Small Bites: Bring-your-own-pan lasagna in Brooklyn and some tasty Chicago food events

In my latest USA Character Approved Blog post, Brooklyn restaurant Brucie offers BYOP lasagna service. And in Chicago, a Valentine’s weekend pastry market, frank talk about the birds and the bees and Provenance turns five.

brucie-brooklyn-nyc

In New York, even restaurant chefs have tiny kitchens at home. A recent New York Times article reported as much. Still, even with minuscule kitchens and more than 20,000 restaurants to choose from, New Yorkers don’t want to eat out every night. If you live in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill neighborhood, now you can have the best of both worlds—home cooked lasagna without cooking at home.

Brucie, a friendly Italian-American restaurant and market, offers bring-your-own-pan Lasagna Service. Drop off a lasagna pan and pick it up filled with one of three lasagnas. For more about this delicious twist on carry-outs—and about the young chef/owner who’d never worked in a restaurant before opening Brucie—check out my latest post on the USA Character Approved Blog.

A trio of upcoming food events in Chicago

Local sweets for your sweet. Logan Square Kitchen’s Valentine’s weekend Pastry Market is a great place to shop for locally made artisanal sweets for your Valentine. It can also be a daytime date sweet spot, with more than a dozen purveyors of pastries, cupcakes, candies, ice creams, preserves and more. There’ll even be Valentine’s cocktails.
Valentine Pastry Market
February 12 & 13, 10am to 3pm
Logan Square Kitchen
2333 N. Milwaukee Ave.

honey-chicago-farmstand

A talk of bees, a taste of honey. As part of its ongoing Culinary Conversation Series, Chicago’s Downtown Farmstand is hosting Buzz About Bees. Several of the city’s busiest beekeepers (are you as surprised as I was by the word several?) share their experiences, their concerns about Colony Collapse and their best tips for keeping Chicago’s bees happy and productive. After the conversation, you’re invited to sample tastes of honey harvested from different locations at different times of year. Admission is free, but advance registration is required.
Culinary Conversation Series: Buzz About Bees
Wednesday, February 16, 6pm to 8pm
Chicago’s Downtown Farmstand
66 E. Randolph St.

Provenance celebrates five years in Logan Square. In their five years on California Avenue, the independently owned food and wine shop has developed great relationships with local food artisans and growers who provide them with cheeses, ice creams, homemade crackers, sauces, pickles, baked goods, chocolate, pasture-raised meats and more. They’ve developed a great relationship with the neighborhood too; their weekly wine tastings and other events are well attended, and many Logan Square residents are regulars.

They’re repeating that success with a second thriving location in Lincoln Square, but this month, the focus will be on Logan Square celebrations and specials. Visit their website and follow them on Facebook for the latest offers.
Provenance Food and Wine
Logan Square: 2528 N. California Ave.
Lincoln Square: 2312 W. Leland Ave.

8 thoughts on “Small Bites: Bring-your-own-pan lasagna in Brooklyn and some tasty Chicago food events

  1. Can’t believe I had to read your blog, Terry B, to learn about a primo lasagna source in my very own neighborhood – lasagna being one of my all-time fave foods. Seems they have meatballs too! But…oh oh oh…just checked the prices. “classic meatless lasagna ~ $55” Gulp. Of course it’s a huge pan and top quality – could be a great idea for a party. But otherwise, at those prices for meatless alone, I’m layering those lasagna noodles, cheeses, sauce, and sliced meatballs myself. That said…you sure do come up with cool stuff! Thanks.

  2. Ronnie Ann—I’m always delighted when I turn New York friends on to stuff in their city from Chicago. Yeah, the prices surprised me at first too, but an 11×14 pan is easily six to eight servings, so suddenly it makes sense. Still, too much lasagna for one person. But for a family or a party…

  3. wow, that lasagna idea is genius!
    New Yorkers (and Chicagoans, I’m sure) are a busy bunch. It’s so easy to get take out but even the best take out wears on you quickly. There is really nothing like a home cooked meal.

  4. Hi, Kitty! Yes, take out does get tiresome. There are any number of grocery stores, from boutique operations to Whole Foods, that will sell you reheatable prepared dinner items, but this lasagna just sounds so comforting.

  5. Lasagna is easy to make for yourself, and it freezes very well. Admittedly, I tend to make a couple of quarts of bolognese sauce at a time (and that does take about 4 hours to make, even though you can largely ignore it for three of those hours), and that also freezes very well. You want a recipe?

  6. John—You’re right, lasagna can be easy to make. But this restaurant is aimed at New Yorkers, many of whom have kitchens smaller than most closets. And even with my normal-sized Chicago kitchen and full-sized fridge, freezer space is at a premium. Regarding your Bolognese sauce recipe, it sounds to me like you should start your own food blog! There’s always room for one more.

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