Karl Checks Out New Brooklyn Heights Food Spots

By on June 8, 2011 12:09 am in Food, Video

Mr. J. takes his cam and his palate to the newly-opened Empire Bistro at Atlantic Avenue and Clinton Street, and gets a sneak peek inside Vineapple, at 71 Pineapple, which opens today. Alas, the English Sunrise is gone. Video after the jump.

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  • AEB

    “Is that potato salad on your bagel or are you glad…?” Oh, never mind.

  • nabeguy

    Just curious…is it the oven baking that differentiates Montreal bagels?

  • nabeguy

    Just found this while researching. Only Larry King could pull this off

    http://www.brooklynwaterbagels.com/location.php

  • Wrennie

    Actually, nabeguy–I’m not sure whether or not this is true, but supposedly the bagel place up the street from my parents’ place in Western Nassau “imports” their water from Brooklyn. The bagels are amazing, and I’ve actually been hard pressed to find a close second anywhere else. I’m glad I don’t live near it; otherwise I’d be carb-loading way too often.

  • David on Middagh

    Nabeguy, isn’t Brooklyn water the same as Manhattan water, Queens water, and Bronx water? Or do they add a touch of Gowanus…?

  • Heather Quinlan

    I want potato salad on my bagel.

  • AEB

    nabeguy, from my vast store of bagel smarts, honest bagels are boiled first to help achieve that nice dense texture, then baked.

    Wikipedia notes that “in contrast to the New York-style bagel, the Montreal bagel is smaller, sweeter and denser, with a larger hole, and is always baked in a wood-fired oven. It contains malt, egg, and no salt and is boiled in honey-sweetened water before being baked in a wood-fired oven, whose irregular flames give it a dappled light-and-dark surface color.”

    Methinks “sweeter” is the defining fact.

    Now you know everything there is to know.

  • HillBilly

    Ok, being from Montreal but living in Brooklyn and being a former water scientist, I’d say there is a distinct distinction between MTl and NY bagels, but it’s a matter of taste, the Mtl ones are far less doughy, and tastier in my opinion.

    NYC water comes form reservoirs upstate, including the Ashokan, Croton, Pepacton etc. You can learn more here: http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycwater/html/drinking/reservoir.shtml.
    BC we rely exclusively on this, by the way, we all need to be educated about ‘Hydrofracking’ for natural gas. Water doesn’t stop at state borders, so what happens in other states finds its way to us. Bagels laced with drilling solves are always yucky, no matter how you bake ’em.

  • carlotta

    HilBilly is right – Hydrofracking not only in NY and PA, but all over the USA is a BIG problem for all of us.

  • Hicks on hicks

    dont mess with my aquifer

  • lori

    Just came from the opening of Vineapple on Pineapple. NIce ambience, friendly people, delicious cookies, cappuccino and interesting cold drinks. Hope it’s a success.

  • http://selfabsorbedboomer.blogspot.com Claude Scales

    Re: hydrofracking. Where is General Jack D. Ripper now that we need him?

  • AL

    Went in yesterday afternoon to have a look and get a cold drink. Had to leave immediately due to BAD chemical smell – like formaldehyde. From all the new plastic? Glue used?

  • Livingston

    I went in today to try them out (around 10 AM). Didn’t notice any smell (per Al above).

    PROS: Space is inviting/good location, my bagel w/ walnut raisin cream cheese spread was pretty good. Good place to take a break.

    CONS: The service is completely disorganized. Had to wait awhile for my simple order as the girl behind the counter kept doing everyone else’s even though I had paid and was waiting (manager apologized). The guys sitting next to me had some sort of egg and bagel sandwiches that had to be re-done (cold).

    Hope it is just first week jitters and that management will improve the service.

  • Andrew Porter

    Walked by Vineapple last night on the way home from Members’ Hours at Brooklyn Botanic Garden and it was closed. It’s open from early in the morning only until 6 or 8pm. So not a dinner destination, at least not now.