Five Leaves- Greenpoint

I stumbled upon the new restaurant, Five Leaves in Greenpoint a few days after its opening. It has been getting a lot of press as Heath Ledger was one of the investors. The ambience is fantastic, designed by the same person who did Moto but sadly I can't say the same for the food or service. We ordered an appetizer of ricotta and fig that was so bland, we all put down our forks. We also tried the roasted chicken with lentils (the lentils being the best thing on the table), the Five Leaves burger and a regular burger. We all left pretty dissatisfied. Granted, it had just opened so there are kinks to be worked out. I would be willing to give it another shot but am far more likely to go there for a drink and hang at the bar then actually order dinner again.
(Photo courtesy of Trendhunter)

3 Songs on Repeat This Week

Hot Chip- "Made In The Dark"
Not a typical Hot Chip song, I actually didn't think I liked them until I heard this song. Really slow and great.

T.I.- "Swagger Like This"
An M.I.A. sample, Kayne, Jay Z, Lil Wayne, T.I. - need I say more.

Jenny Lewis- "Acid Tongue"
Great song, the title track and pretty much my favorite.

Man, I LOVE Chris Rock

Hood Updates

South Brooklyn Pizza is adding to the menu, ummm... clams. (Eater) I ate here recently and I have to say, the pizza was delicious.

Red Hook's new bar, Botanica is slowly adding food to their menu and the Real World cast is banned from shooting there. (NewYorkology)

Char No4 is done and almost open. Looks great from the outside- described as "Southern food with some smoky barbecue touches can be washed down with more than 150 American whiskeys" it open on Smith Street in Cobble Hill on 9/15.

The General Greene in Fort Greene get a so-so review from the NYT New bistro-like restaurant, No 7 "helmed by a former Frankie's GM/sommelier, a former Perry Street chef, plus the designer behind all of Weather Up and "1/15th of The Box" in Fort Greene.

A Freeman's spin off is coming to Vinegar Hill, hopefully they will bring the spinach-artichoke dip with them. (Brownstoner)

M.I.A.'s clothing line

M.I.A. we love you but yeah, no....

Only the Japanese...

Japanese Blogger, Jacket Lunch Box has a lot of time on his hands apparently but hell, the guy is doing something cool with it.... recreating record albums with food!

When a Someecards Just Won't Do

There is a new site that is maybe, sort of, kind of like Muxtape in theory, Postcard.fm. You can upload an image and a song to go with it and email it to someone. Cute.

Booker Prize Short List

The Booker Prize Short List was announced today, see the list under the cut. I am sad to say I have not read any of them. Although I have been reading a lot of books and scripts recently just apparently not the Booker Prize ones. Some of my recent favorites include Random Family (book club pick), Samaritan (Wire fanatic choice), The Wrestler (script), Where The Wild Things Are (script) and Hunting and Gathering (french chick lit). I am in the middle of Jennifer's Body (script) and the novel, Then We Came to an End.


Booker Prize Shortlist
Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger (Atlantic)
Sebastian Barry, The Secret Scripture (Faber and Faber)
Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies (John Murray)
Linda Grant, The Clothes on Their Backs (Virago)
Philip Hensher, The Northern Clemency (Fourth Estate)
Steve Toltz, A Fraction of the Whole (Hamish Hamilton)

The Auteurs Cinema

Check it. The Auteurs Cinema (in conjunction with Criterion Collection) is offering some of the best films screened over the 35 years of the Telluride Film Festival... FOR FREE. You can watch the full movies online. Some gems like Kieslowsk's The Double Life of Veronique and Malle's Au Revoir Les Enfants are not to be missed and are ripe for revisits.

Goodbye Summer... I Barely Knew You