"Brooklyn" news and stories

Everyone city seems to want a little authentic Brooklyn hipster edge these days – including Dubai. Or as authentic as a Brooklyn Diner can be (the original is located in the middle of Manhattan, after all). According to the Insatiable Critic, the Intercontinental Hotel will open the first outpost of Shelly Fireman's successful chain diners abroad on February 15, complete with the restaurant's signature maitre d' attire -- a tux and sneakers. (Americans excel at making a classy first impression.)

A weekly look at the draft selections in beer-friendly bars across the country.

A good local pub is something special -- a place where you can hang out with friends and meet neighbors by socializing the old-fashioned way... in person. Blogs and social networks and webcams are great, but one of the most traditional ways people have connected isn't with a computer, it's with a pint.

My neighborhood has a number of spots I love, but when it comes to that classic pub setting -- with a fantastic beer selection to boot -- my favorite watering hole is Brooklyn's Washington Commons.

When people think friendly bar, the show Cheers often comes to mind: a place where "everyone knows your name." This point isn't lost on Kirk Struble, one of Washington Commons' owners. When asked what makes a bar a great local hangout, he immediately points to the staff.

For many years Absolut vodka has had a knack for marketing their products with celebrities and artists. Now Spike Lee's name has been added to their creative collaborations list. He assisted with the marketing of the newest addition to the Absolut family -- Absolut Brooklyn -- which is infused with ginger and apple flavors.

This is the fourth city in a annual series of limited-edition flavors: it was New Orleans in 2007 (mango and black pepper), Los Angeles in 2008 (açai, acerola, pomegranate, and blueberry), and Boston in 2009 (black tea and elderflower). Brooklyn native Spike Lee partnered with spoken-word artist Lemon Andersen to capture the spirit of Brooklyn in both bottle and videos, including a behind the scenes video about Spike Lee's involvement as well as a trailer of Lemon Andersen's attempt to sum up Brooklyn in a minute.

The bottle's design features a Brooklyn stoop with the address of Mr. Lee's childhood home and phrases on each step like "Brooklyn in da house." For the first time in Absolut bottle-design history, the seal on the shoulder of the bottle was altered, giving Lars Olsson Smith glasses and a cap resembling the look of Spike Lee.

Every day we're bombarded with encouragement from nutritionists and health food experts to eat more leafy greens, especially the dark green varieties. Low in calories, high in fiber, packed with vitamin A, blah, blah, blah -- not exactly the kind of stuff you get excited about.

But Amy Hamberry may have found a way to change your mind: The Brooklyn, N.Y., mom is selling her own kale chips.

The former commercial illustrator and one-time kindergarten teacher stumbled into this new, unexpected profession when she married the owner of a neighborhood health-food store, New York Naturals.

The store's California kale chip supplier was always running out of stock (um, who would have guessed there was such high demand?), so Amy decided to start making them herself. It took three months of daily experiments before she was satisfied with the results.

"We had to figure out a consistency," Hamberry explained to Slashfood. "It was hard because the kale is different each time we get it. There are a lot of variables involved."

Bacon-and-date-wrapped hot dogs. Photo: Fork This

Hot dogs are as ubiquitous as Ray Bans this summer, with all-beef franks gracing grills at backyard BBQs and gourmet versions making cameos on restaurant menus. But a hot dog coddled in bacon is a rare treat.

These bacon-wrapped dogs were captured by our friend Fork This at a Hot Dog Cookoff before being placed in buns and topped with crushed almonds. Though we have mixed feelings about the crushed-almond topping, these look good enough to eat straight off the grill.

Aptly called Dog Date Afternoon, the heart-attack-inducing treats sadly didn't take home top (or any) honors, but it's pretty likely there were none left for their maker to take home, either.

[Via Fork This]