Saturday, February 27, 2010

CONNIE'S CAFE'S MENU

Check out the menu for Connie's Cafe, posted by Liena tonight on her Kensington Prospect blog. Connie's Cafe is owned and operated by Connie Lambropoulos, who was raised right here in Kensington.

Connie's Cafe
424 Church Avenue, at the corner of E. 5th Street
Open every day from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Free delivery, no minimum
(718) 633-3557

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Friday, February 26, 2010

WORKSHOP: DIAGNOSING THE HEALTH OF YOUR BUSINESS

Wednesday, March 24th, and Thursday, March 25th,
8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Workshop: Diagnosing the Health of Your Business

Understanding your business's financial statements is crucial to improving your business operations. Knowing where to look for financial leaks and then monitoring them allows you to make shifts that will make your business more efficient and profitable.

Brendan Guastella will lead this free workshop. He is the owner of Soundview Business Consulting, a Brooklyn-based firm specializing in assisting entrepreneurs, start-ups, and other small businesses in the New York metropolitan area.

Part 1 will be held on Wednesday and Part 2 on Thursday at Capital One Bank, 356 Fulton Street, Brooklyn.

To make a reservation, call (718) 368-6790 or
register on the Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation's website.

More information about the Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) is available at www.bedc.org.

HAITI FUND RAISER AT NAMASTE YOGA TOMORROW

Saturday. February 27th, 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Chi Kung Workshop--A Fund Raiser for the Haiti Relief Fund

To raise money for the Haiti Relief Fund, Namaste Yoga of Kensington will offer a special Chi Kung (Qigong) workshop tomorrow. Teri Gorbea will lead the workshop. This is an introductory class for beginners, but people at all levels are welcome to attend.
  • Learn special self-massages to wake up the inner chi and help alleviate blockages within, allowing energy to flow freely.
  • Feel the Three Powers of Chi Kung: breath, movement, and mental concentration. Experience breathing techniques to revitalize your internal system.
  • Do movements that will strengthen your internal system and work your muscles.
  • Meditate to free your mind, body, and spirit of stagnant energy.
A portion of the $25.00 fee will be donated to the Haiti Relief Fund. Pre-registration and pre-payment are required. Call Namaste Yoga now to reserve a spot!

Namaste Yoga of Kensington
482 Coney Island Avenue, 2nd floor
(347) 533-6226 or 6227
http://www.mynamasteyoga.com
email: info@mynamasteyoga.com

The main entrance to the studio is on Church Avenue. Walk up the red staircase with the red door that's behind the corner pizzeria and next to the car wash service center.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

CONNIE'S CAFE WEBSITE

It's a cafe! It's a restaurant! It's a diner! It's Connie's Cafe, where you're welcome to enjoy breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Connie's website should be up and running soon.

Please see our other posts about Connie's Cafe at
http://karmabrooklyn.blogspot.com/2009/07/connies-cafe-new-business.html,
http://karmabrooklyn.blogspot.com/2009/07/platters-at-connies-cafe.html, and
http://karmabrooklyn.blogspot.com/2009/11/thanks-for-your-community-spirit.html.

And try Connie's new sweet potato fries!

Connie's Cafe
424 Church Avenue, at the corner of E. 5th Street
Open every day from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Free delivery, no minimum
(718) 633-3557

SUPPORT LOCAL INDEPENDENT BUSINESSES!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

"PUP" CRAWL TO BENEFIT SEAN CASEY ANIMAL RESCUE

Saturday, February 20th, 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Smith St. "Pup" Crawl


The Smith St. "Pup" Crawl won't be taking place in our neighborhood, but it'll benefit neighborhood hero Sean Casey's animal rescue.

For $20.00, you can buy a bracelet that will get you drink specials at these participating bars: Angry Wade's, Zombie Hut, Camp, Bar Great Harry, and Ceol. Buy the bracelet at Camp, 179 Smith St., between Warren and Wyckoff streets, starting at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.

All proceeds will go to Sean's animal shelter.

