Dog Eat Dog

I know, I've been a bad bad blogger - it's been tough I have to say - with work, life, love - I think about blogging and the time slips away. A week later I think "oh, I shoulda blogged about X,Y or Z. Well, with dinner out of the way and a French Martini keeping me company I really was inspired to write about my experience at a new eatery we discovered in Brooklyn.

I've been planning a painting project for a few weeks now and trekked to a hardware/paint store on Flatbush Ave and Bergen Street. Marc and I are trying to find the perfect color to paint an accent wall in our kitchen. The counters are a mottled gray lava-stone and I want to make a bold color statement to play off of the pretty, albeit drab counter tops. Weeks ago, I looked at Restoration Hardware paint colors - all are soothing and sophisticated and I found a color that resembles charcoal.

Now, I love to paint, I've probably painted more apartments in my time than I'd like to remember. I've been in the new place for just over a year and I am itching to drag out that brush and painters tape to get in some practice. The trip to the paint store was quite successful - mulling over paint chips and examining them with my mind's eye of what I "think" is the most appropriate color, I bought paint supplies and took home about a dozen paint chips to examine them in different light.

After a process of quick elimination, Marc and I both decided Benjamin Moore's "Day's End" will be the perfect shade to make that bold if not "wow" statement. Leaving the paint store we decided to walk down this short stretch of Bergen Street where cafes and restaurants are one-named like "Melt" and "Bark" curious for a small quaint street. Makes me wonder if one place was trying to upstage the other.

My dear friend, Aimee, mentioned a hot dog joint called "Bark" and when Marc and I passed it I felt an immediate affinity to the place since I had word-of-mouth accolades of its existence - from a vegetarian none-the-less!

We passed by and I mentioned that we should try it. We continued down the street looked at Melt and immediately turned around and agreed, we need a hot dog!

Walking into Bark, as in any new place, my inner foodie tried to figure out the joint as soon as possible. It was an order at the counter, sit down at the communal tables and listen for your name to get your food-kind-of place.

This place is all about the humble dog, sausage, wurst, what have you. A simple, straight-forward place that states exactly who they are and what they do. I totally appreciate that - it shows passion and direction. Now, gimmie that chili-cheese dog!

Marc ordered a wurst made of veal and pork served with sauerkraut, rye bread and grainy mustard. My chili cheese dog was brought to me in a humble, baseball park-like cardboard package. We devoured our "dogs" with gusto. The flavors and fresh ingredients struck a gastronomic cord. Topped off with a vanilla shake that was speckled with real vanilla bean we were we pacified like a puppy with a new toy.