Urban Exploring: Open Crates + Sweet Chick (Special Edition)
THE SYNOPSIS
In this Lost Episode of Urban Exploring, Guru and Ike share clips about the success and growth of Open Crates in the earlier part of 2014. The duo also spent a day in Williamsburg Brooklyn at CMJ to catch up with drummer Layton Weedeman of Courtesy Tier as he performed with his friends Isle Of Rhodes. Lastly, they grabbed grub from Sweet Chick, a soulful Chicken and Waffle restaurant also located in Williamsburg Brooklyn.
THE DISCOVERIES
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OPEN CRATES
Open Crates curates music, breaks records and builds culture for progressive vinyl heads. We vibe on all genres of heavy percussive music.
Check them out monthly in Jersey City for Open Dig, click the flyer for more details.
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SWEET CHICK
Sweet Chick's philosophy is simple: Great Food, a Cool Vibe, and interesting Cocktails at a great price.
Along with some of the best fried chicken and waffles in New York City, we're serving what we like to call American cuisine with a Southern accent: Rustic but Modern American comfort food and twists on classic dishes and cocktails, plus home-baked desserts that will make you feel like a kid again. The dining room, on the bustling corner of North 8th and Bedford Ave, is as cozy and inviting (and locally-sourced) as our food. Check them out on Yelp
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CMJ
CMJ connects music fans and music industry professionals with the best in new music through interactive media and live events. CMJ also produces a legendary Music Marathon, the largest and longest-running music industry event of its kind, in addition to live events across the US. LEARN MORE[/one_half]
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ISLE OF RHODES
Isle of Rhodes is the moniker for Rob Farren's hard hitting indie rock project. Known for interweaving dynamic stylings and virtuosic abilities, while fashioning rock with an ensemble flair, Isle of Rhodes, draws upon on blues, funk, and classical elements, with influences ranging from Gershwin, Beethoven, Radiohead, The Beatles, Arcade Fire, to Roy Orbison. LEARN MORE[/one_half_last]
LAYTON WEEDEMAN
Layton Weedeman is a drummer and DJ from Moorestown, NJ who graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Professional Music from the Berklee College of Music in 2004. He moved to Brooklyn, New York soon after with his alt-rock-indie band Courtesy Tier. As a drummer, he’s been featured on records by local artists Jessi Robertson, Isle of Rhodes and Man Made West. With Courtesy Tier, Layton has toured the US, played showcases for CMJ in New York City as well as SXSW in Austin, TX and has been named one of the top artists in New York’s indie rock scene by the Deli Magazine three years in a row. As a DJ, he goes by the alias DJ Laytonic and exclusively spins vinyl records highlighting hip-hop instrumentals from the 90’s. His mixes include music by A Tribe Called Quest, DJ Premier, J Dilla, Buckwild and Pete Rock. For more on Layton Click Here
THE MUSIC
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PAT VAN DYKE - Frequency
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PAT VAN DYKE - Swindle
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DJ CENTER -
Dem Say Ah
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HäZEL - Badoowap
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LAYTONIC - Until You Were Gone
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BIG JACK - Live @ OC
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Urban Exploring: Episode 7 – Smorgasburg
THE SYNOPSIS
Episode 7 is totally a wild card episode. As we work towards ending season 1 of Urban Exploring we had two other episodes already filmed and in line for publishing. But this past weekend Iquan and Guru set out to have their weekly bike ride throughout NYC and this time the duo dared themselves to ride across the Williamsburg Bridge ending up in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. After a few blocks of riding they ended up at the weekly food festival by Brooklyn Flea Market called Smorgasburg, where they discovered a ton of people and smelled an array of delicious food. Come to find out Iquan was familiar with the event but never really shared it the way he normally would. Long story short, the guys ended up documenting their hangout and created another episode filled with fresh and yummy discoveries. Enjoy!
