New Year’s Eve events are rolling in, and if you haven’t made plans yet, you might consider making a reservation in the neighborhood in the next few days. Here’s a good one from The Castello Plan:
Two seatings are available on New Year’s Eve, so you can stop in for dinner before heading to a party or to watch the ball drop from your own comfy couch, or you can ring in 2012 in at the restaurant.
The 6pm seating is $60 per person, and the 9:30pm seating is $80 per person. Each includes a feat of 10 plates, half a bottle of wine, and a Champagne tasting.
Seating is limited, call 718-856-8888 to make reservations.
The Castello Plan is hosting a special night of world music starting this evening at 8pm:
Jerusalem-born Zafer Tawil is an accomplished Palestinian musician whose areas of expertise include the oud, violin, qanun, and Arab percussion. He has performed with some of the most celebrated world music artists, including violinist and oud master Simon Shaheen and Rai singer Cheb Mami. After moving to New York in 2009, jazz drummer Philip Mayer soon discovered the world of frame drumming- as discovery that led him to India, Spain, Italy, and Israel where he studied Arabic percussion with such masters as Zohar Fresco and Yshai Afterman.
You can learn everything you need to know about choosing wines that will make the whole family happy at Thanksgiving (or ones to keep for yourself) if you sit down for a glass at The Castello Plan and ask Ben for help. Even Saveur knows this, and the magazine consulted him when they asked several sommeliers to suggest wines for Thanksgiving that are worth buying by the case:
Les Chais du Vieux Bourg “BB1″ 2008
Sommelier Ben Heemskerk of Brooklyn’s The Castello Plan says: “Do you know what your sommelier or favorite waiter is going to bring to their Thanksgiving dinner and not share with the rest of the table? This wine. Dirty yet classic; round yet crisp, this is fantastic wine from a fantastic region, the Jura (also known as the worst-kept secret in the elusive wine world).”
Reminder that the Prospect Park South Halloween Parade gathers at 5pm, and the West Midwood Halloween Parade gathers at 6pm.
Looking to fill your kids’ bellies with actual food before they gorge on candy? Picket Fence has a deal today where kids can eat free, with an adult purchase.
Prefer to avoid the clamor of children in costume? Try the Castello Plan, where Sean Moran will be playing the blues, and glasses of blood red wine will be $6 all night.
Chef Natasha Pogrebinsky sent a note earlier today that she’s left her post at The Castello Plan, and she wanted to send her thanks to the neighborhood. Sounds like we’ll see her again soon, though.
Dear Ditmas Park community,
As of this afternoon I am leaving my post as Executive Chef of The Castello Plan. It has been a pleasure to get to know all of you. It’s been a pleasure to cook for you and to share my passion and love of culinary. I want to say thank you to all of my loyal customers. I always looked forward to seeing you at dinner and at brunch, getting to know your tastes and being able to bring something new and exciting to your pallet. A big thanks to all the happy couples who chose me to cook for your weddings, your engagements, your birthdays and other celebrations.
Although I will not be returning to this restaurant I will continue to cook, and will make an announcement in the coming weeks about where my new kitchen will be. I hope to see you all very soon and to cook many more exciting meals for you. This is not goodbye, only a short break between meals. Have a happy Labor Day everybody!
The Castello Plan’s Ben Heemskerk tells us he and Avi Shuker “are proud of the successes we have achieved at The Castello Plan over the last 18 months and would like to thank Natasha for her contribution.” They are working on a new fall menu with their new chef, and will share all the details in the coming weeks.
The New Yorker ventured out to Cortelyou Road recently, and they liked what they found at the trifecta of Mimi’s, Market, and the Castello Plan.
They suggest you try Mimi’s for “hummus so fresh and flavorful it might change your life” (which you can get at lunch too), and they recommend the Castello Plan’s extensive and interesting wine list, which is “sold convincingly by a gently professorial staff,” adding that “it’s a lovely place to have a glass or three.”
Good advice! Grab a bottle for yourself tomorrow when Evanescent, with Bliss Blood and Al Street, play live beginning at 8pm.
Performing this week at The Castello Plan are two artists who play the area a lot, but if you haven’t caught them yet, now’s your chance. Clay Ross is up tonight, Monday, August 1, and Michaela Anne is in on Thursday, August 4. As always, the music begins at 8pm.
Just a heads up that there’s a Groupon deal available today for The Castello Plan: $55 for a wine- or beer-tasting package for two (normally $112). It includes:
Tasting flight of 5 half pours
Wine or belgian beer
Cheese & charcuterie board
Three small plates included
Snatch one up and maybe bring someone who’s never been before.
In general, I think it’d be great to see more of our local businesses on Groupon. If you own a business or want to encourage one of your favorites to get a deal going, you should check out GrouponWorks, their site for business owners. Just make sure to do your homework and figure out if a daily deal is right for you. There is some skepticism about whether it results in enough new repeat business to justify the investment.
A last-minute reminder to check out some great New York City musicians tonight at 8pm at The Castello Plan: Charlie Burnham (pictured), David Phelps, Marcus Rojas will all be playing.
Stop by, enjoy some music, wine, and a new dish of rabbit leg and thigh roasted with thyme & garlic served with Yukon potato in a white wine, carrot, and ginger bisque.
A new dinner menu at The Castello Plan includes this drool-worthy BBQ pork sandwich with pickles and house cherry-BBQ sauce. Also, tonight they’re doing a Father’s Day Special: Ribeye steak served with roasted peaches, pureed yams & summer black truffle from France. Yum–I don’t think you have to be a dad to appreciate that!
