A few of our Valentine’s gift options. From left: Mast Brothers Chocolate bars, Whimsy & Spice marshmallows, Nunu Chocolates Beer Box, Ovenly Spicy Bacon Caramel Corn, Liddabit Sweets candy bars, Raaka chocolate bars.
Have you been looking for an excuse to order an Eastern District party platter? How about Super Bowl Sunday? Order ahead and we’ll customize a cheese tray just for you.
If you’re a Giants fan, we can put together a selection of New York state cheeses including some of these (pictured above):
For Patriots fans, we can compile some of the greatest hits of New England cheesemaking:
Better yet, let us put together a combination of New York and New England cheeses and you can choose the champs yourself!
Party platters cost $6 per person and can include bread, crackers, meats, olives, or other tasty accompaniments. We can deliver within Greenpoint. Orders require a minimum of 5 people and a lead time of two days. Place your order in person or via 718-349-1432 or info@easterndistrictny.com.
Some very special beers have arrived recently….
Hitachino Nest 3 Days is one of the very rare happy accidents that occurred in the midst of last year’s Japanese earthquake. When the quake hit, the brewers needed to abandon a batch of witbier in mid-production. When they were able to return 3 days later, the beer had fermented naturally via the wild yeasts in the brewhouse, yielding a unique, funky farmhouse flavor. Only 8000 bottles of this brew exist.
Professor Fritz Briem Piwo Grodziskie combines two of our favorite beer flavors, smoke and sour, into one amazingly harmonious package. The wheat and barley ale is made from a historical recipe originating in the Polish/Prussian border regions.
Green Flash has created a Belgian-style version of their famous IPA and named it Rayon Vert. It tastes Belgian, and it has that hopped up IPA flavor, but it’s also somehow more than the sum of those two parts. A must-try.
Another innovative recipe from Stillwater, Premium “post-prohibition” style ale is brewed with Pilsner malt, corn and rice, a fermented with farmhouse ale yeast and the zesty brett yeast. Super drinkable and a creative take on an old familiar style.
Rochefort ales are centuries-old Belgian classics, but they’re new to our shelves this week. Brewed at the Trappist Abbey of St-Remy, the three different ales are all strong, full-bodied and complex.
We’re trying out a few different goat’s milk cheeses this month:
Redwood Hill Farm Goat Milk Cheddar is a smooth, snackable cheddar with a touch of goat tanginess complementing the characteristic sharpness. It hails from a 53-year old, family-run dairy in Sonoma County.
Also from Redwood Hill, Camellia is a camembert-style goat cheese, buttery, creamy and mild. It’s perfect for a cheese plate with apples or pears.
The psychedelic beauty pictured above is Capriole’s Wabash Cannonball, named after the river in Indiana. This dense, creamy nugget is rolled in vegetable ash and very lightly aged for a milky, slightly citrusy and musty flavor.
However you’re spending these wintery weekends, we hope you’re having fun and eating and drinking well!
We’re fresh back from a killer 4-day vacation in Charleston, SC, and we wanted to share some of our favorite places and experiences with you, in case you’re thinking about a visit. We highly recommend it. Extra big thanks to our awesome customer Tom, who directed us to most of these great places!
Culture
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Parade – We were lucky to catch this on Monday.
Shops
The Charleston Beer Exchange – Excellent beer shop, where they introduced us to Charleston’s Westbrook, Coast and Holy City breweries.
goat.sheep.cow – Sweet cheese and wine shop, where we picked up some Battery Park cheese from Charleston Artisan Cheesehouse.
Heirloom Book Company – New and used food books and cookbooks.
Blue Bicycle Books – Great new and used bookstore in a deceptively skinny little house.
Savannah Bee Company – A beautiful shop filled with glowing jars of honey.
Restaurants
Husk – Amazingly delicious updated Southern food, accompanied by the tastiest grains ever: rice, grits, and even oats.
Hominy Grill – We had two fantastic Southern breakfasts here, and we wish we had time to come for lunch and dinner too.
Jestine’s Kitchen – Excellent, fresh Southern food, including the creamiest cheese grits ever.
Hank’s Seafood – We loved sitting at the bar with a couple Westbrooks and a plate of delicious local raw oysters.
