MotherSister Brooklyn

The Fort Greene Retail Survey results aren’t all in yet, but it seems safe to say that grocery stores are likely to rank high as a community want. Yet already the times when your best hope for a quick and inexpensive bite to eat once you arrived back home in Fort Greene were take-out from Cambodian Cuisine or a slice from Mario’s are well and truly gone. Besides all of the restaurants that have opened up in the ‘hood in the past decade, the past three months have seen the introduction of lots of small market options. The latest, Provisions (753 Fulton St.), has been open for four hours and is serving free coffee as I type.

According to Jason, one of the store’s partners, fresh fish and meat will be available on Tuesday; the rest, including cheeses and charcuterie, will show up over the course of the next month. There have been murmurs of concern about the number of groceries in close proximity — including R&J’s, Fresh Garden, Greene Farm, Union Market, and whatever the Brooklyn Heights-based prepared food company that snapped up the former Seven Corners hardware space is going to open — but Jason didn’t seem particularly worried. Speaking of Fresh Garden specifically, he said, “I think we’ll complement each other.”

Now, will all of this stop me from ordering from Fresh Direct? Let’s face it, probably not; the convenience of being able to order online and have it show up at my door is too good to pass up (maybe if I didn’t have a toddler to wrangle and my local Met wasn’t so crummy…). But I’m finding already that I prefer to go to Fresh Garden for good fruit (Fresh Direct’s is generally crap; I used to go all the way to Citarella in Manhattan) and La Mediterranee yogurt, and I may find myself stepping into Provisions for other extras and treats (such as the freeze-dried peaches and Rao’s tomato sauce I picked up today). The prepared foods place could also be a boon (other than pizza, Fresh Direct doesn’t do that well, either). My homelier end of Fulton in Clinton Hill appears to be gaining an organic food shop, which if it’s really worth a damn will be fantastic to have; I’m also looking forward to Choice Market II, whenever they get their landmarks situation sorted and the doors open. Nothing here is really a one-stop solution (though a possible food co-op is promising); still, it’s nice to finally have some worthwhile options.

The best mixtape I ever received was so good that I still keep a Walkman around in order to listen to it from time to time. It was a 21st-birthday gift from Colin Brooks, a friend since high school and a drummer so talented that he was receiving press plaudits before he received his diploma (as I recall, one review in the Little Rock Spectrum appreciatively noted that he “pounds the drums as if they owe him money”). The mixtape, which includes treats such as Frank Black’s “Abstract Plain,” Elvis Costello’s “Welcome to the Working Week,” and the Stones’ “Tumblin’ Dice,” was not only a kind-hearted effort to ease my oppressive anxiety over misguided romances and looming wage-slavin’ but also an eclectic demonstration of Colin’s appreciation of smart pop tunesmithery wrapped in driving rock ‘n’ roll.

At the time he gifted me with the tape, Colin had already provided the backbeat for at least 10 Little Rock punk bands, including the Numbskulz and Substance; in the 10 years since, he has also served time with Skeleton Key, Sea Ray, The Stills, and now Dan Zanes & Friends. That’s right: Dan Zanes, formerly of the Del Fuegos and now the free world’s best hope for all-access music that doesn’t make you want to break the CD player after your child has listened to it 50 times.  The group has won leagues of devoted fans and industry respect (including a Grammy Award); guests on their records include Debbie Harry, Lou Reed, Aimee Mann, and John Doe. Still, I never quite foresaw the day when my grizzled friend would be surrounded by any bottles that didn’t contain beer, so I used the excuse of the band’s upcoming February show at BAM to pester Colin about exactly how it came to this.

Find out how Colin navigates the underbelly of rock stardom — y’know, the soft one that involves pajama parties and plenty of coffee — while staying true to his indie rock roots after the jump.

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When most people think of surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding, New York City is not usually the first image that comes to mind — but that’s because they just don’t know. They’re starting to find out, though: the Gray Lady recently took notice of a Brooklyn band of skaters, and new shops such as the Harlem-based Everything Must Go and Homage in Cobble Hill have started serving up gear. But one company that pulls board sports into a truly 21st-century reality (it’s all about the mix, y’all) is Brooklyn Surfer. Established just several years ago by Michael Green, a surfer/skater/snowboarder and “creative dude” in the ad business, Brooklyn Surfer is an apparel company and a conceptual brand; Green’s affiliate company, BSI Agency, has clients that include MTV, Sony, and Microsoft.

Michael is soon off to a trade show in Germany, followed by a few days to enjoy the powder in Vermont before returning to dig into the next season of Brooklyn Surfer products and concepts. He took a time out, though, to tell me how Brooklyn Surfer represents the true surfer of life.

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The bitter winter cold makes me think of my two-year lost weekend in Southern California, and thoughts of SoCal plus watching The Scamp toss his lithe body around into yoga poses makes me think of surfing. Which I never attempted, to my regret; I opted to live vicariously through my then-boyfriend, a dedicated surfer practically since he could walk. It was a boys’ club and an exhilaratingly fun one, though I longed to meet other women who weren’t part of the beached girlfriends brigade.

That’s why Andrea Kabwasa is an inspiration. The California-born, Europe- and Africa-raised Kabwasa is a diplomat’s daughter and special-education teacher who first stood up on a surfboard at the age of 32. She’s been a dedicated surfer since (her 40th birthday is next August), and the first black woman to surf longboard competitively; she’s even building her own surfboard now. She teaches free surf clinics with the Black Surfing Assocation – “I’ve taught a lot of moms, which is so cool,” she says – and she’s an ambassador to the easily intimidated (like me), noting that she hadn’t been swimming for 10 years when she started (“You don’t need to be an excellent swimmer,” she says encouragingly).

My complete chat with Andrea is after the jump.
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