Now Open: Blue Roost Petite Cafe

Linda and Billy began welcoming people to the Blue Roost this morning. I* was only able to pop in, snap a photo, and grab a $2 cup of strong coffee in a classic Greek cup, so I have nothing to share but this photo and these kind words from a commenter. You can see most of the menu if you click to expand the photo, though, so there's that.

Blue Roost gets much more seating in a small space than I thought possible. Color me impressed.

Opening Tomorrow: Blue Roost Petite Cafe

According to Brownstoner, Blue Roost was supposed to open today. Alas, the opening has been pushed back until tomorrow.

I was able to get a quick look at the menu and I saw, for breakfast, Irish oatmeal and cheddar grits and, for lunch and later, Carolina barbecue. It will be nice to have pulled pork back in the neighborhood since the closing of the not-really-missed-in-light-of-Lincoln-Park-Tavern Whiskey Sunday.

Reader Adrian also sent us this pic of co-owner Linda setting up the restaurant and there is no good reason not to share it. Thanks, Adrian.

I'll be on the scene - at 539 Flatbush (gmap) - tomorrow morning for the opening - well, not the actual opening, since that is supposed to be at 7AM, but the extended breakfast period and I'll at least report back about the coffee.

Taste of Hawthorne Gets Real Press

We scooped the New York Times! Yesterday's City Room featured local home-based restaurant Taste of Hawthorne (37 Hawthorne (gmap), and I am deeming that article a follow-up to our feature from a few weeks ago. The biggest update would have to be that the phrase "underground" is no longer apt.

The feature has a nice little slice-of-life in the middle:

On a recent Saturday evening, [Patrice] Carter raced back and forth in her kitchen between a skillet of sizzling black bean veggie burgers and a toaster oven full of buns. [Doreen] Simpson sliced purposefully through stacks of sweet potatoes. They were in the middle on an unexpected dinner rush.

In the backyard, about a dozen people lounged in wicker chairs around a small coffee table and a picnic table beneath a gazebo. Conversations turned from soccer to growing up in small towns, to corporate real estate. Dubstep rhythms pulsed through a set of speakers.

Sounds great. Congratulations to Patrice and Doreen. This will either bring them a lot of business or get them shut down. We hope it's the former!

UPDATE: NY1 covered the Times story in their "Today's Papers" segment. Check out the video, starting at around the 3:05 mark.

Photo Credit: Robert Stolarik for The New York Times

Haircuts in PLG

You might think that with all of the hair salons along Flatbush, at least one would cater to "white people" hair. You would be wrong (and you probably shouldn't have thought it). But through a friend, I found a stylist here who works out of her apartment on Lincoln: Lola Lorraine. Four days a week, she works at a couple of salons in the city, but on evenings and weekends she sees clients here in the neighborhood. You can reach her at 917-915-9700 or lolalorraine@gmail.com.

Anyway, she's great, and she's affordable. Women's haircuts are $40. You'll need to block out time, though; she's very thorough. I have a graduated bob and it took over an hour to cut, but as an expert in my own hair I can verify that she did an excellent job.

A Sign That Trixie's Is Coming Soon?

We covered the "coming soon" banner for future Rogers Avenue pet boutique Bow-Wow because reader Babs was nice enough to send us a picture. That says something about the efficiency of our blogging, as we have been walking past the new sign for future Flatbush Avenue pet boutique Trixie's for weeks without bothering to snap a photo.

Well, here it is. A cute, unique little number that you can see at 575 Flatbush (gmap). No recent word on the exact date Trixie's is due to open, though we originally reported a September opening.

We hope someday to be able to spin off a pet-store-signage-only blog but for now you'll have to hear general neighborhood news also.

Update on The Blue Roost ... from Besen Retail?

Color me surprised: Besen Retail, one of the big-dog commercial realtors in PLG, has a blog. They use it to give updates on the projects they have going on, and yesterday they covered the under-construction Blue Roost Petite Cafe, at 539 Flatbush (gmap).

The Besen blog has a nice writeup about the work that the owners, Linda Billings and Billy Clark, have been doing to get the store in shape and a gallery of in-progress pics of the remodeling.

Earlier: Homesick Cafe renamed Blue Roost

New Underground Restaurant on Hawthorne

A couple of neighbors down the block from us have started a small comfort food joint out of their house. That's right, they have started a business in their brownstone and are inviting complete strangers to come inside -- ARE THEY INSANE?!?

Well, we dig the idea and the homespun vibe of A Taste of Hawthorne, where you can order food and hang out in the back yard. Kind of like a bed and breakfast without the bed or breakfast (they serve lunch and dinner). The menu includes jerk skewers, sweet potato fries, and sliders -- including my fave, the salmon slider.

Owners Patrice Carter and Doreen Simpson work out of their kitchen in the garden floor and take orders by phone and by door knock. The kitchen is open on weekends only, from noon until 8 pm, at 37 Hawthorne. Check it out. You can reach them at tasteofhawthorne@gmail.com.

How Soon 'til That Doggie's In The Window?

The pet store coming to Rogers is showing signs of life, with a new sign hanging out front and the traditional "Work in Progress" paper over the windows.

Bow Wow Pet Boutique and Spa is going to be in the old Kay-D Express location at 521 Rogers Avenue (gmap), between Rutland and Midwood.

New Bookstore Opening on Rogers This Weekend

A new bookstore is opening just outside the border of PLG, at 327 Rogers Avenue, near Montgomery (gmap). Daddy's Basement is holding its grand opening tomorrow, September 11, from 10 am to 7 pm. The shop will sell all kinds of books, both new and used. I haven't seen the space yet, but owner Shara Henry tells me that they have quite a bit of fiction.

Opening festivities will include a reading by Nandi Keyi,author of The True Nanny Diaries and Tonya Cherie Hegamin, the award-winning children's author of Most Loved in All the World, as well as the music of Blk Sonshine and Masauko Chipembere.

New Bar in Old Location: Lime to be Reborn (and Renamed)

If you walk by the old Lime location (which, when we first moved to the neighborhood was the Handyman Sports Bar) on Flatbush between Winthrop and Hawthorne, you will see that it is being renovated again. The woman I saw painting an illustration on the wall over the weekend said that they hadn't chosen a name yet but that the space was going to be a bar, it wouldn't be called Lime and that they were hoping to open up in four to six weeks.

As far as the name goes, not letting people know in advance is probably the way to go.