Two Boroughs Larder – Creative American/international food, like rabbit tempura with brussels sprouts kimchi.
G&M Fast & French – Fresh pressed coffee and ham-and-cheese croissants.
Bars
The Gin Joint – Great cocktails in a cozy atmosphere. Our new favorite drink: rye with smoked maple syrup and black walnut bitters.
Closed for Business - Nice craft beer list.
Yes, that’s right: we’re going on VACATION!
We’ll be closed this Monday-Thursday.
In honor of this momentous occasion, we’re selling all fresh Salvatore Ricotta for 25% off, today only.
Hope to see you so you can stock up today!
We’re open until 9pm this Friday and 8pm on Saturday, with complete supplies for all your new year festivities.
In this post, we’re featuring some new treats along with some special limited edition items that won’t be available for much longer.
BRUNCH
Hosting brunch on New Year’s Day? Save time and impress your friends with an Ovenly brunch basket. Pre-order today for a complete pastry basket featuring delicious scones, muffins and cookies for 6-8 people for just $30.
BREWS
We still have a few bottles left of Brooklyn Brewery’s 2011 edition of Black Ops! This rich stout aged in bourbon barrels is perfect for ringing in the new year, or for aging until next year for extra complex flavors.
In the 6-pack department, for another dark winter treat, try Left Hand’s Fade to Black 3 ale, a slightly spicy peppered porter. Or go for the hops with a 6-pack of Hop Notch IPA, a bright and refreshing ale with a strong hop character, from Salt Lake City’s solar- and wind-powered Uinta Brewing Co.
Original Sin has delivered a couple special new hard ciders: the dry Newtown Pippin is made exclusively from this variety of apple, which was first bred in Queens along the banks of the Newtown Creek in the early 18th century. The Cherry Tree cider adds just the right amount of sweetness.
Foggy Ridge is another new addition to the cider department. From Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, Foggy Ridge ciders are, crisp, dry and refreshing, great with food or on their own.
CHEESE
Twig Farm Washed Rind Wheel is a creamy, luxurious cheese that won’t last here much past the new year. The washed rind adds a touch of funk, somewhat like a Munster, tempered by sweetness and a beautifully fluffy texture. Vermont’s Twig Farm combines raw goat and cow milk to make this beauty.
We’re down to our last half-wheel of this year’s Rogue River Blue, one of my absolute favorite cheeses. Wrapped in pear brandy-soaked grape leaves, it marries a complex blend of milky, spicy, nutty and dried fruit flavors. From Oregon’s Rogue Creamery, the US’s premier blue cheese maker.
We’ve also received a limited quantity of Rush Creek Reserve, a new style from Wisconsin’s Uplands Cheese Company, makers of Pleasant Ridge Reserve. Inspired by the French Vacherin Mont D’Or, Rush Creek is made from rich autumn cow’s milk and wrapped in spruce bark. The result is a luscious, savory, gooey treat.
SNACKS
Sugarbuilt cookies are the perfect gift for a host or hostess this new year. The beautiful designs are inspired by architectural elements from the Brooklyn Bridge and the ironwork gates of Greenpoint, and the zesty spiced cookies are simply delicious.
You may have sampled some of Creminelli’s awesome Casalingo or Piccante Salamis here before. We brought in a couple other Creminelli specials for the holidays: a rich, savory Wild Boar Salami, packed with flavor but without any gaminess; and a black truffle-packed Tartufo, a luxurious addition to a holiday cheese plate.
We are the first store ANYWHERE to carry Ruby Bay Wild King Salmon Jerky! Just in today from our friends at Greenpoint’s Acme Smoked Fish, this salty, smoky, all-natural jerky comes in peppered and teriyaki flavors, and will be irresistible to any salmon fan.
Thank you all for a wonderful 2011. We wish you a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Plan ahead! Eastern District will be closed:
Saturday, December 24
Sunday, December 25
Sunday, January 1
And we’re closing at 8pm on December 31.
There’s still plenty of time to shop for delicious gifts, or order party platters or beer deliveries for the holidays. But if we don’t see you until next year, have a very happy holiday season!
Eastern District has a brand new collection of gift bags for the holidays!
We’re offering three different selections of the most delicious New York State-made products, at three different price levels. Each roomy canvas tote bag comes with a card telling the stories of the items inside.
