French Horn Rebellion Loves Life Cafe 983

"Increasingly huge Brooklyn-via-Milwaukee fuzz-dance duo French Horn Rebellion is the next step in that whole wave of crunchy-riff, post-Daft Punk, Francophilic blown-out house. "

Read the rest at:

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/archives/2010/02/introducing_fre.php

Dinner Specials @ Life Cafe 983

1/14-1/20

APPETIZER

POPCORN SHRIMP 5.99
served with chipotle mayo

ENTREES

GRILLED SHELL STEAK 14.99
in a red wine, mushroom and cream sauce
with mashed potatoes and broccoli

GRILLED SALMON STEAK 13.99
with a teriyaki glaze, mixed veggies and white rice
(may contain bones)

LAMB CHOPS 12.99
in a red wine sauce
with mashed potatoes and French beans

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NEW – Whisk(e)y Flights

Try 3 whisk(e)ys from your favorite
whisk(e)y making region

AT LIFE CAFÉ 983

From Scotland - $18
Caol Ila 12yr – Laphroaig 10yr – Macallen 12yr

From Kentucky - $14
Basil Hayden’s – Woodford Reserve – Knob Creek
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Sean O'Connor Art Show at Life Cafe 983

" Too old too soon too smart too late"

By Sean O'Connor

Jan. 6th 2010- Feb. 6th 2010

Sean O'Connor is a painter, illustrator, designer, art director and musician living in Brooklyn, NY. Originally from Ohio and mostly self-taught, Sean has spent many years drawing and painting subjects with a focus on the boring and sometimes unsettling truth of life. Expanding his creative ideas and designs he spent three years as a performance artist in the Ohio-based metal group Kaligo and drew inspiration from intense live performances. He moved to New York in June of 2005 to work in film and television. Sean's recent work reflects his career as an animation art director and painter, focusing on creating humorous characters and vivid color design. This collection represents his unique experience as an artist and musician, painting animals and people with mixed media on watercolor paper.

Sean continues to work in animation, film and photography. His most recent projects including Baskin Robins, Interview Magazine, GE, Burberry, Lancome, J Crew, GAP, Calvin Klein, Wazoo candy, Mute Math and concept design work for Curious Pictures.

www.Seanoconnor3.com

Menu Picture Riddle Answer Life Cafe 983

As for Life Cafe in Bushwick, we got another picture riddle by John Sunderland to reveal. It is Rasputin Imperial Stout. Yeh, you got it!

By the way, John Sunderland's weird and wonderful art work is for sale. If you're interested, contact him direct at j.g.sunderland1@mac.com. You can see more of his works at www.redbubble.com too.

Life Cafe 983 Dinner Specials 10/23 - 10/28

APPETIZER

STEAMED MUSSELS 5.99
in a basil fra diablo sauce
served with garlic bread

ENTREES

SHELL STEAK 13.99
in a demi sauce served with
garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus


SALMON FILLET 12.99
in a black pepper, ginger and butter sauce
with mixed vegetables and brown rice

VEGAN MEATLOAF 12.99
with a mushroom gravy,
roasted potatoes and French beans

BRATWURST PLATTER 11.99
Two brats cooked in beer served with sauerkraut,
Dijon mustard, potatoes and carrots

BRAT SANDWICH AND BEER SPECIAL 8.99
Bratwurst on a baguette with sauerkraut,
Dijon mustard and of course
one ice cold bottle of Sam Adams Oktoberfest

ME and my BUNS: How do You Like Yours?

(and a chance to win below!!)

by John Sunderland ©
Illustration "Retro Burger" is a classic drawing from John's weekly Riddle Raffle at Life 983

I order a Life Café Burger about once a week. To me as an older Yorkshireman from England, the American Burger is an international icon and the Life Café version is an excellent example.

The nearest thing we came to real burgers in the early sixties in England was watching Wimpy, the ever-famished character on the Popeye cartoons who suffered from perpetual burger lust, suck down another one, promising to re-pay the money he’d just hustled by Tuesday or Thursday. We kids, of course, knew he really meant never. Wimpy could eat his own weight in burgers during the course of a cartoon and always got away Scott free.

“Wimpy” was also the name of a burger cafe in our northern town. A visit was something of a treat. It wasn’t overly styled as an American version, though they did do milkshakes and Coke and called chips “fries.” And they had revolving pedestal seats just like in the films. In fact, apart from cartoons, as a kid I had no real idea that the “Burger” was an American institution destined to take over the world!

The best thing about Wimpy’s though wasn’t their burgers; it was their bright colored ketchup and mustard dispensers which sat plump and heavy on the yellow Formica tables. It was risky but if you were clever, you could squeeze the ketchup bottle hard enough to make it blow little red bubbles (ketchup farts really); but get it wrong and you could erupt ketchup all over your mum’s new coat

Why I’m writing this is because as I sat at the bar of Life Café 983 last night I was mesmerized by a chap next to me by the name of Brent Herrig. He’d ordered the Life Burger and was very seriously and studiously, almost scientifically, applying a thick coating of ketchup to the under-side of the top half of the bun. Then carefully and skillfully as he held the bun in mid air he moved it in a rotational way watching closely as the thick red wave moved around glutinously within its circumference. I’d never seen anyone do that before; seems Brent had a personal thing going on, his little ritual before munching it down. I asked him how the burger was and he said the Life Café Bushwick burgers (he hasn’t been to the East Village yet) was in his top three best burgers for New York.

All you could do with a Wimpy’s burger in 1962 was see how far you could get the melted cheese to stretch in thin rubbery threads as you held the top of the bun aloft, like some hovering UFO. I could get it to stretch about a foot before the cheese cooled and went solid.

