PAUL LUKAS writes in the New York Sun: “Which Brooklyn thoroughfare will become the borough’s next restaurant row? I have a hunch it will be Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights. All the pieces are in place: a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood, a commercial strip with plenty of cheap storefronts, and a paucity of decent dining options. And just as … Al Di La planted the flag on Fifth Avenue, Vanderbilt Avenue has Aliseo, the quirky Italian osteria that opened last year and, like all pioneering eateries, stuck out like a sore thumb in its benighted surroundings.”
BEAST: “Beast is being called a tapas restaurant … (but) It’s more like a pub with hearty, filling fare. The problem, at least for now, is that a lot of it sounds better than it tastes … the Guinness-braised short ribs (are) singularly tasteless … salsa-topped lamb kabobs have a bit more character … But it’s rather telling that Beast’s biggest winner is the burger, a tasty half-pounder served with a potato and blue-cheese salad. And for all of Beast’s arty pretenses (the menu sections are annoyingly labeled, “Earth,” “Ocean,” and “Land and Sky”), the burger shows the place for what it is: a pleasant neighborhood hangout.”
AMORINA (“Cucina Rustica”):“It’s a fun little space … But … Amorina does not have a wood-burning oven … observers have described Amorina as a direct challenge to the much-hyped wood burning pizzeria Franny’s (but) it’s not really a natural rivalry, because the different ovens result in two very distinct kinds of pizza.”
“And, unfortunately, that distinction does not play in Amorina’s favor. The crusts are uniformly leaden – so much so that I literally ended up with a sore jaw after chewing my way through several of Amorina’s pies. Remember the basic rule about pizza crust: It should be good enough to be eaten by itself as bread. Amorina’s crust – dense to the point of being impenetrable – doesn’t come close to meeting that standard. And that’s a shame, because many of the toppings are inspired …”
Link: Next Stop, Prospect Heights [New York Sun]
PHOTOS:BEAST pre-opening glamour shots, posted on The NYC Gay Hockey Association message boards
New York mag forgot to mention that Vanderbilt’s future is inextricably tied to what happens at Atlantic Yards. a 10-15 year construction site followed by a suburban compound, doesn’t necessarily bode well for the future of a “restaurant row.”
I believe that Vanderbilt Avenue could become a restaurant row and I, for one, have tried to give a lot of business to both Beast and Amorina.
I really liked Amorina’s crusts and didn’t really like Franny’s. I hate finding out that I was wrong.
if Vanderbilt blows up, can we campaign to get Hot Bird to reopen?
If Ratner builds his apartment towers, then a few thousand new residents, many of them yuppies, will be added to the neighborhood. Yuppies love to dine out, drink wine, and shop in quaint shops like Brooklyn Delicacies. Hence, I think Atlantic Yards would bring about more places like Beast, Aliseo, Half, etc.
There are no people coming from the train yards now, and most of Pacific street is bought out and empty, yet businesses on Vanderbilt are serving the existing neighborhood, and doing just fine. The arena scam will only bring more people, if it happens at all, which I doubt.
10-15 year construction site doesn’t mix well with a burgeoning restaurant row.
I was at Beast yesterday, where my friend AT203 told me about this awesome blog (way better than my blog). Anyway, I like Beast’s atmosphere. I wish that the food was more Beast-like. Get rid of the tapas and the endives. How about a skirt steak?
skirt steaks to cover up the butt steak.
Yes, and more people means more demand for bars, restaurants, shops, etc. Ratnerville, please explain why you think a long-term construction project does not mix or bode well for a burgeoning restaurant row.
I think RV means we have to make it through a very long period of having a giant, noisy and dirty construction site in that location, certainly not conducive to shopping or eating. I agree, up to a point, that might be a strong negative for the street.
I think people overestimate the inconvenience that this will cause. From a visual perspective, there’s nothing nice to look at over there now so looking at construction won’t be any worse. From a noise perspective, unless you are right next to it this won’t be an issue. Also, except for maybe when they are drilling for supports it shouldn’t be super noisy. There will be trucks but there are always trucks on Atlantic, I don’t think it will be much worse. And regardless, this won’t be going on at night when people are going out to restaurants.
It will create a huge amount of dust, dirt and disturbed rodents. Makes me hungry just thinking about it.
I don’t think that the construction site will have any effect on whether people go to a restaurant on Vanderbilt in the next couple of years. We need to pick our battles wisely and focus on the real problem of the stadium – abuse of tax payers dollars to line the pockets of the rich.
sure sure, what you wrote is correct Isa. absolutely. but a 10-15 year construction site is a major issue for our neighborhoods.
as for Ben writing that “there is nothing nice to look at over there now.” thats just simply wrong. if you are just talking about the rail yard, then sure, but as we all know, we are not just talking about the rail yard. as for what is REALLY not nice to look at over there now, those are Ratner’s buildings and we’ll get momre of the same.
No kidding, Ratner’s idea of “architecture” is just pathetic and more than a little scary. I don’t care if Gehry is going along for the ride. We’ll get more lumpen, institutional, oversized buildings that have nothing to do with the current neighborhood. Pick our battles? Definitely agree.
This discussion of Vanderbilt as well as the accident on Prospect Pl raises another question – has anyone been lobbying for traffic-calming measures in the neighborhood? Making Vanderbilt more pedestrian-friendly could help a lot. The steet is wide, the lights are long, and traffic seems to race up and down the hill too fast for my liking. To make it a better “main street” for the neighborhood, I’d love to see it narrowed to one lane each way by adding bike lanes or creating a planted median down the middle of the street. Or at least shortening the lights and breaking the sequencing that allows cars to zoom down.
And if Atlantic Yards does happen, we’ll need this that much more. Anyone ever talk about this?