It is a breezy night and 390 Social, a chic cocktail bar, restaurant and event space in Park Slope owned by Ronny Jaramillo, is hosting a special pop-up seafood dinner. The dinner is an ode to Bar Crudo, the oyster bar that Jaramillo used to run just a few buildings up the street that closed its doors some months back. Although no longer operational, Bar Crudo is close to Jaramillo’s heart, which makes this night particularly important. The dinner, in four courses, features a diverse offering of seafood: oysters, of course, ceviche, and the main: an incredible seafood paella. But things aren ..read more

There are more concerts to see, cuisines to taste and cherry blossoms to smell this week than this column could possibly include. Here is the best of the best. The Audobon Center in Prospect Park highlights Arbor Day on Friday with an afternoon of botanical exploration for the entire family. Lynn Nottage’s “Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine” is being performed at the Billie Holiday Theatre all weekend and through May 7. On Saturday night, The Red Pavilion hosts Studio Ghibli + Anime Jazz, an evening of your favorite anime music performed as jazz in collaboration with aerial artists Su ..read more

Down by the Brooklyn waterfront on Columbia Street, on a block that hasn’t seen a lot of action since the legendary Pok Pok closed back in 2018, a crowd started gathering before 8 a.m. a couple of Saturdays ago. It was opening day for Laurel Bakery. The neighborhood was stoked. “We expected to be busy, but not lines-down-the-block busy,” chef and co-owner Nico Russell tells Brooklyn Magazine. “We’re very lucky. Very fortunate. The community’s been very welcoming. Everyone’s been really, really cool. This is going to be a really great neighborhood spot.” On the waterfront (Photo by Scott Lync ..read more

If there’s one thing New Yorkers like to do, it’s eat. After that, it might be arguing over where to eat — where to find the best slice, the best bagel, best B.E.C., best ramen, and the list goes on. One way to experience some of Brooklyn’s tastiest bites is by embarking on a food tour. Of course, there’s nothing to stop you from walking out the front door on a Saturday afternoon and going on your own food tour of Sunset Park, Bay Ridge, or Greenpoint, but the option to focus on eating as a professional guides you around one of Brooklyn’s neighborhoods, dispensing doses of history as you nosh ..read more

Bar Madonna, a viby new cocktail spot and restaurant that opened a couple of weeks ago in Williamsburg, took some twists and turns on its way to transforming the old Taqueria Diana Cantina space on Metropolitan Avenue. Food- and drinks-wise, the team at Bar Madonna, which include Eric Madonna, Ray Rando, beverage director Rob Crowe and chef Rob Zwirz, joined forces for this venture after working together in various iterations at places like Carbone, the Modern, Lupa, Bar Americano and Marc Forgione’s One Fifth. Given the emphasis on booze here, and the playful, “Italian-American inspired” foo ..read more

This weekend sees the return of the triumvirate that is 4/20, Earth Day and Record Store Day. Nice. The sun should cooperate this weekend. Either way, there’s no shortage of things for you to do indoors and outside the bulk of the weekend. Cypress Hill will be swinging through town to celebrate the very sane-in-the-membrane legalization of weed. The Lifted 420 Festival has 12 hours of green-filled fun for you at The Meadows and the Weed Auntie will pop up at the annual FLAMER picnic in Prospect Park. The hit indie dark comedy “The People’s Joker,” which reimagines the DC character and feature ..read more

From its scrappy beginnings some 16 years ago, when it first opened in what was then a grim industrial patch of Bushwick near the Morgan L train stop, Roberta’s has grown into an empire. There are outposts in Williamsburg now, and Nashville, and Singapore, and, soon, near Penn Station. I’ve eaten their signature bee sting pie (cheese, funky meat, hot honey — pretty much every pizza place in town offers a version of this now) out at Rockaway on the Beach 67 boardwalk and among the art swells at Frieze on Randalls Island. They’ve launched fancy offshoots like Blanca and Foul Witch. You can ..read more

“Te portas bonito?” Lucky for you, It’s officially Bad Bunny weekend in Brooklyn: Benito is coming to the Barclays Center for three consecutive nights starting Thursday. Didn’t cop tickets? Check- out “Queering the Canon: Besties” at BAM, where you can see some of the best queer movies of all time, Friday through Monday. Also this weekend, The New Mastersounds bring their funky sound to the Brooklyn Bowl on Friday and Saturday. Many Dumbo artist studios are taking part in Dumbo Open Studios during the day Saturday. The Brooklyn Cyclones have all-you-can-drink home games beginning this Saturda ..read more

Park Slope’s Pasta Louise, which Allison Arevelo opened in July 2020 after selling noodles from her stoop during those earliest pandemic times, has been a big hit in this famously family-friendly part of Brooklyn. The menu is filled with crowd-pleasers: There’s booze if you want (need) a drink, and it’s a reliable go-to for just about any occasion involving multiple generations. “On a Saturday afternoon, it’s like a stroller parking lot here,” she says. And Arevelo totally gets it! She lives right nearby and has two school-age kids herself. But one night late last year she and a friend wanted ..read more

John McFadden Jr. hasn’t had a chance to eat all day; it’s been too busy. And now, a reporter is here to interview him. He comes around to the end of the meat counter and leans against a massive carving block. Behind him hangs a sign: GAME BIRDS AVAILABLE: Guinea Hen; Quail; Wild Turkey; Goose; Squab; Partridge. Not mentioned are the dozens of meats, cheeses, sausages, patties, pasta, sauces, jams, oils, peppers and more that fill every square inch of the market space. McFadden is at the helm of Staubitz Market, the 106-year-old Cobble Hill institution, and New York’s oldest operating butcher ..read more