To RSVP--or if you have any questions--please e-mail Jessica at jessmeyer216@yahoo.com.

The Sean Casey Animal Rescue
153 E. 3rd Street (between Fort Hamilton Parkway and Caton Avenue)
Phone: (718) 436-5163
http://scarnyc.org

On Sean's page on Petfinder, you can see photos and read about some of the animals available for adoption.

Sean Casey Animal Rescue on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22sean+casey+animal+rescue%22&search_type=&aq=f


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NEW MENU ITEMS AT MARIA'S PIZZERIA

To coincide with the start of the Lenten season, three shellfish entrees have been added to the menu at Maria's Pizzeria: linguine in clam sauce, shrimp scampi, and shrimp marinara. For shellfish lovers in the neighborhood, Darren will continue to offer them after the end of Lent.

Also new to the menu are slices of cake: chocolate mousse cake, carrot cake, New York cheesecake, cheesecake with a brownie crust, and Mississippi mud pie. A slice costs $3.50. Your KARMA blogger is enjoying a slice of chocolate mousse cake while typing.

Maria's Pizzeria runs specials on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.
  • "Monday Madness": an extra large cheese pie (pick-up or dine-in only; toppings extra) for $10.00, a saving of $4.00.
  • "Turnover Tuesday": two extra large cheese pies, twelve garlic knots, and a garden salad for $28.00, a saving of $8.50.
  • "Wacky Wednesday": all heroes (except shrimp parmigiana and veal cutlet with peppers and onions) for $5.00, a saving of $1.50 to $2.50.
Please see our other post about Maria's Pizzeria at http://karmabrooklyn.blogspot.com/2009/09/welcome-marias-pizzeria.html.

Maria's Pizzeria
3007 Fort Hamilton Parkway, between E. 2nd and E. 3rd streets
(718) 854-7575

winter hours:
Monday-Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.


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WHAT IS KARMABrooklyn?

It's been almost a year since the Kensington Area Resident/Merchant Alliance was formed, and we'd like to tell you more about what we are and what we've done.

KARMA is a group of local small business owners and local residents. We want to help small businesses in our neighborhood stay in business and improve the Kensington area shopping district and your shopping experience. This includes working on beautification and safety issues.

Our "official" boundaries are Church Avenue from 36th Street to Coney Island Avenue and McDonald Avenue from Caton Avenue to Ditmas Avenue--but we sometimes go a bit beyond those boundaries.


When we began meeting last April, we surveyed business owners to find out what their common needs and concerns are. They told us that they aren’t getting enough customers, their rent is headed toward being unaffordable, and the appearance of our streets and sidewalks needs to be improved.

In June, we began holding community meetings, which are open to business owners and residents.


Also in June, we started the KARMABrooklyn Blog and the Kensington Area Community Calendar. We write about local small businesses, post announcements about programs, events, assistance, and legislation that can help them, and post events on the calendar that are of interest to local residents.


We created a two-page color brochure about KARMA.

We collected data for a Shop Local brochure, which will serve as a descriptive guide to our neighborhood’s retail stores, restaurants, and services.

KARMA helped the West Kensington Action Group (WKAG) organize a party to celebrate the opening of a triangular park in the middle of Church Avenue at 35th Street. The celebration featured local musicians, a storyteller, a troupe of young dancers, games for children, and refreshments. WKAG was the driving force behind the creation of a Greenstreets park in an area that was being used as a parking lot for buses waiting to begin their routes.

We sponsored “Daffodil Day,” a day for local residents to beautify the tree pits on our main shopping streets by planting daffodil bulbs, and made arrangements with Connie, the owner of Connie's Cafe, to provide coffee and muffins to participants.


We compiled a list of empty tree pits where trees can be planted and submitted it to the Department of Parks & Recreation through our New York City Councilmember’s office.


We lined up local merchants to donate items to a raffle held by the Albemarle Neighborhood Association.

We designed a flier for a sale being held by a local merchant and helped publicize it.

