Open Thread Wednesday 8/13/08

Nice shot!

Peter, you’ll have to go to Smith Street for that one. I was in Sample the other night and found the bartender to be just awesome. She knew her stuff about wine and spirits alike and she was extremely friendly. As for the Heights, I’d love to see another wine bar go right back into the 50 Henry space.

Thanks for the suggestion, I will definitely have to check out Sample. Wish there was something in DUMBO, although I admit I haven’t really explored it as much recently.

Was jogging on the Promenade and noticed that many of the trees are bare at the end close to the waterfall…salt spray similar to what was reported near the bridge?

I commented yesterday in the Dumbo NYC blog about an aggressive panhandler encounter I had on Monday at around 7.00pm. It was a 6ft tall male in a red t-shirt who approached me as I was unloading my car infront of my house just off Montague street on the promenade. The guy said the usual stuff that he was homeless blah blah and wanted me to buy him something to eat. When I politely told him I was busy he started insulting me. I returned the favor, of course, and threatened to call the police, which made him more defiant and aggressive, at which point frankly, I felt a bit intimidated. He finally left, but I’m positive I saw him last night again harrasing a guy who was parking across the street from Housing works on Montague. This time he was wearing a black t-shirt and sort of a black bandana on the head. Anyone had a similar experience recently. I think in Dumbo the problem is pretty bad to the point a guy was assaulted and robbed by one of these guys on Sunday.

Rebar in Dumbo looks appealing, though I’ve never tried it: http://nymag.com/listings/bar/rebar/

Meanwhile, I’m looking at a new, fancy Grimaldi’s Web site and I’m shocked (SHOCKED!) that they now serve pesto pizza and various salads (http://grimaldispizzeria.com/). HUH? This is not the old-school Grimaldi’s I know! wtf?!

I’m 100 per cent with you on that one yo. That has been my general rule for the 10+ years I’ve been living in the city and my advice to any visiting out-of-towner, however, I’d never had to deal with the situation in my doorstep – that is one reason I chose to live in the heights. As I’m sure any other BH resident, I’m used to the typical guy asking for change outside the bank, the deli or the Keyfood or the corner of Clinton/Montague or anywhere on Court st, but I’d never seen this guy before and the way he approached me, I’m a 5’11”/200lb male, was way too fearless. My thought was if I did not yell back and confronted the guy he’d feel to comfy to comeback and do the same thing to someone else, this time maybe someone’s wife, daughter or mother, nanny with your kids or the guy who was pushing a stroller on the other sidewalk. I’m not going to say I was not scared, the last thing I need is to get physical with a crackhead who has nothing to lose, but I think we have the responsibility to push back a bit when it comes to our neighborhood and our property. I hope this guy’s stupid brain can put together that instead of easy money he got yelled at on that street and goes to try somewhere else.
As to police presence, they seem to be everywhere when it comes to giving parking tickets, and they usually park next to my building to have donuts or whatever, but they weren’t there that day.

@ Peter

I haven’t been there in a while, but I’d second the suggestion of reBar. I’m not enough of a wine expert to say whether their list is noteworthy (I’m more of a beer snob), and I can’t remember if there was table service, but the vibe was always relaxed and cool and the tapas style food was pretty good IMO.

http://www.rebarnyc.com/

ReBar’s a GREAT spot, but they’ve never wowed me with wine. Bocca Lupo has a fun list if you know what you’re doing with Italian wines, but you’ll be way way better doing something by the bottle and not by the glass in there. Heche en Dumbo is cool, but I can’t speak to their wine list as we were just doing margaritas. Jack the Horse has a couple of decent wines, and their bar is pretty chill.

That’s what it says, but WHO would actually go there again? I never went in the first place as “gourmet” pizza is best left in California.

oven reopening soon?

Unless it’s going to be a completely different restaurant (both menu and quality of preparation), why bother?

reBar in Dumbo is a great spot. It’s not quite as wine-centric as the Wine Bar, but still a decent selection of wines by the glass.

FYI — Spicy Pickle just opened. Just ate there and reviewed them on Yelp. I’ve had better, but that’s no surprise. At least it’s not another cell phone store, I guess.

Anyone know why Grimaldi’s doesn’t bother with phone orders anymore? I used to do them at least once a week, but now they don’t even pick up the phone.

I suppose business is just too good with the tourist trade to bother with the locals.