No more stale popcorn or neon nacho sauce– you can eat real food while watching movies at next week’s 2015 Food Film Fest and take advantage of a special 15% discount on tickets for BB readers. Photo: Film Food Fest
Happy Wednesday, BB readers! We’re headed into the tail end of the workweek, which hopefully means you can focus more on making fun plans and less on hitting the sack early. Those of us who were hoping the Mets would clinch the NLDS playoffs last night and free up Thursday night will sadly spend the evening glued to Game 5, but, for those of you who aren’t so encumbered by Amazins fandom, Green-Wood Cemetery is hosting a free stargazing session on Thursday from 7-8pm. The Amateur Astronomers Association of New York is inviting the public to drop by and see Saturn and double stars through the high-powered telescopes they will have set up at the cemetery’s main entrance. If you’re arriving via bike, swing by Industry City on the way to check out a free happy hour with Get Women Cycling, which includes service-y workshops on topics like bike maintenance and cold weather riding.
Rock out at this weekend’s HONK NYC, an annual festival of brass and percussive street bands taking place at venues all over town, including Littlefield, The Wick, and the DUMBO archway. If you’re in DUMBO on Saturday, the brand-new St. Ann’s Warehouse is celebrating its grand opening with a free Open House from noon to 6pm. There will be food trucks, performances by the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, puppet shows, and a doggie portrait studio, so bring the whole family.
Ceviche Summer, the seafood-slinging pop-up that has graced city parks, food fests, and bars for the past few years, is throwing a special BYOB dinner on Saturday night. Tickets are still available for the 8:30pm seating, which includes a five-course, prix fixe tasting menu. On Sunday night, the Cheese Grotto will host its own five-course meal at 61 Local, featuring housemade burrata, mozzarella, ricotta, seasonal vegetables, SCRATCH Bread, and optional wine pairings. Tickets are $50 and the dinner starts at 7pm. And on Tuesday night, you can sample a variety of food and drink offerings from some of Ditmas Park’s best local spots at Cortelyou at Twilight, a fundraiser for the community that will give attendees a chance to explore the neighborhood’s restaurants, bars, and shops from 5-8pm.
If you’re still in search of food-centric activities, start planning ahead for the 2015 Food Film Festival, which arrives October 22. The four-day fest features screenings of food-themed footage, appearances by renowned chefs, and the opportunity to eat everything being discussed, including Hometown BBQ, pork ramen, and chocolate salami. The best part is that we’ve got a hookup: BB readers will get a 15% discount on tickets by entering BROOKLYN15 at checkout.
It looks like temps will reach the 30s this weekend, so be sure to dig out some of your old sweaters, scarves, and hats and get ready to enjoy all the great stuff we’ve lined up for Your Ideal Week.
The brand new Melville House book club is having its first meeting on Thursday night– free coffee and scintillating discussion about Kate Chopin’s The Awakening await. Photo: katechopin.org
Thursday, October 15
Some people think books and coffee go together like peanut butter and jelly, and Melville House Publishing and Brooklyn Roasting Company are teaming up to test that theory out. Tomorrow night, the two companies are joining forces for the first monthly meeting of the brand new Melville House Book Club. Hosted at the outsized Brooklyn Roasting Company coffeehouse in DUMBO, October’s discussion will focus on Kate Chopin’s uber-scandalous, career-ending proto-feminist novel, The Awakening. Admission is free and so is the coffee, and the meeting starts at 6pm. –N.R.
Elsa Waithe hosts a free standup show on Friday night featuring a stellar lineup of black female comedians at the grand opening of the Experiment Comedy Gallery. Photo: Elsa Waithe
Friday, October 16
Brooklyn’s already world-class alt-comedy scene is adding a new venue this week, when The Experiment Comedy Gallery hosts its official grand opening in Williamsburg on Friday night. This means free admission to several celebratory shows, including Affirmative Laughter: Black Girls are Funny, a standup showcase where you can catch some of the funniest black female comedians currently working the circuit. Hosted by Elsa Waithe, the evening will feature sets from headliner Marie Faustin (Moth StorySLAM), GMama Lee (Comedy After Dark), Nicky Sunshine (Laugh Factory), Sharron Paul (CollegeHumor), and special guest Ted Alexandro. Doors open at 7pm. –N.R.
