Caribbean brunch: jerk shrimp and grits; yard-style brisket (hidden beneath the vegetables and eggs); and, best of the bunch, a bake with ackee and salt fish. A bake can be baked, but often (as here) it is fried. When fried it might be called a fry bake or (as here) simply a bake. Why so much loyalty to the name, I wonder, when what's best about the bread is the freshness of the fry?
Imani
271 Adelphi St. (at Dekalb Ave.), Fort Greene, Brooklyn
718-923-0100
www.ImaniNYC.com
(Many of the fairs, festivals, and other wonderful food events that usually fill my calendar each spring have been postponed or cancelled. This post is based on previous celebrations.)
In another year it would be high time for the three-day DanceAfrica Bazaar, held in concert with a decades-old annual festival of African dance and music. Much as I love Southern-style samplers and jerk chicken (both shown below), these days I wouldn't mind a little funnel-cake action, too.
Also: A young green coconut, opened on the spot with a machete, might hold a lot of liquid. If you're really thirsty, a skinny plastic drinking straw just won't do; tip your head back and chug. At this stall, the proprietor would then hack into the husk, not quite splitting it into thirds. He'd also fashion a utensil by slicing off a thin-edged piece that could scrape the flesh from the inside of the coconut; no other utensil is required.
DanceAfrica Bazaar
Vicinity of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), 30 Lafayette Ave., Fort Greene, Brooklyn
www.BAM.org/DanceAfrica
(This venue is closed.) The most basic house pie ($14) includes tomato sauce; caciocavallo, grana, and housemade mozzarella cheeses; fresh basil; and marash chile flakes. Even without the "dealer options" (sausage, prosciutto, roast mushroom, soppressata, $2 each), you couldn't fairly call it a "stripped-down model." You might, however, insist on "only one owner."
Apizza Regionale
Gotham Market at The Ashland
590 Fulton St. (at Ashland Pl.), Fort Greene, Brooklyn
718-624-7706
(This venue is closed.) Buttermilk-brined, fried, North African spice-dusted chicken (by the piece, $2.50 to $4). Thin, snug crust; juicy meat.
Flip Bird
590 Fulton St. (at Ashland Place, inside Gotham Market at The Ashland), Fort Greene, Brooklyn
718-624-7703
The peanut shape is part of the charm of brand-name Nutter Butter cookies. Le Petit's namesake rendition ($3; also as a mini, $1.25) lacks those hourglass curves, but it compensates with a smoother, slightly sweeter, and much more generous filling.
Le Petit Bakery
354 Myrtle Ave. (Clinton Ave.-Adelphi St.), Fort Greene, Brooklyn
718-875-6500
www.LePetitBakery.com
"Crispy, regular, or soft?" Until my latest visit to Duncan's, if memory serves, I'd never been offered the option of fine-tuning my fried calamari ($5.50, plus a buck for the tip jar). This batch was the happy medium; perhaps next time I can cajole the fellow to fry mine medium well.
Previously: a porgy "sandwich" ($5.75, a number of years ago). Typical for fish markets that double as fry joints, the bread is tucked under the foil at the bottom of the takeout container; assembly is the customer's job. Apparently, not everyone bothers: When I ordered my sandwich, the counterwoman asked if I wanted bread at all. Picking out porgy bones was my job, too; there's a reason, I soon recalled, that I usually order whiting.
Duncan's Quality Fish Market
385 Myrtle Ave. (Clermont-Vanderbilt Aves.), Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
718-923-1115
Maultaschen, filled pasta from the southern German region of Swabia, resemble oversized ravioli, at least at first.
Grapenut (single scoop, $3.50), one of this coffee shop's housemade ice creams, features the wheat-and-barley cereal — which contains no grapes or nuts — in a vanilla-flavored base. Customarily the cereal is ground much more finely, as in this commercial brand made in Maine.
By milk they mean shakes, and various kinds of cheese.
Thank you!
