We checked out Topos, the new (used) bookstore on Woodward & Putnam that just opened this week. Lovely little spot! The cafe will open in January, and they hope to serve locally made pastries along with coffee. Cosmo, a friendly co-owner with a dry sense of humor, told us they may add a kids’ nook in the future (in the space that’s currently their office/storage area). He also shared some of his favorite restaurants in the hood: Hetman, the Polish deli with a fresh and excellent prepared-foods bar, and all the Ecuadorian spots—like Super Pollo, just down the street (we love their green sauce!).
Category Archives: Openings
Ltauha Restaurant: An Instant Classic
Cheeseburger and fries at Ltauha Restaurant
I love all the humble, lesser-known (to some) food spots in Ridgewood that are this blog’s primary focus—places like Cracovia Deli, Parrot Coffee, all the pork stores and food carts, Fancy Fruit, Stanley’s Pierogi. I could go on, and of course there’s lots more favorites that we still need to write about. And yet, sometimes a new restaurant comes along and you just know that it’s destined to be a neighborhood institution—part of the food-fabric of our Ridgewood lives.
Ltauha is Ridgewood’s very first “New American” restaurant. It’s the kind of place we take for granted in other neighborhoods, where we can get modern comfort foods prepared with classic French techniques, quality ingredients, and thoughtful plating. Sometimes these places are fancy and expensive, but they don’t have to be. Continue reading
An Exclusive Look Inside Cream
A few months ago we got a sneak peek inside Cream, the ’90s-looking Latin sexyspot on Myrtle that never actually opened. Well, tonight at “Cream Restaurant,” the Myrtle Avenue BID will be co-hosting the second public workshop to review a preliminary design for the adjacent 71st Avenue Plaza, so we thought now would be a good time to show you what we saw behind those smooth, mysterious double doors. Continue reading
Midtown-Style Lunch Deli ‘Crunchy Brunch’ Opening in Ridgewood
Exclusive look inside Crunchy Brunch!
Crunchy Brunch, a spacious two-story Midtown Manhattan–style lunch deli, is coming to 57-37 Myrtle Avenue. A woman we met at the space told us they hope to open next month, and according to the “coming soon” sign outside, they’ll serve sushi, sandwiches, wraps, and smoothies. Continue reading
First Bite: Bunker Vietnamese
I love the smell of nuoc mam in the morning: Summer rolls and peanut sauce at Bunker Vietnamese
The Ridgefood team recently visited Bunker, the ‘wood’s first Vietnamese (!!!) restaurant. Nestled among bus barns and junkyards on Metropolitan, Bunker is a really chill spot with indie-surfer vibes, run by brothers and Queens natives Jimmy and Jacky Tu.
Bunker adds delectable but comfortable twists like bacon and havarti to classic Vietnamese banh mi, and they use hormone- and antibiotic-free chicken in their old family recipes.
(Continue for pics.. plus updated with MORE pics of food we ordered for delivery!)
A New Asian Market in (Almost-)Ridgewood?
Jelly cups at Sea Town: one of the few Chinatown-y products available there
UPDATE 2/20/13: Jose from Sea Town read our post and said he’ll be ordering some of the products we suggested! He’ll let us know when the new store is open so we can check out the Asian goods.
UPDATE 2/28/14: We give up! Sea Town still has not added any kind of significant Asian section to their store. If you continue down Myrtle, further into Bushwick, you’ll find another new Asian market (not sure of the name but we’ll find out). It’s one block from Sea Town, right next to Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union. We’ve found assorted Asian noodles, kimchi, potsticker wrappers, and frozen mock-meats there.
Two blocks over the Ridgewood-Bushwick border and steps from Myrtle Avenue, Sea Town Fish & Meat Market was deemed a founding part of a “tiny Bushwick ‘Chinatown'” when it opened in 2010. And though the store boasts an impressive variety of fresh (including live) seafood, the general grocery area lacks a significant Asian presence — even staples like tofu, seaweed, and rice vinegar are nowhere to be found (tofu didn’t sell, said the store’s manager, Jose).
But that could change: Across the street, construction is underway on a triangle-shaped annex, which Jose told Ridgefood will be like a “regular grocery store” with more vegetables and an expanded ethnic section. They plan to stock more Asian goods, and Jose welcomed Ridgefood to compile a list of products that would appeal to local shoppers.
Himalayan Explosion Continues: Nepalese Restaurant to Open on Seneca Ave
Editor’s note: We originally reported that the new Nepalese Indian restaurant would be called “Mt. Everest.” It has since been changed to “Nepalese Indian Restaurant.” We have updated this post to reflect the new name. For a more detailed explanation … Continue reading
Om My! Tibetan Cuisine Coming to Venditti Square
Update: The Tibetan restaurant never opened, and you can now find a men’s clothing store, Big Poppa Styles, in its place. -The Mgmt.
Yesterday while strolling through Venditti Square, a cheerful sign in the window of No. 1 Fusion caught our eye. It read “Happy Tibetan New Year.” The heartfelt yet untimely sentiment — Tibetans celebrate the new year (losar) in February and March — suddenly endeared us to this Chinese restaurant that we assume is shitty, so we ventured inside. Continue reading
The Gates Burger Mystery: Solved!
BREAKING NEWS: The Gates Burger Mystery — we’re just going to go ahead and call it “Burgergate” — has been solved.
A quick summary for those of you who haven’t been following along: a few weeks ago, we noticed that a place called Gates Burger purports to exist in Ridgewood, but the only establishment at their address (17-01 Gates Avenue) is a bodega called Gates Deli. Naturally, we figured it was one big scandalous cover-up: Gates Burger was fake, the reviews were fake, and Gates Deli was delivering crappy food to non-discerning Ridgewoodites. It didn’t really make sense, and we weren’t sure that was the exact explanation, but we didn’t feel like dealing with it anymore and we let the mystery linger — Ridgewood would have to draw its own conclusions. Continue reading
Fruitti Yummi Opens in Ridgewood
Fruitti Yummi is finally here! I know we’ve been a little obsessed lately, but we went to the grand opening and here’s the scoop: Bright and cheery with lots of comfy seating, Fruitti Yummi is a welcome addition to the ‘wood. They serve 10 flavors of nonfat froyo, including cookies & cream, pumpkin, cheesecake, coffee, chocolate, and strawberry. Toppings are again Pinkberry-style, with everything from mango boba (tapioca pearls) to trail mix to crushed Oreos. Continue reading