May
2000
BROWNSTONE
SOUP
O.K.,
so Brooklyn is not exactly the land of milk and honey. Still, there is
plenty of other yummy stuff on the menu, so much that it is getting hard
to keep track of it all. But don't despair. There is a Web site dedicated
solely to monitoring, TASTE OF BROOKLYN.COM rating and sometimes ranting
about http://www.tasetofbrooklyn.com the mushrooming restaurant scene
in Brooklyn, U.S.A "The scene just exploded," said Lenny Karle-Zenith,
who, with his wife, Anne, founded the Web site, Taste of Brooklyn, last
year. "Nobody really expected it." Why such gastronomic growth? "Like
everything else in Manhattan, rents were out of control they said. It
was much cheaper to open new places in Brooklyn." He added, "Many people
were getting tired of the Manhattan food grind. And some restaurateurs
tired of it, too. They saw Brooklyn a prime market, especially the area
around Smith Street, with all the young professionals moving into Carroll
Gardens." The couple moved to Carroll Gardens five years ago, "when there
was nothing but a pizza joint," Mr. Karle-Zenith said. "But we're real
foodies, so we began searching out little places in Brooklyn." The couple
first encountered Patois, a top-rated bistro in Carroll Gardens. They
soon found more culinary gems amid the boroughs brownstones, and when
more restaurants like Victory Kitchen began opening "we decided It was
time to create a directory and put It online," Mr. Karle-Zenith said.
WHAT YOU SEE The site is well organized and easy to navigate. But Brooklyn
is a very big place. So far, the site covers only Epicurean hot spots
in Brownstone Brooklyn Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill, Park Slope, Brooklyn
Heights, Cobble Hill and Fort Greene. Bay Ridge, WIlliamsburg and other
neighborhoods will be added soon. Sections include "Find a Restaurant,"
which allow searching by neighborhood, cuisine or price; "Main Ingredient,"
describing one dish that is fairly Brooklynesque (this month, pasta) and
providing local recipes;."Taster's Choice, with reviews written by neighbors
called "taste buds," and "What's Cooking," almost daily updates on Brooklyn
openings, closings, promotions, wine tastings and more. There is also
a regular feature article (for example, an in-depth look at rice balls),
a "Tastemaker" interview with a local chef or restaurant owner, a "Wine
Lady" column and one called "Percy Speaks," a highly opinionated review
of life, politics and eating out in Brooklyn, written by the Karle-Zenith
downstairs neighbor. LINKS To several sites covering local food, art,
culture and economic development. . . WHAT YOU GET A cross-referenced,
constantly updated culinary excursion through the place that Ed Norton,
of "Honeymooners" fame, once called the garden spot of the world." DAVID
KIRBY
August 2000
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Internet restaurant guides. Start-up entrepreneurs will probably have
to do these guides locally. Anne Karle-Zenith of Brooklyn decided
to create a local restaurant guide on the Internet. Karle-Zenith,
and her husband Lenny Karle- Zenith, took $10,000 of savings
and launched tasteofbrooklyn.com last October. Karle-Zenith doesn't
consider the large online and print dining guides direct competition,
because her site focuses exclusively on Brooklyn and its various neighborhoods
and is more comprehensive. She admits, however, that "it's difficult
to make money from advertising on a content-driven site. You have
to have something that goes along with your site that has the potential
to generate revenue. She' s currently working on a plan to turn tasteotbrooklyn.com
into a marketplace guide, complete with per-sonal Web pages for local
businesses. These businesses are only the first course in a wide-open
market. So who wants to be a restaurateur? |
December
1999
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