Recently I sat with Cyrilla Suwarsa in her store at The Shops in DUMBO. Her company, Nuts+Nuts, produces a line of distinctly packaged flavored cashews from Indonesia. Indigenous to Brazil, the nuts were introduced to Indonesia by the Portuguese in the 1500s. Cashews are the seeds of kidney-shaped fruits that protrude from the bottom of "cashew apples" (they look more like bell peppers) that grow on trees. Cashews are to Indonesians what almonds are to Americans. They're commonly sold raw[…]
The environs of the Morgan Avenue station in Bushwick are fast becoming the newly formed community of Morgantown. The streets here are lined with anonymous factories and warehouses once bustling with thousands only decades ago. While Brooklyn's Industrial Revolution is over, these bastions of manufacturing serve as creative centers for the phenomena of today's maker movement. Recently, Fine & Raw, one of Brooklyn's avant garde bean-to-bar chocolate producers, moved here.On paper, Daniel Sklaar's experience prior to starting Fine & Raw[…]
One hot summer day I arrived at Gillies Coffee in Sunset Park. I've been drinking espresso since I was five. My first bank was a Medaglia d'Oro coffee can. I really had to know if Gillies was the oldest coffee roaster in Brooklyn. The garage door was open. So, I walked inside and asked someone. He escorted me to an office trailer and a few minutes later - to my surprise - the owner himself came out to greet me.[…]
Back in the 1990s I remember seeing a story on the evening news about a new bicycle recycling program for kids based in Manhattan. They were taught how to take apart bikes that were abandoned and to build new ones from the salvaged parts. I was too old to enter the program, but I thought it was a wonderful thing and am delighted that it's not only here today but has expanded to DUMBO, Brooklyn. In fact, today they even[…]
Ask Michael Rogak about the meaning of the word artisanal and he’ll give it to you straight. It’s about making small batches with skilled manual labor. Is that all? Isn’t there a lot more to it than that? After all, there’s a certain aura around the word that makes it seem hip and trendy. Perhaps it’s the whole artisanal way of life? Or maybe marketers have overused the word and made it altogether meaningless. To Mr. Rogak artisanal is simply[…]
When I’m in a conversation with Lori, I get the feeling that her mind is on a high speed chase with a gazillion other things. Lori is a serial entrepreneur with a degree from the Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science. Her first company was Promgirl. Later she started an organic cleaning products company and a wholesale pet products business. Now she owns Neighborhoodies. While Neighborhoodies isn’t her baby, it’s become her shoes. “Taking over someone’s business is like walking[…]
At 145 Front Street in DUMBO shoppers enter a U-shaped corridor lined with vendors selling everything from cupcakes and clothing to jewelry and skincare products. The air inside is charged with a vibe that makes shopping and vending compulsive. Thrust within this multifaceted mix of competitive forces one may find a certain artist peacefully painting on an easel in his glass-fronted studio. Craig Anthony Miller aka “Cam” of reInspire Brooklyn is the self-proclaimed Switzerland in the world that is The[…]
One day, I was walking down Berry Street in Williamsburg when I noticed an elderly gentleman cautiously surveying card tables laid out with what appeared to be chess sets outside a small ramshackle garage. He was going about it very deliberately, though I sensed he was approachable. The pieces were large and blocky. Some were plain and others ornately carved, but what caught my eye was the unfinished piece he held gingerly in his hand. I made some comment about[…]
As I waited for my egg and cheese at the Greek diner by my home, I was pleasantly surprised to find a map of Greece on my place mat. I found the island of Chios far east of Athens in the North Aegean Sea where Anna’s parents are from. Anna Almiroudis is an experienced scientist with an education in biology and toxicology. She spent her summers in Chios as a child. Her grandparents were farmers and today her family still[…]
Last night, I invited my good friend Keith out to a talk on the subject of sacred books at the Rubin Museum. While I admittedly am very wary of social media platforms like Facebook, Keith's life practically floats on them. So, there we were waiting to hear about how centuries old religious texts were created and illuminated for the benefit of the masses discussing what medium I may use to produce something of value for the benefit of my online[…]