A Morning in Dumbo 5-8-10 ~VS

I’m the first to admit—I am a bad New Yorker.  The hottest shows, the coolest clubs, the trendiest restaurants—I couldn’t even tell you what they are.  However, in an attempt to overcome my ignorance of New York and expand my horizons in general, KJ and I decided to start this blog. 

Today, I went to a place in Brooklyn where I have never been before.  A place I’ve seen from taking the N or Q or D train over the Manhattan Bridge for more than ten years: DUMBO! (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass), I think that’s what it stands for! My friend, Enara, invited me to go to “Bklyn Designs” with her, a design show featuring furniture and creative interior design elements.  (If you want to learn more here is their website: http://www.bklyndesigns.com/)

I’m going to let the pictures speak for themselves because most things were so cool and original, and because I don’t want to butcher any concepts by trying to explain them since I know nothing about architecture or design. 

After the show (which took about 30-40 minutes to walk through), Enara and I decided since we were in the neighborhood already to take advantage of the other “well-known” things to do: lining up outside Grimaldi’s Pizzeria which supposedly has the best pizza in NY, having ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, and sitting out on the Boardwalk under the Brooklyn Bridge to enjoy the view and people-watch.

Here is our story through pictures.  Note: Since you may be interested in seeing more of the exhibitors works, I’m also putting their website address under the respective photos. And P.S. the cost was $15, if you have a student id, it was $10.

As I’ve never been to DUMBO, and Enara has only been one time before, we were looking for the correct street to walk down, when she commented “I wish they had signs pointing where to go..” and Voila! Two seconds later, we look up and see this arrow on a sign-post! Good job BklynDesigns!

View of the Manhattan Bridge. Imagine living down here and seeing this view every morning!

I love this booth—Not only do I take the R-train and live in 718, but it was fun, bright, and had so many interesting items! www.718madeinbrooklyn.com

Enara @ the Aviva Stanoff booth, with Aviva in the background: www.avivastanoff.com

This booth was FUN.  These are LED lights—when you step on that floor or touch the panel, the waves change based on the movement of your hands and feet.  We spent the most time at this booth “playing around.”  Many hotels have these features in their lobby’s for example. www.madbutter.com Interactive LED video installations. See pic below of me having fun!

Like a kid in a candy shop…easily entertained!

www.kwhfurniture.com My favorite part of this room….the positioning of the Jack Daniels.

www.ecosystemsfurniture.com I love this desk, and I love how the “shelves” are totally movable based on how you want to stack them by adding more or removing some. 

www.thinkfabricate.com I like these little shelves on the wall…and you can make out Enara’s shadow in the mirror (just barely)

There’s no way to explain this on my own, so here is what the website says: These “are the ant-farms of your childhood reimagined into a living work of art that showcase the geological excavations of the tunnels formed by ants. Unlike a conventional ant farm, this community is displayed as a designed centerpiece on a wall or desktop.”…yup, there are ants in there, living between those lines (or buried, as the case may be) www.hughhayden.com

Enara at the Lamacek booth.  I think this was my overall favorite booth because this chair was AMAZING…it not only rocks, but it has a spring at the bottom which allows it to bounce as well…sooo interesting & comfortable. And the owners, Connie & Michael were so nice and customer-oriented, making conversation and encouraging us to sit and test it out.  www.lamacek.com

I had to give it a shot too!  Couldn’t let E have all the fun!

I love this wooden table and the cool benches.  When I think of a big family sitting around to have a big, fun dinner or reunion—I picture something like this.  It’s spacious, so enough room for LOTS of food and lots of company.  The side panel on the benches don’t go down as far as I noticed, but would be nice if they did so you could fit a few extra people in case you come from a big-fat-<insert nationality here>-family. www.cityjoinery.com

 

Also made by City Joinery, and a favorite of Enara.

Enara spinning the “coney island” inspired table at the Uhuru booth.  They do sustainable furniture design. www.uhurudesign.com

The Uhuru booth had a mirror as well.  There we are!!

Finished at design show…taking in some views…and time to EAT!!

At this point, we had been waiting in line (see below) for about 40 minutes…when we got to the front, we decided to document this experience.  Right after we took this picture a waiter came out and pretty much turn one chair upside down on the other to prevent anyone else from sitting there to take pictures…LOL.

 

All the people waiting behind us in line.

Finally, we got in and ordered a “small” pie (because you can’t order slices and it’s cash only, fyi).  We got extra Ricotta on one half & extra tomato on the other. A small pie is $12 and it was $2 for extra tomato and $4 for extra ricotta…not bad.  That, along with a root beer and a coke came up to $21.75.  So, can 2 small girls finish this pie?

Heck YEA…we killed it.  LOL.  As for being the “best pizza in NY”, I’m not sure I entirely agree…Yes, it was really really good, and everything was fresh and hot and yummy, but Enara and I figured after keeping people waiting on line for at least 30 minutes, by the time you get in there, you are so stoked and HUNGRY—so in your mind, it becomes the best pizza you’ve ever had and an experience you can tell all your friends about.  I think I would give it an 8 out of 10, but would want to go back for sure and taste it with other toppings, etc.

This was the line on the way out….it doubled while we were in there.

Next up for us:

I’ve heard about this place too, and after stuffing ourselves with a whole pizza, we thought: Let’s get some Ice Cream too!!!  A one-scoop in a cone or cup is $3.50.  And they have about 8 flavors.  It was good, but again, I didn’t taste anything that blew me away and put it on the top of the ice-cream leader board.

Nice sunny skies, great view, ice cream!  Enara and I decided the whole experience of our day at this point would be great for a date.  Or, old friends getting together to hang out and explore a part of New York.

Where the white tents are is the River Cafe—super expensive, but worth every penny (I hear) in the evening, as patrons get a spectacular view of the bridges and skyline.

And out of nowhere, there was a Yoga class that is free for all who want to participate.  Interesting contrast, huh?  The art of yoga and peacefulness with a view of the concrete jungle of NYC.

I just had to include this picture to end with because this instructor is clearly having a great time with his job and I don’t and this girl has her feet in an unfortunate place for the girl at the “bottom.”  :-)

So there you have it—a fun morning in Dumbo, new experiences, and I’m definitely more confident in my ability to navigate this part of Brooklyn now! (We took the A train to High Street/Brooklyn Bridge) and it’s about an 8 minute walk to the water.  I’m definitely going to go back and explore more in the future!

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Thanks!

~VS