Lily & Fig on Franklin Ave

Lemon Coconut Cupcake - $1.25

Available @ Lily & Fig

727 Franklin Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11238

Definitely not my photography prowess @ work. Thanks, Stephen Cafe.

Coconut meringue frosting, tart lemon curd interior. The cake batter itself is a little bland, but at $1.25, you can't beat it. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the neighborhood. On weekends Lily & Fig sells fresh bread and, if you're lucky, you'll catch them on a day when they have quiche. I'm crossing my fingers that I'll happen upon them on such a day.

Frankies Spuntino - meatball king?

After reading Joe DiStefano's recap of the meatball smack-down in BK, I decided I had to try the winning balls at Frankies Spuntino in Carroll Gardens. I decided to make it a date night with the bf, as well.

At around 8pm on a Sunday night, business was good, but not bustling. We waited five minutes to be seated at the bar. If we had waited another five, I'm sure we would have gotten a table.

We started out with roasted eggplant crostini ($3). Just one. I expected at least two, but in all fairness, they menu didn't denote multiples - I incorrectly assumed. It was a little greasy for my taste, but still very good. The bf had no complaints, as he would probably pour a bottle of olive oil down his throat every morning if it were economically feasible.

Main dishes came out relatively quickly, we hadn't even finished our single crostini yet.

Boyfriend had Sweet Sausage, Roasted Red Peppers & Onions over Pine Nut Polenta ($14).

As you've probably gleaned, I'm not the biggest fan of swine. The roasted red pepper inflected sauce was very tasty and delicious with the polenta, that was a bit flavorless without the juices. I was assured by the bf that when you had all elements of the dish on your fork at once, it was a party of the palate.

I, of course, opted for the Meatballs with Pine Nuts & Raisins ($10).

Three giant meatballs, no pasta. All beef, with pine nuts and raisins, of course. Very tasty, but a bit much. I prefer meatballs with beef, pork (I know) and veal. All veal, if possible. The raisins and pignoli were delicious additions and excited me because I often put both in my kofta and meatballs and kofta are just distant cousins. I only made it through one meatball, bf polished off one and I took one home. The sauce was nothing spectacular. Is it the best meatball I've ever had? No. But it's probably the best meatball I've ever eaten in a restaurant. I wish the plating had been one ball on a bed of homemade bucatini, but I'm a carb slut, so what else would you expect?

My boyfriend (and his never-ending appetite and superior metabolism) was still hungry, so we got Frankie's Anti(posti?)pasti ($15), afterwards.

not my hand, by the way...my nails were polished turquoise that night

More swine. Ugh. We actually ordered marinated mushrooms in addition to the broccoli rabe as the vegetable accompaniment and they brought out the cauliflower instead. After we alerted the bartender/server, he also brought out a giant bowl of mushrooms. The broccoli rabe was good, again a little heavy-handed with the olio olive (it should be noted that Frankies Spuntino sells their own). The cauliflower was delightful, crispy and a little nutty. The mushrooms were perfectly satisfactory, but nothing that I would order again. The cheese selections that came out were moliterno and montasio. I was unfamiliar with both, but the rind on the moliterno had a bit of a kick.

I have a weakness for sweets, so I couldn't leave without trying dessert. I opted for the Red Wine Prunes with Mascarpone Creme ($6.50).

Obviously, my photography sucks and prunes aren't glamorous - but this dessert was delicious. It was absolutely the best thing about the whole meal. The mascarpone was creamy and just sweet enough. The prunes were juicy and reminiscent of Japanese plum wine because of the maceration. The sauce was tart and a nice counter to the sweet cream. I could have easily eaten two of these.

Frankies Spuntino was a pleasant dining experience. It isn't destination dining, but it's a nice place to stop into if you are in the area for a bite. It can be casual, or it can be romantic. In retrospect, I wouldn't have ordered the antipasti plate or the crostini - the only dishes on the menu that seemed overpriced on an otherwise modest bill.

Supermarket Sweep

A little background on me - before moving to Brooklyn, I lived on Roosevelt Island. Sure, it was a tad creepy and isolated, but my building was beautiful and I loved living there. The biggest drawback of Roosevelt Island, to me, was its lack of a decent grocery store. There was a Mega Gristedes that I believe was voted one of the dirtiest in all of New York...that's it. All of this is to say that I'm not spoiled when it comes to NYC grocery stores. I'm not a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's snob. I don't demand Italian specialties from Agata & Valentina. All I ask is that it be clean, that there be an assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables and that there is a reasonable assortment of "ethnic" foods and products.

Naturally, one of the first things I did upon arrival to BK was stake out a decent grocery store, as any voracious eater/wanna-be chef would. At first, my journey took me more towards Prospect Heights because the hipster/young locavore family/only eats organic quotient seemed high. A few trips spent lugging mediocre groceries in 90-degree heat quickly put an end to that. I occasionally used Fresh Direct while on the Island and have done that here, but it's costly and their selection isn't amazing, either. Plus - you can't run to Fresh Direct on your way home to pick up marshmallows for an impromptu smore-fest. So I sucked it up and checked out the stores closest to my abode, despite all warnings.

First, up - Fisher's on Franklin & Lincoln.

