Search Results for: Ben Lozovsky

Days of Blueberry Wine & Lobster Rolls

December 6, 2011 By Mary W. Yeung Leave a Comment

Classic New England style lobster, crab, mussel and clam rolls. Photos by Benjamin Lozovsky

How do you recapture a summer’s day? Try lobster rolls and blueberry wine. They’ll bring it all back—the brilliant sunset, the salty air, the sea, and the sand.

And that’s what owner Tommy Chabrowski wanted when he opened the Lobster Joint in Greenpoint over the summer—to be reminded of the sea. An avid surfer, he loves the water. When he was 14, he bought a used surfboard and went surfing in Far Rockaway, and later in Montauk and Costa Rica. By the mid 90’s, he was living a surfer’s life in Puerto Rico, tending bar by the ocean. One day, he noticed an unused kitchen behind the bar. He asked the boss if he could do something with it and soon found himself flipping burgers, grilling chicken, and owning a piece of the action. When he had his fill of Island life, he came back to Greenpoint and opened the Mark Bar, and later, The Lunch Box.

Memories of Summers by Masten Lake

September 21, 2011 By Mary W. Yeung Leave a Comment

The Masten Lake menu abounds with seasonal foods. The plate (above) features cucumber, purslane, straciatella with shards of smoked trout. (At right) Marisa Mendez Marthaller is the wine director and general manager. She is known for curating a wide selection of wines by women winemakers. PHOTOS BY BENJAMIN LOZOVSKY

Marisa Mendez Marthaller is the wine director and general manager at the new restaurant Masten Lake. She is known for curating a wide selection of wines by women vintners. Photos by Benjamin Lozovsky

Mention of a lake can conjure up so many evocative images—a watery moon, a forlorn pair of Adirondack chairs, morning mist, leaping frogs, echoes of children’s laughter. When David Rosen decided to close Savalas, his neighborhood bar of six years on Bedford Avenue, and reopen it as a restaurant and bar six months later with two other partners, he decided to call it Masten Lake, after a captivating spot in the Catskill Mountains where he and his family spent many lazy summers. The lake holds cherished boyhood memories for him: fishing, swimming, rock climbing, lakeside barbecuing, and making new and lasting friends. He says the idea behind the restaurant is his memory of the lake, a place for friends and family to come together, have a drink, enjoy a good meal, and just relax.

David has been a bar owner in Williamsburg for 11 years and is also part owner of the bustling dance bar, The Woods, on S. 4th Street. But he was looking for a new challenge. “Now that I’m father of a two-year-old, I’m thinking about a place where families can enjoy eating a meal together. Masten Lake is where you can bring your kids for brunch, your parents or your friends for a nice dinner, or come alone for a glass of wine or cocktail at the bar,” he says.

TV On The Radio: Broadcasting Loud and Clear in Nine Types of Light

September 13, 2011 By WG News + Arts Leave a Comment

TVOTR surprise performance at Music Hall of Williamsburg in April, two days before their big Radio City Music Hall appearance. (Tunde Adebimpe taking center stage, with Kyp Malone, left, and Jaleel Bunton.) PHOTOS BY BENJAMIN LOZOVSKY

On the evening of August 17, TV On The Radio performed to their seemingly loftiest height. With buzz steadily growing around blogs and social networks about a special event in the works, a large crowd had already formed by the time the Williamsburg based band climbed to the top of a billboard in Soho. Rising up the scaffolding stairs slowly and methodically, the band paused for a group huddle, before hurtling through a searing yet poised four-song set. It was just the latest act of a well-oiled machine set on permanent steamroll.

After a tumultuous time stuck in Los Angeles recording their latest effort Nine Types of Light, a long, world-spanning tour that began in April in support of the record, and above all, the tragic loss of their friend and band mate Gerard Smith to lung cancer several gigs into the tour, the remaining four members of the group continue to staunchly power forward. By the time this is published, they will have performed a giant homecoming show on the Williamsburg Waterfront, one of many dates they have planned for a tour that resumed in late August and seems to be endlessly extending, with new gigs added almost weekly. If delving this acutely into the distractions of work during a personal tragedy is TV On The Radio’s form of therapy, the band might as well have written the clinical guidelines for such treatment.

On the Fringe and On the Runway with Kelley Shields

September 13, 2011 By Genia Gould Leave a Comment

Kelley Shields with Otto, a toy Australian Shepherd in her Greenpoint home which she shares with husband, artist Brian Sullivan and daughters Soaerse and Ita. Photo by Benjamin Lozovsky

Kelley Shields with Otto, a toy Australian Shepherd in her Greenpoint home which she shares with husband, artist Brian Sullivan, and two daughters /photo by Benjamin Lozovsky

Checking in with Kelley Shields, Apparel Trend Projection Specialist

Is Williamsburg losing its edge? Our streets in Williamsburg have become less edgy because of the population surge we’re experiencing. And while the ratio within any population of in-touch, inner-thinking types is probably a fairly static ratio, when you increase a population as much as has happened in our neighborhood, the visibility, and by that I mean the ability to see past shoulders in a crowd, decreases. So maybe the answer to the question is yes, the area has lost a little bit of its “edge.” Even so, there’s still is a lot of newness in our area.

Have a Drink, You’re in Williamsburg!

October 19, 2010 By Benjamin Lozovsky Leave a Comment

Screen shot 2010-10-19 at 5.23.47 AM Illustration by Carri Skoczek

By Benjamin Lozovsky

Going out in Williamsburg is like ordering an unfamiliar cocktail or draft, based on an existing favorite. The ingredients are generally expected, but with bold twists on flavor presented to a discerning palette, it’s all about the mix. When done right, it’s an exercise in spontaneity and audacity, blanketed in a warming sense of comfort. On a typical Friday night, start off at a brewery; when that closes go beer-garden hopping, later take in a weekly dance party, finally head to your local pub. Choosing a trajectory is practically a philosophical debate, with so many options on and off the main strip. You’ve just got to do what feels right. The choices are all good, with attractive women in fanciful outfits and guys wearing cool hats and vests drinking local beers on tap. At the end of the night, one sighs contentedly, picks up some freshly baked bread, and stumbles home down cobblestone streets. That’s a common scene from Williamsburg’s history.