Clam Shack Baby!

Photo via NY Eater

Recently we got word that three dudes are planning on opening up a "New England-style clam shack" called Littleneck in a 1200-foot space over near the Gowanus Canal (specifically, 3rd Ave between Carroll & President). I spent the first twenty-two years of my life in New England and drove by a joint called Clam Haven almost every day on the way to high school, so I'm quite familiar with the ways of the New England-style clam shack. Basically, Brooklynites should get ready to be served big-bellied clams by a big-bellied woman with the sweetest non-ironic mullet you've ever seen.

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Sneak Peek: Zito's Sandwich Shoppe

Image via Park Slope Lens

Oh, circle of life. Last week, Tonio's, the old school Italian mainstay that had called 7th Ave home for the past nineteen years, shuttered their doors, ending a long run in the neighborhood. While it's disappointing to see it go, it couldn't have come as that much of a shock to anyone familiar with the amount of closings in the hood over the last few years.

At the same time, in the spot three doors down that used to house Peek-a-Boo Kids, there's a new school Italian joint that's slated to open up within the next month — Zito's Sandwich Shoppe. It's the product of two brothers-in-law — Marcello & Enzo — who named the joint in honor of the family they both married into and its patriarch, Charlie. Last Friday I swung by to get a sneak preview of the space and although it's still in the somewhat early stages of construction, they left me with a good idea of what to expect.

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What To Expect From Thistle Hill Tavern Part Deux

Chef Dale Talde / Photo via My Kitchen Diary

Not long ago we got wind that the owners of Thistle Hill Tavern were opening a modern Asian-American restaurant, and that the head chef would be Top Chef's (and Top Chef Masters) Dale Talde. The restaurant, which is to be called Talde, will be that of the fusion kind; mixing Southeast Asian flavors with Japanese and Chinese influences. They also plan to incorporate a lot of Brooklyn into the menu (Prospect Park grass-infused Vodka, perhaps?).

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OPEN: Ivy Garden!

IMAGE VIA BROWNSTONER

We've been fielding several reports on the awesomeness of the new organic market that is finally open on the corner of 4th Ave and President Street. It's called Ivy Garden, and according to FIPS reader Amy, it's pretty darn mind blowing:

"Got off the train tonight at 10:30 and all of us Union St R-ers were freaking out: Ivy Garden, that new supermarket on the corner of President and 4th  is open. And it's beautiful. I want to kiss it on the mouth.

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Hallelujah, Mazeltov and Gesundheit: Park Slope is Getting A Butcher Named Fleisher!

Maybe there is a God! Now please, please, please add in a little bitty deli section with, say, brisket, pastrami and matzoh ball soup and we will be yours forever more.

Per the Village Voice's Fork In the Road blog, 

"Conscientious carnivores, rejoice! Fleisher's Meats, the Kingston, N.Y., butcher shop synonymous with high-quality grass-fed/local/organic meats, will open a shop in Park Slope, likely on Sept. 1.

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