The scent of drying grain wafts from the door of Coney Island's
New York Bread bakery. The aroma emanates from the cooling room, where rack after rack of
dark rye and wheat loaves wait to be bagged and shipped. For Brooklyn's Russian community, that smell is the essence of the homeland, of rolling fields of wheat and rye baking in the summer sun.
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Badri, the Georgian baker of Neptune Avenue, is a slave to his oven. Before he could open Georgian Bread, he had to construct a toné, the Georgian version of the tandoor. This beehive-shaped oven sits in the middle of his storefront bakery bellowing heat during the hottest summer days. Six days a week, he has to wake up at 4:00am to get to his bakery by five and light the oven. Then he ties a cloth around his head and begins to work. With just one assistant, he spends the next 12 hours mixing dough, baking bread, making Georgian salads, and tending customers. Everything he makes is delicious.
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To continue with the "tacos on the beach theme" that began last week at Rockaway Taco, this week I took another trip to another beach in a another borough: Coney Island. There are a few taco stands off the boardwalk,...
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"We're starting to wonder if the mysteries of Russian sushi are worth another visit." [Photos: Hawk Krall] At the eastern end of Surf Avenue, where the slightly sad yet beautiful remains of Coney Island morph into the Eastern European neighborhood...
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As New Yorkers, we sometimes take for granted that we are surrounded by some of the best and most varied food in the world. But every now and again we should stop and marvel about our rich and deep...
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The original Nathan's World Famous Frankfurters shack, opened in 1916 on Coney Island, may be threatened by the ever-shifting landscape of Brooklyn zoning. One true Nathan's fan has penned an online petition to assign the building landmark status and save...
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Takeru Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut competing in Nathan's Hot Dog-Eating Contest 2008 during overtime. Despite New York City's proposal to crowd Coney Island with high rises, the original Nathan's hot dog stand will remain the venue for this year's...
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The latest in Red Hook vendors world: the tentative start date for the ballfields grand re-opening we gave you last week is official: May 2. Representative Cesar Fuentes just sent out a press release setting that date in stone....
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Last week, director Cesar Fuentes insinuated a third location for the Red Hook ballfield vendors (after the ballfield itself and the Brooklyn Flea), and that appears to be Dreamland amusement park, the new permutation of Astroland on Coney Island....
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Nathan's has stood on the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island since 1916, but according to the Brooklyn Paper, the mustard dispensers might disappear. A new building with a hotel, amusement park, and retail stores may...
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