A recent commercial interiors shoot for Superpages led me to the ghoulishly-named neighborhood of Gravesend in Brooklyn. Much to my masochistic dismay, Gravesend is home to more Chinese restaurants and Kosher markets than haunted houses and fog-shrouded cemeteries.
A ten-minute walk east from the Q train on Avenue U will lead you to a well hidden Brooklyn gastronomic tradition which has recently been outed on an episode of Man v. Food.
Established in 1938, Brennan & Carr is a wood-stained, brick-walled, Irish-named eatery serving up pub grub from a bare bones menu posted to the wall and printed on the placemats, doing so in the vaguely musky ambiance of a turn-of-the-century Bavarian hunting lodge.
What you come here for is the roast beef the hot beef sandwich, dunked- bun and all, in au jus. If you’d like, you can have another ladleful poured over top, at which time the sandwich becomes a soggy, beefy, salty, fork-and-knife-only affair.
I manned up for my inaugural Brennan & Carr experience and ordered the Gargulio burger- the hot beef sandwich plus hamburger patty, sauteed onions, and gooey melted cheddar cheese. And yes, the whole sandwich was dunked in it’s own broth.
The plating, the idea and the execution are simple. The resulting sandwich is an epiphany for carnivores, and for your taste buds.
Next time you find yourself in Gravesend (because I know you always go there, you know, for the Kosher markets, the Chinese takeouts, the tanning salons, and the Russian nightclubs) make sure you stop by Brennan & Carr for a hot beef sandwich. Have it dipped. If you’re daring, go for the pour.
The natives have been toiling away here on Pho(Blog)graphy Island, replacing the thatched roof of my seaside hut and making a throne for me out of palm fronds, beer cans, and coconut shells.
Oh, and I began field testing a new blog design today. It’s a customized version of Minimalist 1 by Joey Robinson over at techdesigns.co.uk.
Minimal to a fault, or smart and svelte? You be the judge.
Tokyo Juxtaposed- my series of photographs pairing cultural and aesthetic imagery from modern-day Japan, went on display last Thursday at Supercore in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. A small opening event marked the occasion. Old friends came out to show their support, new friends were made, and a good time was had by all in attendance.
The evening was anchored by the marathon beat/noise mashup of Loud Objects vs. DJ Nori, which allowed the juxtapositions to extend from the images on the walls and the projections on the ceiling to the sounds filling the space, and turned a darkened room into an intimate mixed media environment for a small crowd.
Below you’ll find a selection of snapshots from the evening followed by a few low resolution high definition (what?) video clips.
Thanks again to all who attended, to Katie, Kunal, and Nori for their sonic foreplay, and to Yoko and the rest of the Supercore staff for having us.
So we’ve made it to the bleary-eyed Friday conclusion of Tokyo Week! here on Pho(Blog)graphy Island, and the survivors are fed up with pressing the button every 108 minutes. (If you don’t know, you’ll have to start with Season One. Trust me.)
Thanks to everyone who attended the opening last evening, and an extra special thanks to Katie, Kunal, and Nori for entertaining the crowd and to the staff of Supercore for having us.
Check back next week for a recap of last evening’s festivities, replete with images and HD video clips, and be on the lookout for a possible weekend bonus tomorrow.
Other than that, I’m looking forward to a weekend filled with Los Hermanos chorizo tacos, alternating between the new Hot Chip and Spoon albums, a little Modern Warfare 2 Free-for-All, and heated message board ‘discussions’ concerning reincarnated Sayid’s supposed infection and possible possession by Jacob’s nemesis aka The Smoke Monster Guy, if that really was Claire, and which of the parallel timelines is reality.
After countless restless nights and days of breathless anticipation, the moment has finally come. Tokyo Juxtaposed + Loud Objects, 7pm, Supercore, Williamsburg, Brooklyn,
TONIGHT.
Hope to see you there, although, the weather should prove an adequate and believable excuse if you are unable to attend. Heck, I don’t even know if I’m gonna go, still digging out from Snowmageddon.
In recognition of The Tokyo Juxtaposed Photography Exhibit Opening Party Gala Celebration Event and Potluck Dinner Sleepover emceed by Mr. Kunal Gupta coming up later this week at Supercore, I’ve declared this week to be:
Each business day of the work week I’ll be posting a new photographic juxtaposition for your carefully measured objective consideration, ones that will not be shown at T.T.J.P.E.O.P.G.C.E. & P.D.S. (see above) and may or may not be available in the magazine.
As for a quick update on Thursday’s goings on, it’s looking more and more likely that there will be some sort of projected video juxtapositions on a loop for your attention-deficit-disordered viewing pleasure and there is the distinct possibility of a continuous, amorphous set by Loud Objects, like the bastard child of a radio transmitter and a seven layer cake.
(By the way, none of this is confirmed so don’t tell anyone.)
Unfortunately it looks like Tristan (aka ‘The Cute One‘) will not be in attendance as he is currently ‘out of town.’
Allegedly.
Did you just hear that? That was the sound of the collective heart of a throng of prepubescent Jersey City middle school girls breaking. Sad, sad day indeed.
So look for 2/3 of Loud Objects to bring their unique brand of no bit lo fi chip tune mad scientist circuit bending with silhouetted hands projected on a wall tomfoolery.
Ready your eardrums, prepare your eye sockets, and save the date:
Tokyo Juxtaposed + Loud Objects @ Supercore
Thursday, February 11th, 7pm
305 Bedford Ave
Brooklyn
To hold you over for now, I’ve posted some outtakes below from the nigh-infamous ’stretchy blue fabric’ photo shoot debacle, the one that broke my light stand, left Kunal with a permanent limp, and got Tristan a parking ticket and a pair of chafed forearms.
Katie walked away unscathed. Way to take one for the team Katie!*
(*Not all of the information presented above may be entirely true. In fact, quite a bit of it might be made up.)
