Naples is the New Pizza

My roommate has started getting New York Magazine randomly. We assume it's free as he didn't purchase a subscription. A few years ago I had a similar situation with Genre. After 2 years of getting it every month it suddenly vanished from my mailbox, leaving me without its vapid pretend GQness.

So I read through the latest issue. There was an article rating the Top 20 trendy pizza places in NYC. The number 3 spot on the list is held by Franny's. This restaurant is right near where I work and yet I hadn't gone. So my roommates and I ventured forth last night.

I remembered why I hadn't tried it within 5 minutes.

The wait.

The place is packed. Noisy. Sauna-esque and poorly run by the waitstaff. The hostess seemed to have no idea how to run her wait list. She walked the full length of the restaurant every time someone new came in. It was sad. We waited about 30 minutes, not terrible and I would do it again in a heartbeat (more on that later).

The waitstaff was lovely. They are nice people and were quick. We got our food in about 10 minutes. Maybe faster. The problem was the staff's knowledge of their wine list...which is extensive but mainly based around a few brands. I asked for a light, dry red to go with our meals. The waitress seemed unable to help me select something. I finally pointed randomly at the $30 wines. This cast a bit of a pall on my mood. I don't like not knowing my wine and I like it less when the suggestion is poorly thought out.

The pizza was amazing though. I got the basic mozz, basil, tomato sauce combo. The crust was a little charcoaled in spots but perfectly doughy. The sauce was sweet and not acidic, the mozz was fresh and stringy. Beautiful.

For dessert I had a dark chocolate gelatto that was probably the best thing I've ever had in my whole life.

The place is reasonable for what you are getting. With three pizzas, a bottle of wine and a dessert we spent $100. I will go back, but earlier in the evening and definitely when I have time to spend waiting for a seat.

KNOW YOUR WINES!

Franny's
295 Flatbush Ave.
718-230-0221

Every Day Every Moment

There is an amazing new internets project over HERE that a Mr. Crispin Best has begun.
He is presenting a story/poem for every year from 1400-present.

I helped out with 1497 - the bonfire of the vanities!

Drop on by and have a looksee.

Paper

The Brooklyn Museum is a wonderfully hidden treasure in New York.

Kinda like the Tea Lounge's super amazing happy hour. (full disclosure: I work at TL but $4 wine and $2.50 pints are hard to argue with)

Every time I go to the Bk Museum I wonder why it is so empty. I wander the empty halls looking at the amazing permanent collection and think about how packed the Met is. There are recreated rooms. In full designed details. Simply beautiful. They even have a full house that was torn down and put back up inside the museum for you to walk inside and peruse.

They have a great collection of design work. An Egyptian wing. The exhibits are always beautifully curated and incredibly laid out. Add in the fact that the museum also has some of the best art shows in NY and you have a perfect day in store for you. Where else could you go to see Murakami or Gilbert + George on such a large scale this year?

They also have the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art which houses Judy Chicago's Dinner Party installation and always has an interesting show going on.

I bring this up because while walking around the museum a few weeks ago I spent a good long time examining a part of the place I usually just walk through. The rooms designed to look period appropriate. They are lavish and slavish attentions to detail. I love them.

When I got home I was filled with ideas to make my apartment more lavish. The wall coverings from the past were stunning. The furniture! I didn't know I was such a covetous man, but seriously...I want. I started looking for wallpaper that filled my sudden need for luxe.

I found Signature Prints. They only print wallpaper and fabrics based on designs by Florence Broadhurst, who was a fantastic crazy lady. The company is based in Australia and is way too expensive for me, but the designs...amazing. They remind me of the wallpaper in my Grandmother's house. The website also sells pillows and throws in the designs. If you can afford it, I say go there and do it.

The trip to Signature brought me to the wonderful Emma Hack. Who takes the designs of Broadhurst and paints models to match. She then photographs them in front of the wallpaper. The results are beautiful.

Waltz With Chica

I've been in a rut lately. I will admit this to anyone within earshot. Loudly.

My writing has taken a backseat and my ambitions for world domination are on indefinite hold.

So what to do?

Take in a movie about the 1982 war in Lebanon, that's what you do.

