Photoville (photovillenyc.org) is a new Brooklyn-based photo destination – a veritable village of freight containers transformed into temporary exhibition spaces, taking place this summer from June 22 to July 1, 2012 at Pier 3 of Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Photoville will feature a mix of exhibitions, lectures, hands-on workshops, nighttime projections, a photo dog run, a camera greenhouse, and a summer beer-garden with food trucks that will create a photography destination like no other. And best of all, Photoville is FREE for all to attend and participate (beer & food sold separately ;)

Occupying more than 60,000 sq. feet in the heart of Brooklyn Bridge Park, Photoville will be located on the uplands of Pier 3, along the Brooklyn Waterfront between DUMBO and Atlantic Avenue.

Photoville will be a FREE community event, but they need your help with this large scale event. They are asking the community for support on Kickstarter:

We are humbled by the extraordinary outpour of support that we have received from our community & programming partners in our quest to raise most of our capital – but we need your support to carry this project to the finish line and create a photographic destination like no other.

United Photo Industries is a Dumbo based, Brooklyn-born, art-presenting cooperative dedicated to identifying, harnessing, and occasionally conjuring unexpected exhibition opportunities. Their mission at United Photo Industries is to promote and showcase emerging photographers through curated exhibitions both locally in DUMBO, Brooklyn and around the world.

The NY Times gave a mention of this event yesterday, which wrote “The ultimate aim, he said, is to create a whole environment for photography: Photoville will be immersive, which means it will provide some basic perks (beer, food trucks, dog run) and more elaborate ones (a greenhouse where plants sprout tiny cameras).”

Gothamist reports that Dumbo Kitchen is open with a soft launch of the new concept take out and dine-in at 108 Jay Street. The former Gallery Cafe has been redesigned to be a take out place for commuters and workers in the neighborhood.

The made to order sandwiches are named after building numbers in Dumbo (“The 45″ for 45 Main Street, “The 70″ for 70 Washington Street, etc). Clever. We’ve tried The 70 and The 111, and were tasty. What do you think?

(Photos courtesy of Kate Schaefer / Gothamist)

Dumbo Kitchen
108 Jay Street, Brooklyn NY 11201 (corner of York Street)

According to a NYC Dept of Health sticker, Water Street Pub & Restaurant has been temporarily closed by the city. The notice is dated 4/30/2012, but there are no details on the NYC Restaurant Inspection website (search for “Water Street Pub & Restaurant”).

The restaurant was most recently given a grade of “A” on 4/21/2012 and on 11/03/2010. When we stopped by late morning today, there were a few disappointed out of town tourists. We hope whatever happened are minor issues.

Water Street Restaurant (waterstreetrestaurant.com)
66 Water Street, Brooklyn NY 11201

Brooklyn Roasting Company is expanding, tripling in size, according to an announcement on their blog. For coffee lovers in Dumbo, this is great news. They’ve taken over the space next door at 25 Jay Street and working on adding more production equipment as well as more craftsman furniture:

“…an antique Merle and Heaney working roulette wheel and table. Together with our rialto theatre row seating (customer comfort zone), wood-spooled pie-cooling racks (for t-shirts and sweatshirts and soon b-ball caps) and haberdasher’s cabinet (now green coffee sample storage and organization), our uber-cool casino antique underlines our respect for craftsmanship and commitment to authenticity. We also think it would make an incredibly cool cupping table.”

Considered by many to be the best espresso in Dumbo and Brooklyn, BRC is putting their bets in their Dumbo roasting plant. Congrats to the Brooklyn Roasting Co team and looking forward to the expansion!

Brooklyn Roasting Company (brooklynroasting.com)
25 Jay Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201

Previously:
{Brooklyn Roasting Company Opens in Dumbo, 01Aug2011}
{New Coffee Bars Coming to Dumbo, 10Jun2011}
{Best Coffee in Dumbo?, 11Nov2010}

Have you heard that Underground Eats (UGE) launched a few weeks ago? We profiled this Dumbo based startup in October 2011, and they’ve had some exciting events and alternative dining events recently. One event they featured was the Mast Brothers Chocolate and Kings County Whiskey Tasting Tour, a perfect combination, in our opinion. Kings County Distillery is one of NYC’s oldest whiskey distillery. They use leftover cocoa husks from Brooklyn’s Mast Brothers Chocolate to produce their chocolate whiskey.

Unfortunately, this exclusive evening of chocolate and whiskey happened last week, but there will be others I’m sure. However, UGE’s member’s only site has lots more unique experiences, like a first class ticket (sold out and not available anywhere else) to an evening of culinary history and decadence, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s last supper. Culinary provocateurs Jonny Cigar of The Noble Rot, Hell’s Kitchen’s Rob McCue and Adam Banks of Bravo’s Chef Roblé & Co. have put together this 7 course experience.

The folks at Underground Eats have set up a special URL that will allow readers to register for teh member’s only site. Go to ugeats.com/DumboNYC to sign up. PSssst, we heard that there’s some special news coming up too, so sign up and get access to your exclusive dining experiences.

