Open Thread Wednesday 9/24/08

By on September 24, 2008 6:00 am in Brooklyn Heights

What’s on your mind?  Comment away!

BHB Photo Club pic by jwpalmer via Flickr

Share this Story:

,

← 
Newer Comments  →
  • Henry & State

    Anyone else hear around 6am this morning what sounded like fighter jets ? I heard them a few times and saw red tail lights on the last run. Not exactly the way I want to wake up. Anyone know what it was about or hear them ?

  • my2cents

    The UN is in session. That might have something to do with it.

  • Beavis

    Could have been I’m a Dinner Jacket rocketing back to Tehran.

  • Alex

    Anyone know anything about the Palmetto Garden on Columbia Place? I’ve sent a few emails requesting information about renting a plot but have never heard back…

  • E G

    Someone beat me to it. As of 10 am, there is still a lot of activity in the sky. I am entrenched with work, have not seen anything with my own eyes but the racket is annoying and unnerving. How much are we paying for this?

  • AEB

    I must praise 311, which, I’m now convinced, will do virtually anything you request of it. (I wonder if it does windows?)

    Anyway, there was a lamppost sans light at the SW corner of Hicks and Middaugh; I called 311 about it, and within three days the thing was fixed.

    Also received a call from Con Ed telling me that power to the post had been restored.

    Do you think Wall Street should call 311?

  • GHB

    I called 311 months ago about 2 bicycle “skeletons” that have been chained to the fence near the Clark Street entrance to the Promenade for over a year! They told me they couldn’t do anything… to tell the cops, who will take care of it. I just never think to ask when I see them around the neighborhood.

  • AEB

    GHB, you see cops around the nabe? Wow–I don’t think I’ve ever seen one.

    Is this…discriminatory perception on my part?

    Firemen are another story. In a number of ways.

  • 2nd hand smoker

    Where did the fruit guy go? Was he chased away by the fog from the mass of smoking college students surrounding the Clark St. station entrance at all times?

  • ls

    I’m looking for a new primary doctor in the neighborhood. Can anyone recommend an internist in the nabe?

  • Matthew

    TRADER JOE’S ON FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!

  • Andrew

    I’ve seen the fruit guy once in the last week or two. Is he on an intermittent schedule or was that just a blip between his absence?

    I’d also love some recs for neighborhood doctors.

  • Tumbleweed

    Anybody experience bad service at Noodle Pudding lately? My meals there have usually been great, but when I went there this past weekend, it was a disaster: Waiter failed to bring a glass of wine for 1/2 hour even after 3 reminders, had to ask to receive a bread basket, two entrees came without the third…asked several people, but nobody could explain where it was…when it finally came 20 mins later, the other people in my party were finished eating.

    I know it’s a busy place, but I’ve never seen it this bad before. Do you think it’s just a fluke?

  • David on Middagh

    The PS 8 crossing guard is whistle happy.

  • my2cents

    Service is never that good there. It’s definitely their achilles heel. My pet peeve is that every single time I go there, it takes like 10 minutes before someone even comes up and says “how many?” By that point I am steamed, and almost ready to walk out. Their hosting needs some major help.

  • jenny from the block

    Henry and State,

    I heard the jets also around 6ish (though I could barely hear anythign over the stupid jackhammer). I also think it had to do with the UN.

  • http://www.brooklynbackstretch.blogspot.com BKBS

    Ditto with the initial wait at Noodle Pudding. Service is generally OK, but you arrive there and are generally ignored.

    Same thing happened at the one and only time I tried the new Tazza. Stood at the host stand for several minutes, totally unacknowledged; was finally seated and given a menu, and literally ten minutes later, I walked out when not a single person acknowledged my presence. Haven’t been back.

  • AEB

    First rule of Front-of-the-House Decorum 101: greet the arriving customer.

    Doing so is what separates the rube operations from the real thing.

    That no-one’s-in-charge-here feeling, often exacerbated by waiters, can wreck s dining-out experience pronto.

  • bhmom

    What is with the new Tazza and service? Can’t stand the table service either. Why tip for a coffee and muffin?

  • http://www.brooklynbackstretch.blogspot.com BKBS

    Can anyone tell me how I get my name on the “do not mail” list? I went to a direct marketing website and was required to put in a credit card number in order to get my name on the list–which made no sense to me.

    Any postal addresses/phone numbers/websites would be appreciated; I am all of a sudden subject to an onslaught of junk mail, after of keeping myself off all of those lists.

  • http://keever.livejournal.com keever

    BKBS, this is a pretty exhaustive article about getting yourself off of mailing lists. This one is good as well.

  • my2cents

    Yes, AEB. You are right on. Greeting the guest when they arrive is absolutely critical. Failure to do so is like refusing to shake hands with someone. Leaves you pissed off the rest of the evening. I think they are just plain old TOO CHEAP to hire a proper hostess, and rely on the head waiter to do it. Which is absurd. Hosting and serving should be done by different people in a restaurant that busy.

  • AEB

    And at “Pudding,” My2, it’s not even the head waiter who does the seating, however haphazardly.

    In my experience it’s ANY waiter who happens to have .0000002 of a second to spare.

    Pas bon.

  • E G

    Thank you bhmom for your criticism of Tazza! I mean it to! Seems everyone just loves Tazza! Tazza can do no wrong despite being shut down by the health department for a billion violations. Seems like rats could be nibbling on their whole grain muffin and slurping from their lattes and people would continue to praise this place all the while.

    The above isn’t the real substance of my issue with Tazza. The real issue for me is that one needs to make a special request for a condiment w/t a sandwich or a little dressing for their salad. You ask them and they seem somewhat surprised by this request. WTF is up with these women? My guess is hypoalbuminemia!

  • AliG

    Noodle Pudding used to be sooo awesome. I’ve noticed that their portions have shrunk…and they weren’t that big to begin with.
    EG – I hear you about Tazza. They look at you like you’re nuts if you want brie instead of swiss on a sandwich. And then they charge you extra $$. I might just pack a picnic and eat it on their outdoor patio.

  • cait

    The host at Henry’s End should give lessons at Noodle Pudding. He’s phenomenal.

  • laurie

    For those who asked for Dr. recos – Dr. Charles Berk has been my GP for almost 12 years now, even during those brief periods when I’d changed health insurance to something he didn’t accept I continued to see him out-of-pocket. He used to be on Schermerhorn but moved to Montague St a few years ago in order to expand his practice. I can’t say enough wonderful things about him. His contact info is:

    Charles Berk, MD
    185 Montague St, 3rd Flr
    Brooklyn NY 11201
    phone: 718-624-6185

  • Monty

    I had the same experience at Tazza when they first opened and stayed away for a few weeks. Went back a few days ago and they had suddenly shaped up quite a bit. I’m guessing the owner reads this blog and whipped that crew into shape.

  • bornhere

    Does anyone know if Taze and Aerosoles are ever going to reopen? It didn’t seem that the fire or water damage were so extensive as to knock them out of business for this long.

  • http://www.brooklynbackstretch.blogspot.com BKBS

    Thanks, keefer…big help.

←  
Newer Comments  →