[What You Should Order At…] Nahm Thai Kitchen

Two words: Vegetarian Duck.

For someone who doesn’t eat meat, there’s no greater delicacy than vegetarian duck (also known as mock duck ). It’s basically a seitan concoction that is stewed in a shit-ton of soy sauce and MSG. When my husband and I lived in Chelsea, we would get our fix at a place called Home on Eighth that has since closed. When we were childless and he worked in the East Village, we would go to Pukk. Now that we live in Park Slope, and don’t venture further than the 3^rd Street playground, we go to Nahm. I’m sorry, that was misleading. I should have said Nahm comes to us. We’ve never actually been inside. 

The Nahm menu features every classic Thai dish an American has come to expect. But here’s where they set themselves apart: every entree can be ordered with…you guessed it…VEGETARIAN DUCK! So the vegetarian never, ever feels left out. Your friend’s calling in an order of Sweet and Sour Beef? Ha! No problem! You order the Sweet and Sour VD! Your parents are in town and want Peanut Curry with Chicken?  Fine! You get Peanut Curry with VD! Your ex-girlfriend tempts you with spicy noodles and shrimp? You’ll show her with spicy noodles and your VD!

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Our [Potential First] Lady of 11th Street

It’s fun having a Park Sloper run for Mayor! A neighborhood guy stretching his wings, flying into the big time on behalf of the rest of us who trudge along with our broken dreams and double strollers…

It seems, however, that the proverbial wind beneath Mr. de Blasio’s wings is his wife of 20 years, Chirlane McCray. 

You might have written Chirlane McCray off as just another Park Slope lesbian-turned-mom-of-two with a prestigious education and a husband who picks up the take out on his way home from work. She’s also, however, a dedicated politician.  And, like Hillary before her, she’s making it known that she’s as much a part of husband’s platform as he is.

Last week, the Times called McCray a “mastermind behind the biggest political upset of the year and a sought-after voice as the city re-evaluates what it most wants from its first family:”

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[FIPS WAS THERE...] Brooklyn Book Festival

Image via tinhouse.comOkay, so there’s something innately awkward and irritating about convention-style booths.  Are you obligated to make small talk with the guy behind the table before taking a pen?  Are those free-looking gifts really free?  Is it okay to throw away all the brochures you collected as soon as you get home or do you have to shove them in your junk drawer for six months first? 

Inherent conference issues aside, Sunday’s Brooklyn Book Festival was a gorgeous success.  Over 200 booths were scattered around Borough Hall and Columbus Park.  There were booths for literary magazines (Tin House, The Paris Review, A Public Space), booths for small presses (Bellevue Literary Press, Soho Press), booths for bookstores (the Strand, the Community Bookstore, powerHouse Arena), and booths for industrious, self-promoting authors (Theresa Varela, Pink Maxwell, Rosemary Harris).

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[My Favorite Park Slope…] Salted Chocolate Chip Cookie

Remember a few years back when salt suddenly became a BFD?  There were those rainbow colored salts (Red Sea Salt! Black Lava Salt!) at Williams Sonoma that became everyone’s go-to last minute gift, and there was that book—literally titled Salt —in the window of every bookstore in the city?  Then Blue Marble added salt to its topping list, and for only seventy-five cents you could get it sprinkled on your ice cream?  And then that store opened in the Village, the artisanal salt store, which will sells SALT STARTER SETS and suggests that you “look at each salt up close, admiring the extraordinary range of shapes and colors, noting how they refract, reflect, or obscure light?”

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OH TO LIVE ON CARROLL STREET!

I assumed that block parties had gone the way of Jello Salad and martini lunches.  Then I moved to Park Slope, where the quaint pleasures of an earlier time still seem to be intact.  A few weeks ago, my PS block celebrated summer, life, childhood, and first world dumb luck with a bouncy castle and some communal mac and cheese.  Needless to say, I was impressed.  That is, until I saw this flyer for an upcoming block party on Carroll Street.

?!?!????!!!!  It’s as if the townspeople from The Music Man recruited Leslie Knope to plan the super-duperist day of folksy fun in the HISTORY OF THE WOLRD! Let’s review in a more detail:

You’ll start off with some coffee and homemade baked goods at #643.  Now, don’t forget to BYO Mug.  This cuts down on paper waste and creates a homey feeling right off the bat.  On this day, not only is the world your oyster, but the street your breakfast nook!  Of course, you’ll all pitch in with the cleaning (BYO Broom!), during the synchronized street sweep.  And for those of you who finish your chores early, there’s yoga at 10 (BYO Mat and Inner Calm!). 

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