Friday, January 28, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Ethan Nechin meets Gia in Brooklyn Farmacy
Something tasty with a hint of nostalgia is happening in Carroll Gardens. It is called the Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain, and it opened last May. To learn more about this gem I interviewed Gia Giasullo, who established the Farmacy with her brother, Peter Freeman.
Gia, a native New Yorker and graphic designer, opened the Farmacy after returning to Brooklyn from "exile" in the Bay Area and Israel, with her brother, Peter Freeman, a landscaper. Returning to New York, Gia was looking for a new direction and wanting to share her love for food and entertainment, found it with Pete, who was living in the building for a while and became friends with the landlord.
"Essentially, the space itself was the inspiration for our idea. The storefront was empty for so many years, waiting for an idea to blossom and take hold".
The Farmacy is housed in an historical space that had accommodated a pharmacy since the late 1800s. It maintains its original interior that owes its restoration to a true NY tale. At a very low point in the project, when Peter and Gia had almost given up on being able to come up with the necessary finances, a location scout from the Discovery Channel's reality show, "Construction Intervention". After a glance she came up with the idea that the renovation would be filmed for the show. With its generous shelving and a massive amount of wooden storage drawers, the place was smoothly transformed into a soda fountain and funky grocery store featuring locally made artisanal food products. The original pharmacy did not have a soda fountain or a counter, which was added, bringing to life an old-time soda fountain in the neighborhood.
Written by Ethan Nechin
Friday, January 7, 2011
Golden calf, ein hod and public funding
"Why did the country burn?" the heading on the poster read while colorful pictures underneath it detailed the reasons for the fire that claimed the lives of 44 people.
"Idolatry of the golden calf, by hundreds and thousands in the artists' village of Ein Hod, turning the entire torah of Israel into a joke, baking pita bread during the Passover holiday out of spite, massive desecration of the Sabbath, debauchery and adultery by the thousands; how could God not burn the region?"
The poster includes a picture of a golden calf, put on display during an art festival held at the artists' village damaged by the fire. Another picture is that of a woman with a veil and blurred face, making a Druze pita with a caption that reads: "Baking pitas with Arabs during Passover".
Ein Hod residents weren't concerned over the poster, one of the residents noting cynically: "Our neighbors from the religious town of Nir Etzion heard the claims too and asked, never mind you sinners, but what did the orphans in Yemin Orde do?"
Ynet news
For Goldne Calf Click HERE
Labels: eib hod, golden calf, israel, judaism, עין הוד