Dear Eagle Provisions, We Miss You

The music was louder than usual inside. But no one had tampered with the volume knob. That hadn’t changed since December 13^th 1979, when John Zawisny, along with his dad and brother, opened Eagle Provisions at 628 5th Avenue. Real estate agencies have come to call the neighborhood South Slope, but 35 years ago, the area on and around 18^th Street in Brooklyn was just another enclave of city dwellers paying cheap rent. And like most pockets of urban environments, this one was comprised of folks from like heritage. In this case, Polish. The Zawisnys setup shop and began selling provisions to sustain this community.

Click to read more ...

Have Some Watermelon with Your Watermelon Tomorrow

In 1933, the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution repealed the 18th Amendment that had established prohibition 13 years earlier in January of 1920.  In 2000, Nico Freccia and Shaun O’Sullivan founded the 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco’s historic South Park neighborhood.

Their intentions were to make hand crafted beers and great food in an environment that pays homage to a culture forced into the underground in the first quarter of the 20th Century.  Fortunately for us on the East Coast, their beer has good distribution.

21st Amendment makes a seasonal summer beer called Hell or High Watermelon.  It's available from April to September in six-packs and on tap.  It's a classic American wheat beer that incorporates watermelon into the secondary fermentation.  The result is a super light, crisp, refreshing brew that will go nicely with your BBQ tomorrow.