Better racism, less pizza, Papa Johns

So you win the Internet for the day, for sure. But I am still OK, even though I can't get the words "Pizza Hut" out of my head. ... cause when we are back in our other place, and the weather cools down from 3,000 degrees Kelvin for good (hopefully at some point), I am going to resume my second career as home-cook pizza-maker extraordinaire. Plus, my breads there should get better too. No more having to do most of my baking here, to bring breads back with us to freeze (which kind of sucks, actually).

Related, but unrelated. ... There is this neighborhood in Brooklyn called Carroll Gardens. Like the neighborhoods around it, it has changed a lot over the last 25 years or so. It's a little isolated, because it only has one (minor) subway line that heads right through it, unlike the two or three neighborhoods to the north that are serviced by almost every subway line coming out of Manhattan. Unlike a lot of neighborhoods, Carroll Gardens is still managing (with a lot of sputtering) to maintain some of its character. Way back, it was a very old school Italian neighborhood. Think numbers rackets, social clubs, guys with pinky rings, etc. But if you kept your head down and were cool with people, minded your business, and didn't borrow money from the wrong people, I believe life there was really nice for the vast majority of people who raised families there. I didn't know the neighborhood when I was younger, so I missed out on that era, but I wish I had gotten to experience it. A lot of people spent their childhoods there and grew up to do great things.

Some of the old stores are still alive and well in that neighborhood, now being run by 3rd and 4th generation. They are dying off slowly, but there are remnants hanging on in a way you are not seeing in a lot of other places in NY (maybe Queens, but I don't know Queens nearly as well).

There is the old pork store still, which is known for really good meats, a bunch of old-school restaurants, a few decent pizza places, and some old specialty food stores and bakeries. I love heading over there, because I feel like New York has lost so much of its character. And this area still has a handful of old, family run stores and restaurants, not rows of Starbucks, Le Pain Quotidiens and assorted chain stores. They exist, but they are still in the minority along the three main streets that run through there.

There are two places in the neighborhood called Caputos (no relation to each other). One has some of the best freshly-made mozzarella cheese you will find in New York. The other is a bakery, and it is 104 years old. Crusty ciabattas, old-school Italian breads (with and without the sesame seeds), olive breads, all kinds of pastries, etc. All baked fresh every morning. And the prices are right out of 1987. The place amazes me. I am on my own tomorrow morning. My plan is to get up and make my way over there. I'll walk the last part of it, through a few different neighborhoods, because I like walking around there. There is a great bench a couple of blocks away from the bakery. My plan is to sit there and drink my coffee, munch on some crusty fresh-baked bread that is right out of heaven, and spend an aimless half hour of my Sunday morning just enjoying one of the little pleasures in life. If the words "Pizza Hut" pop into my head even once during that "me time," I will curse you.

 

Yeah. I bet that guy can't believe the changes.

I don't want to overstate it. Carroll Gardens has probably changed a ton. It's just the remnants that are still hanging in there make it stand out relative to a lot of other neighborhoods.

I wasn't familiar with that brewery. I just looked. It's kind of borderline Carroll Gardens / Red Hook. The area of Carroll Gardens I am talking about is about a mile north of there, and that mile makes a difference, because it's much more residential. Things change as you get closer to Hamilton Avenue and the BQE. It's more gritty and industrial around there -- always has been.

Red Hook is another neighborhood that has managed to retain a lot of its character, it's just that that part of South Brooklyn has always been a tougher place. I once read a book written by a cop who worked that area in the 70s. He had some stories. As isolated as I said Carroll Gardens is, Red Hook is even more isolated, because no subway really goes there. About a decade ago, real estate values there started to go up, just like everywhere else, but it's a neighborhood that will always be limited in what it can achieve. Just to get there, the best you can do is catch the F train and then find a bus or have a long walk, depending on what part of Red Hook you are heading to. The area of Red Hook along the water is pretty cool. There are restaurants, and a few old warehouses that date from the mid 1800s, including the one they converted into a Fairway. It's a bit gritty, but it's a cool neighborhood, and I have never felt unsafe there. When you get farther inland, there is a massive housing project that you don't want to be wandering through at night. The only reason I sort of know that area is that there is an IKEA in the vicinity, right on the water. The brewery you are talking about is past those projects, on the other side of the BQE, not far from where there is a Lowes. I don't really spend any time around there, but I have driven by it on the BQE, so I have an idea of where you are talking about.