Another Reason Why Brooklyn Rocks

Overheard while walking along Smith Street last night:

40 something woman: See? That's why you have to start listening to Led Zeppelin.

8 or 9 year old daughter: But I don't like him.

Woman: If you listen to it a little more you will. Besides, it's an important cultural reference.

A Biblical Feast @ Brooklyn's Miriam

Last week after yoga Rod and I went out to dinner with our friends Dawn & John. There's this Israeli restaurant that we'd tried once before and, since our friends hadn't been there yet, we decided to try it that night.

I thought after my 2+ years in NYC and countless visits to San Fran that I'd seen every kind of restaurant permutation there was.

Not so...

Miriam's is located on Court Street here in Brooklyn and the decor is so Bedouin-chic I felt instantly at home.

Imagine my surprise, though, when I opened the menu to discover the night's choices.

Entitled "November Biblical Feast," they were featuring recipes like Ezekiel bread, Jacob's Stew and Jesus' Grilled Fish.

Weird. But wait: it got weirder still.

Each dish--from Appetizer to Entree--on this special menu was accompanied by a passage from the bible.

Ezekiel Bread: "Take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and emmer. Put them into one vessel and bake them into bread." - Ezekiel 4:9

Jesus' Grilled Fish: "And as soon as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon and bread... Jesus then cometh and taketh bread and giveth them, and fish likewise." John 21: 9-14.

The passage for Jacob's stew is too long for me to re-type, but you get the drift.

Now is it just me, or is that one of the weirdest things you've seen? I mean the passages aren't really enlightening or anything--just sort of descriptive.

Paul Giamatti At Noodle Pudding; George Clooney & Brad Pitt Film In Brooklyn Heights

We sat next to Paul Giamatti last night at Noodle Pudding here in Brooklyn Heights. He was with his wife and kid and I have to say it was so sweet watching them interact. He's a great father. He also ordered the same dish as me: lamb with roasted squash and arugula. Which was good, albeit a little underdone.

And earlier in the week they were filming some movie with Brad Pitt and George Clooney back behind our street. (They changed the street signs on Clinton & State to 30th &M NW so something tells me this was supposed to be DC. Which--given all the brownstones--isn't so far-fetched.) All the stunt trailers were parked along Atlantic Ave. Boy do those guys get shafted. Some of them were so friggin small I can't imagine there was enough room to do more than change your clothes.

But damn do I love my 'hood! Always something going on.

And the people are super nice. One local resident even let Brad Pitt use her toilet when he had to go in the middle of shooting. I'm not kidding: read the Brooklyn Heights blog if you don't believe me.