You can order a bag here on the website if you’d like to have it shipped directly to the recipient. Or if you’d like to pick it up here at the store, just call or email us with your order.
Gifts will be shipped out as the orders are received – please note in your order if you’d like us to save the shipping until a later date.
We also love creating customized gift bags, so drop us a line if you have any special requests. Happy gifting!
Small
$25
Includes:
Medium
$50
Includes all of the above plus:
Large
$100
Includes all of the above plus:
Wednesday, November 30 is Eastern District’s first birthday! We’d like to thank all our customers, family and friends for making it possible for us to get this far. We’re looking forward to many more tasty years ahead.
Come celebrate with us on Wednesday – we’ll have free chocolate stout cake and caramel apple cake for as long as supplies last!
DELIVERIES
You asked for it, and you got it. WE DELIVER!
We’re offering free delivery throughout Greenpoint for all orders over $10.
Our sandwich menu is online at http://easterndistrictny.com/menus.php – you can also order beer, cheese, party platters, or anything else we offer in the store.
Call us at 718-349-1432 to ask about our daily specials or to place an order. Online ordering will be available soon.
NEW PRODUCTS
Soup!
Just in time for wintery weather, we now sell hot soup made by Sea Bean Goods. You may have tasted this Greenpoint couple’s delicious, seasonal recipes at Paulie Gee’s or Smorgasburg. This week they made us potato leek soup with ham, and we’ll have a rotating menu of soups all year long.
Beers
- Some winter seasonal bottles are sneaking into our beer case – like Troegs Mad Elf, a Belgian-style ale with honey and cherries for a subtle sweetness. At 11% ABV, it will heat you up on a chilly night!
- Another great beer to drink while relaxing in front of the fireplace, Victory Otto is a smoked Belgian style ale with 8.1% ABV.
- If you prefer to celebrate the harvest season, try out this year’s new batch of Two Brothers Heavy Handed IPA, which is wet-hopped with fresh hop flowers, for a bright, piney, citrusy flavor.
- For Pretty Things fans, we now have this winter’s edition of Babayaga, a hearty stout made with rosemary-smoked malt.
Cheeses
- We’re very excited to now carry Ben’s Cream Cheese! Seriously, it’s the best cream cheese you’ve ever tasted – all-natural, with no gums or fillers. It’s made in Spring Valley, NY, just west of the city, the same way it was made for decades on the Lower East Side. The real deal!
- We have our first cheese from Idaho! Lark’s Meadow Helen is a hard, crumbly cheese made from cow’s milk. It has a sweet, grassy, buttermilk flavor.
- Back again for the holiday season is Capriole O’Banon, a creamy, mild chevre from Indiana, wrapped in Kentucky bourbon-soaked chestnut leaves.
Snacks
- If you’ve got any kind of sweet tooth at all, you need to try Whimsy & Spice cookies. They come in unique and spectacular flavor combinations, like Chocolate Orange Cardamom Shortbread and Massaman Curry Peanut Butter Sandwiches. No, they’re not just weird for the sake of weirdness – these flavors will really knock you out!
- We just added Raaka Chocolate to our collection of Brooklyn-made sweets. Made from organic cacao and other fabulous ingredients, they come wrapped in super-stylish papers.
+++
We were interviewed for a cool article in the beer & food magazine, Draft, talking about some of our favorite spots for food-related gifts. Check it out: http://draftmag.com/features/nycs-best-foodie-gifts/
Our Sunday evening beer and cheese pairing series returns with a visit from Pennsylvania’s Victory Brewing Company on Sunday, December 4 at 6:30pm. We’ll taste at least four of their beers, specially paired with cheeses from Eastern District. We’re looking forward to some delicious pairings and interesting conversation with Victory!
This event costs $12 and requires advance ticket purchase. To purchase a ticket go to http://easterndistrictvictory.eventbrite.com
(A side note: We wish that we could continue to offer free tastings, but our last few events were plagued by no-shows. It stinks to have a guest speaking to a group of 8 people when we have room for 20, and 60 more people camped out on the waiting list. We hope that by charging a fee, we can limit RSVPs to people who are seriously interested in the event, and won’t flake out on us. We apologize for the inconvenience to those loyal customers who have always showed up and supported our free tastings.)