Previously:
{Dumbo Start-up Watch: Underground Eats, 11Oct2011}

Gran/Electrica opened on March 26, 2012 in Dumbo Brooklyn. The folks over at Brooklyn Heights restaurant Colonie have opened one of their two new restaurants in the Dumbo area, this one in Fulton Ferry and the other in Dumbo. Chefs Sam Richman (Jean Georges, The Fat Duck) and Brad McDonald (Noma, Per Se) will be brining dishes such as Oaxacan garnachas, chili-blackened pork spare ribs, tortita de huauzontle, tacos, flautas, quesadillas. We sat down with Chef Brad last week, who told us that they’re going to focus on authentic Mexican street snacks they experienced during their visits to Mexico, and will use local and sustainable ingredients wherever possible. They will be making their own tortillas and seasonal drinks with small mezcal distilleries.

If that doesn’t whet your apetite for Mexican, check out Thrillist’s description of their gorditas (“flash fried in pork fat, cut in half & filled with chicharrones”).

If you love Taco Thursdays at 7 Stars Deli, Gran Electrica gives us another great option. After Hecho en Dumbo left the neighborhood in October 2009, Pedro’s Restaurant was the last all Mexican place in Dumbo. The other restaurant from the Colonie crew at 1 Main Street (that address will officially be 15 Main Street) is being planned for a late Spring opening.

[n.b. 3/27/2012: At this time, dinner service only. Lunch to follow in the near future. ]

Gran Electrica (granelectrica.com)
5 Front Street, Brooklyn NY 11201
(between Old Fulton and Dock Streets (718-852-2789)

(Photo credits: Daily Candy (top left), Thrillist (top right), Grub Street (bottom left and right))

In celebration of its two year anniversary, on Tuesday, April 3, 2012 Brooklyn Exposed will host its second annual food/drink tasting event – Tasting Brooklyn. The event will take place between 5:30pm and 9:00pm at Dumbo Loft in Dumbo, Brooklyn. Its goal is simple – to give back to the community, donate to its charity partner (Brooklyn Food Coalition) and offer serious foodies and others the opportunity to enjoy the plethora of Brooklyn’s food culture from stellar establishments – all under one roof.

We’re proud to be a promotional sponsor for the second year to help celebrate Brooklyn’s diverse food (and drink) culture. There are 25+ food and drink purveyors who will be representing the best of Brooklyn. Check out some of our photos from last year’s event.

Tickets will not be availble for purchase at the door, so get tickets here before they are sold out.

Previously:
{Tasting Brooklyn 2011}

The First Thursday Dumbo Gallery Walk is tonight, Thursday, February 2, 2012, between 6-9pm. The gallery walk is free.

For gallery listing, go to dumbo.is/itineraries/127.

From Dumbo.Is:

Come out for February’s First Thursday Gallery Walk, a festive night in DUMBO that offers visitors the opportunity to see gallery shows from a variety of disciplines. Retail businesses also join the festivities with extended hours and in-store events; two to note – Olga Guanabara and TRUNK.

Local bars and restaurants also get in on the action – AlMar has 2 for 1 drink specials from 4-6PM. The Gallery Cafe offers a $29 per person, 3-course meal and half-priced bottles of wine. Water Street Restaurant & Lounge has 2 for 1 cosmos for ladies at the bar. Superfine’s Happy Hour features $3.50 select tap beers, $3.50 well cocktails & $3 Bud/Bud Light.

The Dumbo Brooklyn location of One Girl Cookies officially opened today. They offering their classic collection cookies, chocolate collection, whoopie pies, and cakes and cupcakes. They will also serve a breakfast and lunch menu soon. Welcome to the neighborhood!

One Girl Cookies (onegirlcookies.com/dumbo)
33 Main St (at Water St) Dumbo, Brooklyn NY 11201
Mon–Fri 7am–6pm; Sat, Sun 9am–6pm

Previously:
{One Girl Cookies Construction Update, 26Jan2012}
{One Girl Cookies Opening in Dumbo, 02Sep2011}

[UPDATE: There was a private opening party last night, and a sign on the door says the store will open next week.]

The paper on the windows of the One Girl Cookies – Dumbo location was removed this morning (at the 1 Main Street building). Peeking inside, the space is looking great with high loft ceilings and open counters.

From the Time Out NY listing:
“Turning Dumbo’s Water Street into Sugar Row, this 32-seat bakeshop—a spin-off of the Cobble Hill original—joins pastry standouts Almondine and Jacques Torres on the block. Wife-and-husband team Dawn Casale and David Crofton turn out homestyle treats, like whoopie pies, cupcakes and sandwich cookies.”

One Girl Cookies (onegirlcookies.com/dumbo)
33 Main St (at Water St) Dumbo, Brooklyn NY 11201
Mon–Fri 7am–6pm; Sat, Sun 9am–6pm

Previously: {One Girl Cookies Opening in Dumbo, 02Sep2011}