Noticed this restaurant called Lokal in Brooklyn the other day. It's a bistro in Williamsburg. Reminded me of our own LoKal, the burger place, on Commodore Plaza. Which has been closed all week for vacation. They'll be open Monday.
Williamsburg now seems to be the arts center of the country! It's a small part of Brooklyn where it's all happening now. It reminds me of South Beach, circa 1989 or Wynwood a year or so ago. So far, so good in Williamsburg, as I had not spotted any Starbucks yet, so it isn't tainted so to speak.
It's a place full of hipsters and artists and young people and it's really what Coconut Grove can be. I'm going back in a few months on a fact finding tour. I keep thinking it's ripe for "The Williamsburg Grapevine." Hmm, I like the sound of that.
At first, we wondered why Neith Nevelson's art was out on the corner of Grand Avenue and Commodore Plaza, at the small parking lot next to the hair salon. Then we saw that Wine, Etc., the venue for Neith's art was closed and dark. It turns out that Wine, Etc. was sold and for legal reasons, the art exhibit could not take place inside the wine shop.
But it ended up being even better. One person likened it to the "old Grove." The Neith Nevelson art exhibit turned into an outdoor event, which in fact, brought more people, who felt more comfortable looking at the art out under the trees, rather than in a gallery or even a wine shop. Neith held court, as she does, and everyone enjoyed her stories. Here she is (right) with Lisa Shallenberger, explaining this horse painting.
Neith was not too thrilled with the set up at first, when she first arrived -- on her bicycle, she couldn't wait for her chauffeured ride! But as the people started showing up and the flood lights came on, it was very much an outdoor art show to her liking.
Lots of new faces; young faces, showed up to admire the work of the old time Grove artist.
Neith has gotten away from a lot of her black and white work and she is using bright, happy colors, which people seem to like as they are buying up the paintings. They are mostly oil and acrylic on paper and canvas. It ended up being a breezy, art-filled night with the well-known artist meeting and greeting her fans.
Ivan Lacayo, of RED Gym, is holding a free bootcamp every Saturday at Kennedy Park, starting July 14. Each participant can go at their own pace, and it does get intense for those who want that. Ivan is a Spartan Racer and his training aims to increase cardivascular endurance, including nonstop action for up to three hours while running a course of obstacles for 8 to 13 miles. He hopes to get Grovites involved in running teams for Spartan races, Tough Mudders and more.
Please bring plenty of water, towels, sunscreen, sunglasses and hats. It's free, but Ivan is accepting donations for St. Alban's Child Enrichment Center.
For more info, please call Ivan at 786-230-5572 or email IDLAC86@yahoo.com, you can find Ivan at Twitter here: @elitetechpt
The Spartan Race is quite intense. You can see a short video here.
I've been in New York for a while and it's interesting to note that New York City will probably have more of a tree canopy than Coconut Grove, after the Grove's streetscape project. It's an interesting thought since you don't really think of New York as having many trees. But they do. Lots.
If you missed the Neith Nevelson exhibit last month during Gallery Walk, you'll have another chance this Saturday for Coconut Grove's July Gallery Walk. Neith has created lots of new works and they're all for sale. The new work is mainly oil and acrylic on paper and some is on wood. Come out and meet Neith. She had such a great time last month that she'll be back again this month.
The work can be seen and purchased at Wine, Etc. at 3197 Commodore Plaza. The Gallery Walk is from 7 to 10 pm on Saturday. All galleries throughout the Grove will be showing off their best works, there's wine and refreshments and music at various locations around the village.
The Sale Rack has started a new, quaint thing -- it's a Free Book Swap! People have already started dropping books off. It works like this: you can either leave a book and take a book or simply take a book and leave a donation for a chairty, in this case, it's the Coconut Grove Dog Rescue.
The girls at the store are always talking about books and swapping them, so they came up with this idea. Maybe they'll come up with a book club next! Oh wait, The Bookstore already does that monthly.The Sale Rack is at 3444 Main Hwy, Shop 20. For more info, please call 305-537-6078 or check them out on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/SaleRack.
Juan Angel, in the blue shirt, came in first in the CocoWalk hotdog eating contest yesterday, he won by eating 10 hotdogs in 10 minutes, Daniel Encinosa came in second by eating 7. Come on guys! The little skinny guy, Joey Chestnut, ate 68 in 10 minutes yesterday at Coney Island!
Juan did make out great though, he won about $1000 worth of prizes for coming in first place at CocoWalk!
