex Cafe is Ghana's Brooklyn World Cup headquarters. I was there last weekend for the Ghana - Australia game and even came home with a Ghana jersey. Sadly, I can't bring myself to go to Meytex this weekend to root against Ghana. I'd feel like the turd in the punchbowl - and if a lot people rooting for the US happen to show up at a Ghanaian restaurant to root against Ghana, well, that would be a lot of turds in a small punchbowl. I'm afraid that if PLGers rooting for the US take over Meytex it will ruin the one safe place for Ghanaians to gather and root on their Motherland. I'm willing to be convinced otherwise in the comments section.

Wherever you want to watch, on Saturday at 2:30, The Yanks will be facing the Black Stars to move on to the Quarterfinals.

In other news, the downstairs apartment of the home of this blog is currently occupied by an Argentinian, a Mexican and their ArgeMexAmerican infant daughter. With all three teams on to the next round, the opening round has been a pretty good showing for Hawthorne Street Central.

US image via Getty Images/Kevork Djansezian; Ghana image via AP/Gero Breloer