THE DISCOVERIES
SMORGASBURG
Smorgasburg happens in two locations every weekend: Saturdays at East River State Park—Kent Ave. and N. 7 St.—on the Williamsburg waterfront; and Sundays at Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 5. Both locations are open from 11am to 6pm, and feature packaged and prepared foods, beverages, and more from purveyors from New York City and across the region, for a total of 75-100 vendors. The markets are always open rain or shine. For all inquiries, please email us at info@brooklynflea.com. Learn More
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POTPURI
Potpuri is a labor of love to bring authentic Indian street fare to NYC. Different than most Indian food, this food is cooling and refreshing on a hot day and entirely vegetarian and organic. We are very excited to be a part of the Saturday Food/Flea market on the Williamsburg waterfront. Learn More[/one_third]
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PIZZA MOTO
Pizza Moto cooks made-to order, wood-fired Pizza in our one-of-a-kind ovens. Over the years we have designed and built 4 mobile ovens, which can be found all over Brooklyn and Manhattan between April and November. Customers’ overwhelming curiosity and excitement about our ovens, our pizza, and our tinkering ways inspired us to keep searching for engineering projects in the pizza-verse. Learn More[/one_third]
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BON CHOVIE
Anchovies. Highly traveled and beloved around the world. Though they're called by a variety of names, from Spain to China to the U.S., they represent a global tradition of small fish recipes and sea-borne nutrition. What's more, these guys are pivotal in global food security and reduction of our environmental footprint; if you want to make a difference, well, the way to do it is by eating a little lower on the food chain - it's true! - which reduces pollution AND resource consumption. Learn More[/one_third_last]
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ASIA DOG
Asiadogs are hot dogs with Asian-inspired toppings. Born from a love of NYC, we wanted to push the limits of one of its most popular street foods by adding our own personal touch with super-fresh ingredients.
Coming from mixed Asian backgrounds, we celebrate NYC's diversity by incorporating flavors found in China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and more. Learn More[/one_third]
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CHED BRED
Cornbread has gone from side dish to being sidelined. The soul of cornbread lives mostly in your long-lost southern relative or haunts an obscure hole in the wall restaurant. The retail alternative just doesn’t cut the cake, so to speak. Jack’s Chedbred is here to revive this authentic All-American classic and get it back in the game and on your table. Learn More[/one_third]
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MR CUTTERS
Mr. Cutters is the ONLY Barbadian/Bajan food stand in NY that serves the traditional sandwich known as a “cutter.” So what exactly is a Cutter? Cutters are found in many of the island’s rum shops and street stands and are made using salt bread (a Bajan bread roll) and filled with anything delicious such as fish, ham, or cheese. Learn More[/one_third_last]
THANK YOU
JAMES W.A.T.T.
Jersey emcee/producer James Watts blessed us with four tracks for Season 2 of Urban Exploring however we couldn't wait to use at least one. The track used in this episode is titled "Is this love" and we choose to use this one because of the slow build up. It give the feeling that something is coming. James is far from a discovery to us, he is actually a long time friend of the crew and produced all the tracks on Aaron Brown's Poetry Album earlier in the year. For more on James and his music Click Here
Urban Exploring: Episode 2 - Harvey Hirsch
In this edition of Urban Exploring, IquanW's former employer Harvey Hirsch takes over the episode to show him and Guru his old neighborhood, Coney Island. The trio started the day by having breakfast at one of Harvey's favorite spots, The El Greco Diner in Sheepshead Bay and after chowing down on the Brooklyn Breakfast of Eggs, Locks and Onions, they took a short ride to Brighton Beach where Harvey grew up. Harvey then showed the two where he made his first dollar by hustling comic books, sandwiches and lemonade to the beach goers. The last stop was lunch at the Original Nathans for some good old fashion hot dogs!
Here’s why we decided to ask Harvey to be included in this month's adventure...
Harv has traveled the world, in the US ARMY in Vietnam as a helicopter Crew Chief in 1968 and as an international marketing expert. He started and managed one of the most innovative direct market firms in America, winning all sorts of prestigious awards for his strategic communications work and for his revolutionary patented marketing technology. In fact in 2006 Xerox named his firm #1 on the planet when they awarded him their First Place PIXI Award for Variable Marketing. IquanW and many other students worked as paid interns in his agency, (and learned secrets that enable us to get and keep jobs). Now he's a food video blogger, specializing and having fun with getting his videos placed on page one of organic Google searches. But most importantly, Harv said he would buy us a real Brooklyn breakfast. He’s just a fun guy and he knows things and that's why you hang with a foodie! Check out his YouTube channels... Food of the World and Free Range Chow Hound. That's it for this month's Urban Exploring, stay tuned for Episode 3.
