Forget Route 66 - Take the B77
Saturday was gorgeous - not a cloud in the sky kind of gorgeous. A field trip was required. Thankfully, I already had one mapped out with my friend Mary and her 18-month old tot Theo.
Now, I know most sane adults would think that a trip to a park or zoo might have been called for with a wee one in tow. But Mary, a like-minded foodie and Brooklynite, was quick to agree to a much more adventurous excursion.
And, so we took the glamorous B77 bus all the way to Red Hook. Our destination: The Brooklyn Waterfront Artists' Coalition Pier Show. Housed in a ramshackle warehouse at the end of a pier, jutting out into the harbor and overlooking Lady Liberty, we wandered through rows and rows of home-grown King's County art. Most was juvenile. Some was laughable. But, every once in a while we'd come across real sparks of brilliance: paintings, photographs or sculputures that resonated.
Theo was particularly fond of a painting of an elephant, which inspired him to do his best Dumbo impersonation for a solid 10-minutes. I, on the other hand, was entranced by some miniature multimedia pieces that played beautifully with texture and color on a miniscule scale. Mary was partial to photos - especially those of her friend Arden, double-exposed black-and-white images of New York City street scenes.
After an hour or so of wandering through the art, it seemed inevitable that we get back on the B77 - not to go home, mind you - but to head towards the soccer fields at the corner of Bay and Clinton to indulge in authentic Central American fare. I knew about this little corner of Latin American heaven long before the press got wind of it. However, even articles in the likes of Time Out haven't brought droves of "gringos" out to Red Hook's wild terrain. Good news for me. But, oh what my caucasian brethren are missing:
Every Saturday and Sunday, local Latin American cooks break out grills and hot plates and set up a dozen or so food stands along two sides of the field, selling tortillas stacked with inky black beans, tacos loaded with piercing chilies, fried plantains stuffed with cream, and other regional specialties. Youth soccer leagues and the players of Liga Guatemala and Liga Mexico have been coming here for 20 years, but the spot only recently became an alfresco international food court