To help a local restaurant owner obtain a beer and wine license, we created a petition for residents to sign.


We speak up at Community Board 12 meetings.

We speak up at the 66th police precinct's community meetings.

We encourage people who write for the local print and online media to provide much-needed coverage for Kensington.

We formed relationships with the elected officials who represent our neighborhood.

We are working in support of New York City's proposed Small Business Survival Act. The bill would create a program that establishes a fair environment for negotiations between small business owners and their landlords during the commercial lease renewal process, with the goal of determining lease terms that are reasonable.


There's more to do, of course, and we hope that business owners and residents will continue to join KARMA and work together to make Kensington an even better place.

Our blog is located at http://karmabrooklyn.blogspot.com.

We welcome your comments at karmabrooklyn @ gmail.com.

BRANCACCIO'S FOOD SHOP ON FACEBOOK

Brancaccio's Food Shop has a page on Facebook. See a sample menu--and become a fan!

Joe has also started a blog. There isn't much on it yet, but there will be, so keep checking!

Brancaccio's Food Shop
3011 Fort Hamilton Parkway
between E. 2nd and E. 3rd streets
info@BrancacciosFoodShop.com (e-mail checked nightly)
(718) 435-1997
http://brancacciosfoodshop.blogspot.com

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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

A MOTHER'S REVIEW OF THE OAK AND THE IRIS CAFE

The Oak and The Iris Cafe has made a mother and her baby very happy. Mom is a blogger and has reviewed the cafe on her blog, Brooklyn Baby Momma.

The Oak and The Iris Cafe
2826 Fort Hamilton Parkway (corner of E. 4th Street)
(718) 208-7713

menu: http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/the-oak-the-iris/menu

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Friday, February 12, 2010

BRANCACCIO'S FOOD SHOP RECOMMENDATIONS

Your KARMA blogger has now had these dishes from Brancaccio's Food Shop (but not all at once--really!) and enthusiastically recommends them:
  • poached salmon with pistachio crust (had this one twice!)
  • pasta pomodoro (also for sale in the freezer case)
  • butternut squash risotto
  • fingerling potatoes and carrots
  • roasted potatoes with rosemary and garlic
  • grilled mixed vegetables
  • caponata (a Sicilian dish containing eggplant, red peppers, pine nuts, capers, raisins, and more)
  • roasted brussels sprouts, and
  • a chocolate croissant (made on the premises by Chef Joe Brancaccio).
Read "Brancaccio's Food Shop Is an Immediate Hit" on this blog for more information and the store's hours.

Try it--you'll like it!

Brancaccio's Food Shop
3011 Fort Hamilton Parkway
between E. 2nd and E. 3rd streets
info@BrancacciosFoodShop.com (e-mail checked nightly)
(718) 435-1997

SUPPORT LOCAL INDEPENDENT BUSINESSES!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

THREE CHEERS FOR KABIR'S

Oh, the sweets! Kabir's Bakery carries a delicious assortment of goodies for breakfast, dessert, and midnight snacks. Just a few of them are
  • cranberry and banana walnut muffins,
  • cappuccino and blueberry yogurt muffins,
  • chocolate and butter croissants,
  • cherry cheese and apple fruit danish,
  • raisin and cranberry scones,
  • coffee and butter sprinkle cookies,
  • and slices of black forest, mocha, and carrot cake.
From the Indian sub-continent come
  • color burfee, made from condensed milk and sugar and flavored with nuts,
  • hubshe halwa, rich and dark, made with nuts and cardomom,
  • the heavenly golup jum, balls of fried dough in a flavored sugar syrup,
  • and many more.
Kabir's also makes gorgeous layer cakes, themed sheet cakes for children's birthday parties, and inspired wedding cakes.

Enjoy your treats with a cup of coffee or tea at a table in the back or get them to go!


Kabir's Bakery
97 Church Avenue
between McDonald Avenue and Dahill Road
(718) 853-7907
http://www.kabirsbakery.com

Open daily, 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

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