Gowanus Open Studios is this weekend, and you can blow your own glass pumpkin at Brooklyn Glass if you sign up for a lesson. Photo: Brooklyn Glass
Saturday, October 17
Support local arts this weekend by exploring the workspaces of more than 300 painters, sculptors, potters, jewelers, photographers and other creatives at Gowanus Open Studios 2015. Plan ahead by consulting this participating artists directory or this lineup of special events, and who knows, you might just find the perfect new piece to decorate that blank wall in your apartment. If all that exposure to art gets you itching to create something of your own, why not sign up for a one-on-one lesson with a glassblower at Brooklyn Glass? If you have half an hour and $35 to spare, you can go home with a glass pumpkin, handmade by you just in time for Halloween. –K.H.
Industry City is the place to be this weekend, between the Brooklyn Flea, Smorgasburg, Mister Sunday, and a pop-up vintage market where you can score amazing finds. Photo: A Current Affair
Sunday, October 18
Yet another definitive sign that winter is around the corner: The Brooklyn Flea and Smoragasburg are making their annual move indoors for the season this weekend. This year, the iconic sources of delicious, vintage, and locally-made items are headed to cavernous new digs in rapidly-transforming Industry City. The markets will be open on Saturday and Sunday from 11am-6pm, but while you’re there you should check out some of the other weekend attractions at the newly-revitalized manufacturing complex. From 3-9pm on Sunday, you can shake your tailfeather at Mister Sunday’s last dance party in the courtyard, and tickets are just $10 if you buy them in advance. Meanwhile, fashionistas won’t want to miss the return of A Current Affair, a meticulously curated vintage popup market taking place on Saturday and Sunday. A few friends and I went when the show was in town last spring and we spent hours combing through the racks of one-of-a-kind clothes and each left with multiple purchases in hand, and don’t even get me started on the celeb-spotting and general people-watching. It’s definitely worth the $12 price of admission. –K.H.
At The Pines “Meet the Producers” dinner on Monday, the founder of Uncouth Vermouth will be in the house as you sip all the seasonal varieties of Bianca Miraglia’s made-in-Brooklyn apertif. Photo: The Pines
Monday, October 19
In the world of cocktails, vermouth is like a backing musician, the player you occasionally hire to bring a little sweetness to your Negroni or determine the dryness of your martini. But on Monday night, it headlines a producer’s dinner at The Pines, where the locally made Uncouth Vermouth will be paired with a number of dishes. What makes Bianca Miraglia’s handmade vermouth different from the Martini & Rossis of the world are its seasonal, infused varieties like apple-mint, wildflower, hops, cherry and rhubarb—all of which you can sip alongside dishes like beet carpaccio and pork shoulder with cranberry beans and fermented Brussels sprouts. The dinner and pairing runs $70 a head, email press@thepinesbk.com or call
718-596-6560 for reservations. —N.D.
Masters of Social Gastronomy returns to Littlefield on Tuesday for a special, creeptastic lecture called Foods that Go Bump in the Night. Photo: Masters of Social Gastronomy
Tuesday, October 20
Ready for a spooooky Halloween edition of the popular Masters of Social Gastronomy series? This Tuesday, head down to Littlefield for Foods that Go Bump in the Night, an entire evening dedicated to the creepy, crawly side of eating. Host Sarah Lohman will explore all kinds of monstrous myths as they relate to edibles, including episodes of ergot poisoning that caused hallucinations, mass hysteria (and maybe the Salem Witch Trials?) and stories of real-life cannibalism found throughout history. This show won’t be for the faint of heart, but it’s sure to leave you hungry for more knowledge. Admission is free, doors open at 7:30pm. –N.R.
The inimitable Pat Kiernan is back at The Bell House to host Pat in the Hat, a special book-themed trivia event on Wednesday night. Photo: TrivWorks
Wednesday, October 21
If you’ve never made it out to the Bell House for one of TrivWorks’ special trivia events hosted by NY1 anchor extraordinaire Pat Kiernan, you’re missing out on some serious competitive fun and a chance to win great prizes like Broadway tickets, tours, and free meals. For Wednesday night’s Pat In the Hat quiz, things get even nerdier than usual because the theme is literature. Bookworms will be coming out in droves with their A games in tow, so grab the smartest people from your book club and be sure to pick up your $26 tickets before they sell out. –K.H.
Tips by Nikita Richardson and Kate Hooker.
