Food, Love, and Promo in the Shwick

It's an exciting time to live in our neighborhood--first the artists, then the farmer's market, now a wine bar, and soon a co-op!

- Tomorrow we'll get our first order from the newly established Bushwick Food Coop, which for the immediate future is operating as a buying club and CSA for local, organic, sustainable food from quality sources. The collective making this all happen is comprised of some really great people, including Gwen of Roberta's and Brooklyn Grange fame. On top of bringing more food options to the 'hood, they've also been partnering with Tandem to screen food and social justice documentaries like Food Inc., Bodega Down Bronx, and The Real Dirt on Farmer John. We haven't been able to catch any of these yet, but hope the series continues into the summer.

For their first buying club dry run, we ordered eggs, raw milk (eep!), asparagus and leafy green produce, and some staples and dry goods for significantly less than we've been paying at Whole Foods and the famers' markets. Buying power gets stronger the more people sign up, so if you're in the area, we strongly recommend you check it out.

- On a beautifully interrelated note, Bushwick Farmers' Market organizer and former interviewee Travis Tench also emailed us today to spread the word about Earth Day events he's planning with his latest venture, EcoStation: NY, "a new Bushwick-based nonprofit dedicated to environmental and food justice. And fun." They're celebrating all weekend, with events including a sunrise summit at The Secret Garden (one of Zach's favorite garden spots), a barbeque/film screening/concert and joint fundraiser with the coop folks at Bushwick Bike Shop, and an inaugural potluck and seed swap this Sunday at the Woodbine Street Garden.

I have to say, swapping seeds and cooking out with neighbors is a whole lot more conducive to lasting environmental awareness and grassroots change than say, the ridiculous and irrelevant events the city's planning in Manhattan. I would love to know which ad rep decided that reducing the word "earth" to the letter E and a lame hand-signal would somehow move consumers to deeper environmental consciousness. Sigh.

- Finally, I raise my biodynamic glass to the lovely proprietors of the newly opened Bodega Wine Bar on Troutman and St. Nicholas. The menu is an unpretentious mix of tapas like artichokes, olives, and cheese, with local and international wine and beer that are carefully selected from small, sustainably-leaning vineyards. Owners/Bartenders Gina and Ben will generously let you try a little bit of everything to help you order--the first time we went Zach ordered a surprisingly smooth red wine that I wanted to try again, and last night Ben poured me three or four tries to find the wine I remembered (it was Rioja). Between the reasonably priced glasses, laid back ambiance of the place, and their enthusiasm for sharing great wine, I have a major neighborhood crush on them.

I was there last night for an Arts in Bushwick mixer for the upcoming Bushwick Open Studios, which takes place June 4th-6th all over our neck of the woods (shameless plug: I'm co-producing this year's Saturday night cabaret). If you aren't familiar, the fine folks of AiB coordinate a weekend where all of the artist studios in our neighborhood--from converted warehouses to people's apartments--open their doors to the public, and you can spend the entire weekend walking in and out of spaces, viewing artwork, and drinking copious amounts of free wine. It's pretty freaking amazing, and last night was a good preview. They'll be hosting a cash-and-carry benefit art sale on May 21 at Lumenhouse, which is another splendid opportunity to meet your neighbors and buy artwork on the cheap.

If that wasn't the longest promotional plug for moving to our neighborhood, I don't know what is. Community love!