OMG! Run by my, like, favorite family EVER. Why is the produce either on, or damn near, the floor? I have a feeling that if I went digging through the potatoes, I would probably find Ben and his family. And folks - what you see in the picture is pretty much it in the way of produce, save for a few hearty eggplants and green salad bags in the dairy section in the back. Fisher's wins points for being the only grocery store around here that carries Galvanina Italian sodas and for that reason, I may have to patronize them in the summer so that I can make my traditional Shandy-like concoctions with their lemon flavor and Peroni. And of course, every thing was overpriced - packaged, pre-shredded cheese excluded, which was cheap but probably cheese-product and not real cheese.

Nam's (Franklin & St. John's)

Just a few blocks down we find Nam's, which is half-way between a bodega and grocery store. The selection of organic, all-natural and vegetarian foods, both fresh and frozen, is amazing. There is no meat or real deli department, as everything is vegetarian (I think - maybe some organic frozen chicken products are hiding in there). It is very pricey, however, and because it's such small space, it doesn't have everything you would find in a normal grocery store. I don't shop there often, but it is definitely worth stopping into every once in a while for a treat (ginger chews!!!). And take a look at the produce section - even through plastic paneling, it kicks Fisher's ass.

Bravo (Nostrand & Fulton)

My first experience with Bravo market was in Astoria. I was overwhelmed, overjoyed (over love....okay, I'll turn off the Stevie) by the selection of Middle Eastern, Greek and Brazilian goodies. When I realized there was an outpost around here, I got excited - could I really find haloumi in this 'hood? Sadly, no. What I didn't take into consideration is that the Bravo in Astoria carries those products because they serve populations that demand it. Duh. Still, I figured this Bravo would carry all sorts of amazing West Indian/Caribbean products. Instead, all I can find is Goya. Drats. The produce section is passable, although not very appetizing (for once, my photo made something look better than it is). The price points are very reasonable.

Key Food (Nostrand & St. Marks)

Kumquats!! Tart-tastic kumquats! Can you believe it? Key Food was the last grocery store I visited because I've had several questionable encounters with other locations, namely the one on Classon and Eastern Parkway (?) when my bf lived in Prospect Heights. This Key Foods pleasantly surprised me. No, you're not going to be able to find grape leaves, or prosciutto, but you will find fresh fruits and vegetables beyond just bananas and onions. My only complaint is that the frozen food section often seems empty - except for ice cream. There are two ice cream freezers (yay!?!?!). The products are affordable and basics (milk, eggs, etc.) are almost always on sale. They also are currently selling six-packs of ginger beer (non alcoholic, of course!) for $1.19. Key Foods wins.

Whew. That was a lot of shopping. Who wants to carry my bags home?

Where can a b!@#& get a cup of coffee around here?

Some of you may be familiar with this article that ran in the NY Times late last year, chronicling the Franklin Avenue coffee wars. As someone who fiends for crack...I mean, coffee every morning at around 9:30am, a war of shops seems like a dream to me. Yes! Compete for my business!

Not so much.

The Pulp & The Bean was the first coffee shop I visited. I wanted to be seduced by exotic lattes, perhaps something to feed my well-documented pumpkin dependancy/obsession. Instead, I got overpriced coffee with too much milk and not enough flavor. On that day, they were advertising an "Apple Cider Latte" outside, but the girl at the counter informed me that what they actually meant was that they had both apple cider and lattes. Boring. She was friendly, but I did notice the tone shift when someone who looked a little more "threatening" than me (although I like to think I'm terrifying) walked into the shop. Interesting, especially considering how down Mr. Fisher acts. Although he down-played it for the Times, Mr. Fisher seems to feel territorial about Franklin Avenue because his family owned the grocery store next door (Fisher's) in a time when:

"the area was so dangerous, you had to “duck and run” through the street.

“We used to have to replace the glass on our windows in the grocery store, maybe twice a month, from bullet holes,”

Am I supposed to admire him for his allegiance to this hood because, pre-gentrification, his family sold (and still sells) disgusting, horrible-quality, overpriced groceries to poor people who had no other options? He leaves a bad taste in my mouth. So does his coffee. P.S. I'm doing a grocery store round-up later this week, you'll see what I mean about Fisher's.

So then I was all gung-ho about Breukelen. Organic? Awesome. The barista/owner(?) behind the counter was as sweet as could be and model-gorgeous...not that it matters, but who doesn't like to look at pretty things? They were a touch more expensive than ol' Pulpy across the way, but I justified it because they're organic, natural, magical, yada yada. I want to hang out and be friends with the people who own it, work there and patronize. The problem - the coffee sucks given the price point, particularly in this neighborhood. If you're paying almost $4 for coffee here, it better be good - because the Yemeni deli coffee doesn't taste much different and they only charge 50 cents. Also, the window says they take credit cards (you can see it in the pic above) and they don't - that's a problem. Still, I'm pulling for Breukelen. C'mon, get better so you can take my money!!

There are two Dunkin' Donuts in the area, too - a really inferior one on Eastern Parkway and Bedford (it's attached to a gas station) and a better one on Eastern Parkway and Nostrand - but they're out of the way for most people dashing to get to the train in the morning.

For the sake of my sanity and productivity, I really need someone to step up their caffeine game!