Jay and Lee from www.rumbaflamenca.com will be performing at The Castello Plan on Saturday afternoon at 2:00. Enjoy a beautiful spring afternoon on the patio of The Castello Plan with live Spanish Guitar.
Adrianna Mateo, violinist (shown above playing Mendelssohn in a quartet), has performed at Steinway Hall and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Tonight (Monday, May 23) she’ll appear at the Castello Plan playing all solo violin works, featuring contemporary classical music, Brazilian choro, improvisations, and J. S. Bach’s monumental Chaconne in D minor. Starts at 8pm.
If the first step is admitting you have a problem, then the second step is heading to The Castello Plan tonight to indulge it at a special event celebrating a special wine and its makers:
Many Ditmas Parkers have developed a problem….a bad addiction to Alcyone Tannat Dessert Wine. Now we are hosting the maker of this “medicine” at The Castello Plan on Wednesday, April 27th from 7:30 to 9:30pm. Also, enjoy 2 glasses of his wines (including one glass of Alcyone) and some of our Belgian Chocolate for $25. Perfect Spring Evening at The Castello Plan!!!
It’s a little bit of an unfair tease since you can’t get this until the weekend, but this Scottish egg was recently added to the menu at The Castello Plan. The soft-boiled egg wrapped in sausage, breaded, and deep-fried is available during brunch, Saturday and Sunday from 11:30am-4pm.
Today the Brooklyn Paper points us to Tasting Brooklyn, an event produced by Brooklyn Exposed to celebrate the website’s first anniversary. As the name suggests, the event is all about Brooklyn food and drink, and it will include two locals:
With that, there’ll be stewed mushroom crostini from The Castello Plan in Flatbush, lamb sliders from Cobble Hill’s Clover Club, braised short rib ravioli from Fornino and Park Slope, and chicken and pork adobo from Ditmas Park’s Purple Yam.
Tasting Brooklyn Tuesday, April 5
DUMBO Loft, 155 Water St. at Anchorage Place 6:30 pm
Tickets are $45 and can be purchased on Tasting Brooklyn.
Stop by The Castello Plan this Wednesday 3/30 for all-you-can-eat steamed mussels & 2 Ommegang Hennepin Saison beers for $25. Not a bad deal, and it’s supposed to be around 50 degrees, so maybe the garden’ll be open.
The Castello Plan is hosting Erika DeJulia, world-renowned Flamenco dancer, to perform live Flamenco Dancing with live Spanish Guitar accompaniment this Thursday at 8pm.
ALRIGHT THEN….i have rarely felt so fired up as i have the moment i heard that the susan g. komen breast cancer charity had made some politically-motivated back-room board deal/manipulation to pull funding from planned parenthood. and then listened to them spin spin spin during the vertigo-inspiring fall-out. but most people, it turns out, have […]
Which is better for kids - karate or taekwondo? Sensei Serge from Urban Martial Arts in Brooklyn NY explains the difference between karate vs taekwondo for kids. […]
I just spent an intensive weekend with the CIA. That’s the Culinary Institute of America, not the Central Intelligence Agency. So, to clarify further, I was in Hyde Park, NY, rather than Langley, VA, and I was happy to be present at the CIA where the food may be grilled but the “guests” are not. […]
You deserve a night out on the town, kid-free. So why not drop your child with us on Sat, Feb 11, 2012 from 6 pm to 9 pm for a night of pizza, fun, and games? […]
Article By ALISON GOPNIK Read the Wall Street Journal Brain research is often taken to mean that adolescents are really just defective adults—grown-ups with a missing part. Public policy debates about teenagers thus often turn on the question of when, exactly, certain areas of the brain develop, and so at what age children should be allowed […]
Urban Martial Arts rocked the house at the Long Island Winter Open Karate Tournament 2012! We took home two 1st place, five 2nd place, two 3rd place, and two 4th place trophies. […]
Susan G. Komen foundation has decided to cut funding to Planned Parenthood – having been influenced by political right-wing moolah. Screw them. Don’t give them a penny and let them know. I encourage you to unsubscribe their emails and post to your Facebook or social network site and email them also to tell them that […]
AMAZING story in this morning’s Arts section of The New York Times about folklorist Alan Lomax. Lomax, who was the first to record Woody Guthrie and Muddy Waters, dedicated his life to increasing the awareness of traditional music by doing radio and television programs, organizing concerts and festivals, and writing books, articles and essays. Next month, hi […]
Dirt Talk Two: Geology and Soils of New York City with Dr. Charles Merguerian Ample overview of regional geology, the talk will zero in on the geology and soils of Brooklyn by Dr. Merguerian of Hofstra University and Duke Geological Laboratory and the nationally recognized leading authority of the NYC area.Tuesday Feb 21st, 20128 - 9:00 pmDownstairs @ Sycamo […]
There are some pretty significant releases ahead in the next couple months. To get us all hot and excited about them, artists and labels typically put out a mini documentary or the first single video on YouTube a few weeks/months before the album is released. Here are three videos that precede three highly anticipated albums […]
Drew Grow & The Pastors’ Wives, the Portland alt-Gospel band, is about to join The Head and the Heart on a tour that will likely put the band on the map. Grow and his band will open up for their fellow Pacific Northwest friends with a sound that most THATH fans will eat up. Check […]
New Year’s Eve events are rolling in, and if you haven’t made plans yet, you might consider making a reservation in the neighborhood in the next few days. Here’s a good one from The Castello Plan:
