Pushkin Creperie & Bakery is hiring a crepemaker. If you have what it takes -- willingness to learn, love of food and cooking, good customer service/love of people, experience prepping and/or cooking in a food establishment, drop in to pick up an application (no calls, please).

Pushkin is looking to bring someone on board full-time but two part-timers may be considered.

A wide variety of crepes are prepared at Pushkin, savory and sweet -- many are French-, Russian- and Turkish- inspired.

Pushkin Creperie & Bakery is located at 543 Myrtle Avenue between Steuben and Emerson.

photo credit: Frederick V. Nielsen II

Chef, author and traveler, Anthony Bourdain and superstar chef and entrepreneur, Marcus Samuelsson (swoon, swoon) have surely talked about the delicious beverage, palm wine, in their books and on their television programs. Palm wine, an alcoholic beverage created from the fermented sap of various species of palm tree, is said to especially be a good accompaniment to very well seasoned dishes and pungent cheeses and sweet desserts. It's reminiscent of white wine with a more earthy finish.

Palm wine is popular in Africa and South Asia and hey, now you can find it on Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn, NY too. :-)

Owa African Msrket, which is at once an African art, craft and textile store and grocery oasis, located at 434 Myrtle Avenue between Clinton and Waverly Avenues, now offers palm wine as a new product offering. Stop in to pick up a bottle for dinner tonight!

This Sunday, May 20, at 1:00pm in Fort Greene Park, the “Walt Whitman’s Fort Greene Park and Area” FREE walking tour will be hosted by the Fort Greene Park Conservancy and The Walt Whitman Project. The Walt Whitman Project’s Artistic Director, Greg Trupiano will be leading the walk, which begins at the park’s Visitor’s Center at the top of the hill.

Below is Mr. Trupiano description of the approximately two -hour event:

“Walk around Fort Greene Park, a greensward that owes its existence in large part to Walt Whitman's editorials written for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and learn about this poet's intimate connection with Brooklyn's first official park. The afternoon includes discussions about the park, its role in the American Revolution and Civil War, the Wallabout Martyrs and the monument dedicated to their memory. The event continues with a walk up Myrtle Avenue to 99 Ryerson Street, the last existing building in Brooklyn that was a residence of Walt Whitman.”

After the walk, visitors can continue over to BLDG 92, the incredible new visitor’s center and museum at the Brooklyn Navy Yard (admission is free!) before stopping to grab a bite on Myrtle Avenue.

RSVP for the walking tour is not required, but encouraged. Please email info@fortgreenepark.org if you’d like to make a reservation. Further information can be found by calling 718-391-8824.

The FREE Brooklyn Food Conference is this Saturday, May 12th, 9AM-6PM at Brooklyn Tech HS (29 Fort Greene Place). The event will bring over 5,000 people together to attend a day filled with workshops, panel discussions, food demos, family programming, art, notable food activist keynote speakers and much more! This is a family-friendly event with a youth summit and kids activities. FREE childcare is also available! Check out the schedule here and be sure to pre-register and purchase a lunch ticket in advance to avoid long lines!

With over 150 workshops to choose from we wanted to help you plan your day by recommending the following local activists speaking on local issues:

9:30am-5:00pm / 7th Floor Cafeteria
Expo (For-Profit & Non-Profits)
The Fort Greene / Clinton Hill Community Food Council (FG/CH CFC) will have a table with information on how you can get involved in the 10 community food projects happening now!

11:00am-4:45pm / 8th Floor Gym
Youth Summit
The youth of the FG/CH CFC will be here sharing information about youth centric food projects to get involved in and provide high school students with an application to be a Myrtle Avenue Community-run Farm Stand Youth Manager. The Farm Stand is open July-October, every Wednesday, 4-7PM and located at Myrtle and North Portland Avenues. We hire 3 youth to set-up, perform market operations and break-down.

Myrtle Eats Fresh cooking demos

11:00-11:30am / Room 6W16
Community Chef Darrell Robinson will cook up a quick and healthy pasta dish recipe.
12:00-12:30pm / 8th floor gym
Community Chef Oliver Peters will cook up a healthy, hearty rice and beans recipe for the kids!

11:00am-12:15pm / Room 6S4
"SUPERMARKET STRUGGLE: Food Access in Low-Income Communities of Color"
Organizers with Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE) will discuss how local public housing residents and allies fought for, and won, the struggle for the new Red Apple supermarket.

12:30pm-1:45pm / Room 5E14
"Starting a Community Garden on New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Grounds"
Gardeners from the Ingersoll Garden of Eden will share their successes and challenges in starting and maintaining their community garden located on Myrtle Avenue between Navy and Prince streets. NYCHA Garden and Greening staff will share what resources are available for all NYCHA residents to start a community garden.

2:00pm-3:15pm / Room 5N6
"Low-Income Patronage at Farmers’ Markets: WIC Participants and Low-Income Seniors"
Myrtle Avenue Community-run Farm Stand Manager and Fort Greene resident Dominique Bryant will join representatives from the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets, Cornell University Cooperative Extension’s Farmers Market Nutrition Education Program and NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation in a discussion about the issues associated with highly targeted nutrition assistance programs such as the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) and the utilization of benefits by program participants.

6:00pm-9:00pm / 70 South Elliott Place
After Party hosted by FUREE
Tickets are available on a sliding scale ($10-$75. Tickets at $15+ get free drinks) Cash bar of beer and wine. For more info and to purchase tickets visit here.

To learn more about the Brooklyn Food Conference visit here .

We look forward to taking this step towards "changing the food system in Brooklyn, neighborhood by neighborhood" with you this Saturday!

This event is hosted by the Brooklyn Food Coalition.

Five Spot Soul Food on Myrtle and Washington Avenues is now a distribution site for Plovgh (pronounced "plow"). Plovgh is "an online marketplace that coordinates the purchase and distribution of harvest from farms to individuals. It's a way for people to get their food directly from farms, right in their neighborhood".

How does it work? It's easy -
1) Sign up on-line with your email address
2) Choose Five Spot as your pick up point
3) Order your products Wednesday - Saturday
4) Check out on-line by paying with pay pal or credit card
5) Pick up your products on Mondays at Five Spot 5-6:30PM

The first distribution occurred on May 7th and I can personally say that the eggs are delicious!

The Plovgh store is now open for this Monday's distribution. Order now by clicking here!

We are pleased to release an RFP for temporary outdoor sculpture for Myrtle Avenue!

We're offering a grant of up to $7000 to support the temporary installation (7 - 11 months) of existing or new artworks at various outdoor locations along Myrtle Avenue. Artists may select just one location, or a combination of locations for their proposals.

Since 2008, we’ve supported installations like the Tree Hugger Project, Myrtle Bird Town, and Ancient, Goatie Boy, Goat as Wolf, and we look forward to bringing additional public artworks to the avenue this summer. Full application details are included in the pdf here. Submission deadline is Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 5pm. Please feel free to forward widely to your networks! Good luck!

Photos (clockwise from left): Myrtle Birdtown by Wongoers, Soundwaves Mural by Ellie Balk, Goat as Wolf by Ruth McKerrell, Tree Hugger Project by Wiktor Szostalo and Agnieska Gradznik.

It's that time of year again! Check out the info below from the Fort Greene Association.

Once every two years, Fort Greene homeowners open their doors, literally, to showcase their creativity, spirit, style and historic beauty of our neighborhood.

This year the FGA is producing a unique and intimate guided house tour where they will feature four homes in Fort Greene, where four groups of Fort Greene House Tour Enthusiast will visit each of the four homes in a rotation, similar to a bar crawl lead by Fort Greene Association Ambassadors.

Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a discussion with homeowners / architects regarding the renovation process for a particular area of each home being featured: parlor floor, kitchen, garden apartment, and a restored exterior façade of a landmark home. The event will kick off with brunch at Two Steps Down, Fort Greene’s oldest family owned restaurant and business and end with wine tasting at one of Fort Greene’s wine stores. The event is limited to 100 people with advanced ticket sales only.

The Fort Greene Association’s (FGA) House Tours serve as a fundraising event that allows themto produce and support year-long initiatives that fall in line with the Fort Greene Association’s mission statement: historic preservation, neighborhood and park enhancement, as well as cultural, economic and housing advancement throughout the neighborhood of Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

THE OFFERINGS

Brunch Buffet

Guided House Tour with discussion with home owner / architects

Wine Tasting

Gift Bag

Tickets are limited! Click here for ticket prices and further information.

This Sunday, May 6th at 11:00am, a neighborhood Jane’s Walk will be held along Myrtle Avenue and through the Wallabout neighborhood. The walk is open to residents or visitors to the neighborhood and will explore the history, urban fabric, and social life of Myrtle Avenue and the surrounding neighborhoods. The walk will begin at the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument in Fort Greene Park and end at 99 Ryerson St, near the corner of Myrtle Avenue. The walk is free, no registration is required, and the walk will occur rain or shine.

Jane’s Walk is an international event with hundreds of walks held across the globe during the first weekend of May. The walks originated in Toronto and honor the legacy of urbanist and preservationist Jane Jacobs. The Municipal Art Society (MAS) has helped to organize 70 walks this year in New York City. To find out more about Jane’s Walk or to find other free NYC walks this weekend, visit MAS online.

The Fort Greene/Clinton Hill Community Food Council (FG/CH CFC) has successfully completed another Close The Loop project! In the months of April and March 14 bags of mens and boys clothing items were collected and donated to our local Brooklyn Teen Challenge, a rehabilitation facility for teens located in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. With the help of two teen FG/CH CFC Steering Committee members Benjamin Banneker Academy For Community Development and Brooklyn Tech High Schools were 2 drop off sites. Donations also came in from the Victorious Triumphant Word International Church in Clinton Hill and local residents. Thank you to all who participated and helped to make this Close the Loop project a great success!

Close the Loop is one of 29 community projects that were identified in the Fort Greene / Clinton Hill Community Food Assessment (CFA) titled Get Fresh! Food access, food justice and collective action in Fort Greene & Clinton Hill. The goal of the Close the Loop project is to initiate charity drives in the community and ensure that the proceeds go to people and organizations in our own community. The program will also look at how to capture excess food from local businesses and how we can use it rather than waste it. Click here for the full Get Fresh! report.

New bacon cupcakes are in at CakeJoy Bakery! The new cupcakes, called 'You're Bacon Me Crazy,' are bacon and maple syrup-infused cake topped with real maple syrup butter cream.

They sold out within one hour of hitting the display case yesterday. Give CakeJoy a call to inquire about other delicious flavors like red velvet, blueberry and raspberry zinger, orange dreamsicle and vanilla and to find out when 'You're Bacon Me Crazy' will be offered again!

CakeJoy is located at 364 Myrtle Avenue, near corner of Adelphi. Please call the bakery at 718.624.CAKE (2253) or just drop in.

(pic above: from CakeJoy's Facebook page)