First let me explain that Waltz with Bashir is an amazing film. It is an Israeli animated sorta-documentary, kinda-memoir, animated film that is their 2009 Oscar nomination for best foreign film. It was made by Ari Folman, and he is the central character. The plot follows his attempts to remember the war and the eventaul massacres at the Sabra and Shatila settlements.

The animation style reminds me of theold Jonny Quest cartoons from the 70s. It is thickly outlined and stiff. It works in this setting and someof theimages, especially of the war, arebeautiful and unsettling. At othertimes the style holds everything back and themovie has this dead rotoscope look to it. The faces are the main problem. They emote little, though at times the eyes of Ari seem to be weirdly lifelike.

Go see it though...it's hard hitting and the type of social examination that we rarely see on the big screen.

After the movie, which put me in a decidedly down mood, we headed from the Sunshine theater to Boca Chica on the corner of 1st and 1st.

The restaurant is painted purpleand green. Despite this Incredible Hulk color scheme the restaurant is adorable once inside. They have small diner-style tables andsturdy wooden seats. The staff is small but fast. We got our food in about 15 minutes.

I had achicken sandwich which I didn't note the spices or sauce of to my discredit, but it was amazing. It came with fried yuca and a light salad which had a lot of cilantro in it but was very refreshing.

I find myself immediately planning my next trip to the area despite it being in one of the most inconvinient areas for me to reach from my neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Two people can safely eat for under $50. We spent $35 but didn't have any alcohol with our dinner.

Letters

I should share an odd obsession I have. I read blogs about currency. By this I mean about national currency. Spend some time at the Engraveyard won't you?

Also.

I have been on dates with typographers recently. Which is a strange thing to think about in itself. Before August I could honestly say I never even met a typographer, but now I have gone on dates with 3. If you have never thought about the ways of letters, I strongly suggest you look around you at this very moment and so that thing.

Henry's End & Some Sirens

Dec.19
I met Rex at work and we made our way to Henry's End to meet Jack, who promised us an amazing dinner on him. My shoes were filled with gallons of slushy black NY snow water by the time we stumbled into the cardboard covered entry way of the Brooklyn Heights establishment.

I was in love with the brick wall and the sadly filled in fireplace. They have a neon sign right in the middle of the wall that looks like it would be at home on the set of an 80s TV show. It's green and pink versions of the Brooklyn Bridge and Twin Towers seeming almost Miami-esque. It borders on being tacky but is saved by its obvious connections to the history of the restaurant.

The room is close, you are always at elbows with someone, but the atmosphere is too friendly to let this get in your way. The service is pitch perfect and the staff is very knowledgeable about the food and wine.

The wine list is pretty great. I know little to nothing about wine but the bottle of pinot the waitress suggested was spectacular.

I opted for the Pear, Walnut & Blue Cheese Chicken. The tastes blended very well and aside from the cheese being slightly overpowering the dish was perfect. Rex had Blackened Shell Steak and Jack went for the Raspberry Duckling. Henry's is fairly well known for their duck dishes.

We shared a Chocolate Confusion for dessert. This is essentially chocolate bread pudding covered in sauce and ice cream. It was lovely.

Overall the whole experience was great. The food was filling and incredibly well made and the wine list has something for everyone. It might be one of my new favorite places to eat in Brooklyn.

We ended the night at a lovely holiday concert called Sirens of Brooklyn. It was a benefit for viBe Song Makers, a non-profit performing arts organization for teenage girls. The concert was held at the First Unitarian Church's Revival Gothic Sanctuary in Brooklyn. The choir performed beautiful new arrangements of old Christmas standards and traditional songs. I found a new favorite as well - Snow is Falling by Yoko Ono!

I know I'm tardy in updating this thing but I plan on beingmore onthe regular in the new year. I also want to expand the scope to include general awesomeness in food, art, design, etc...

Chicken Vindaloo

Vindaloo
Originally uploaded by michael j wilson

I made a beautiful meal!

It's Chicken Vindaloo with coconut and squid ink pasta. I threw in some green peppers for color and spice! It was fun. The sauce was from Maya Kaimal. I added a lot of olive oil to the sauce and some extra chile pepper.

I finished it off in about 10 seconds. By myself.

And...look at that awesome plate.