Now that I’m older and more aesthetically sensitive, I sit at the bar and see just how tall and elegant I can make my burger by piling up everything (except fries) onto the meat patty with the bun on top. I imagine it’s a design for a new building, or the leaning tower of tomato and onions. Then I sit back and marvel at my unique creation, just before it falls over.

HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR BUNS?

LIFE CAFE BURGER ARCHITECTURE CONTEST

How do you like to dress your Life Burger? Share your version in our Comments Section on the Life Café 983 Facebook Fan page for a chance to WIN YOUR BURGER, compliments of the house.

Your burger will then be featured on our specials menu with YOUR NAME attached!

Not a Facebook fan yet? Click the Badge below!

Become a Fan!

One Winner will be selected from the Facebook Fan page on November 1st, 2009. No Purchase necessary, yada yada yada!

And check out our friend Brent's amazing photography at www.brentherrig.com

BEER SPEAK @ Life Cafe 983

Beer as bread...
Andy, Beverage Manager in Bushwick Brooklyn


In the early 14th century, stuck with colder temperatures in Germany, monks were forced to use lagering yeast (activates @ colder temperatures) rather than the ale yeasts (activates warmer) that were more popular in milder regions of Europe. Lagers are generally light, mild flavored beers. During fasting however, monks decided they needed to throw more malts in the beer to add additional nutritional value. This was the invention of the bock style that is growing in popularity. If that wasn't strong enough, even more malts were pitched and thus... the dopplebock, or double bock. Monks would use these beers in place of bread during Lent and other such Roman Catholic holidays that require fasting.

Sprecher Dopple Bock

Glendale, Wisconsin

(8% ABV)

Beer from Wisconsin? Is it PBR? NO! Although the founder of Sprecher, Randal Sprecher, was in fact a brewing supervisor for Pabst Brewing, he is not making Pabst here. Since it's founding in 1985, Sprecher has been on the forefront of reviving the lost arts and old world brewing processes. My personal favorite is the Dopple Bock. A little sweetness is added to this malt monster from the use of roasted dark malts. After brewing, the beer is put into cold storage for 6 months. If properly stored, it can be aged for years, calming the sweetness and adding body. Wonderfully complex either way.

Life Cafe 983 Dinner Specials 10/15-10/21

APPETIZER

ASIAN STEAK SALAD 5.99
Pan seared marinated steak over mesclun
in a ginger dressing

ENTREES

SIRLOIN STEAK 13.99
in a cognac mushroom cream sauce
served with garlic mashed potatoes and spinach

SALMON FILLET 11.99
in a dill mustard cream sauce
with mashed potatoes and broccoli

SEITAN SAUTEE 10.99
with mushrooms, red pepper, walnuts and spinach
in a soy ginger sauce over linguini

BRATWURST PLATTER 11.99
Two brats cooked in beer served with sauerkraut,
Dijon mustard, potatoes and carrots

BRAT SANDWICH AND BEER SPECIAL 8.99
Bratwurst on a baguette with sauerkraut,
Dijon mustard and of course
one ice cold bottle of Sam Adams Oktoberfest

Columbus Day at Life Cafe

Yeah, got a day off!
Let's celebrate.

Come have brunch at Life Cafe East Village and Life Cafe 983 Bushwick
10 am

Life Cafe 983 Dinner Specials 10/8-10/14

APPETIZER

POPCORN SHRIMP 4.99

Served with chipotle mayo

ENTREES

SIRLOIN STEAK 13.99

in a cognac mushroom cream sauce

served with garlic mashed potatoes and spinach

CRAB STUFFED COD FISH 13.99

served with white rice and broccoli

PENNE PASTA 11.99

with vegan hot Italian sausage broccoli and mushrooms in a pesto sauce

BRATWURST PLATTER 11.99

Two brats cooked in beer served with sauerkraut,

Dijon mustard, potatoes and carrots

BRATWURST SANDWICH AND BEER SPECIAL 8.99

Bratwurst on a baguette with sauerkraut,

Dijon mustard and of course one ice cold bottle of Sam Adams Oktoberfest

BEER SPEAK @ Life Cafe 983

By Andy, Beverage Manager in Bushwick, Brooklyn

LOVE FOR THE BEER

In the early days of beer brewing, things were very different. Beer was an accidental product born out of the necessity of our ancestors to boil water for drinking. These same people used grains and other malted starches for flavor, very similar to the way people have used tea leaves for thousands of years.

Except there was one really big difference…

Whoa . . . sugar from malted grains + airborne yeast = ALCOHOL!!! (and bubbles)

Then things changed . . . .

Beer became the world’s third most popular beverage behind tea and water, mostly for recreational purposes. Today, in Belgium alone, there are estimated to be about 8,700 different beers distributed. Sadly for us in the States, in the 1970s European traditional methods of brewing almost entirely disappeared from bars and stores throughout the land, and imports were not yet a significant player in the market. Only pale lagers remained, leaving the American beer drinking public with little options.

The craft beer proliferation is very recent in the history of American beer. In the 1980s a trend started when home brewers, sick of having no options, started larger scale productions. One by one, breweries started popping up all across the United States and the industry continues to explode. This movement was spotted by European brewers that wanted a piece of the action and some of the world’s best beers came gushing in.

Happily enough for me, I personally get to watch what I like to call the Quality Beer Movement (craft beer AND amazing imports). I see it everyday when someone comes into the bar and has their first Maredsous Triple or St. Bernardus Quad and get’s their socks blown off and shows the look of regret for never trying this before. This is my inspiration. The education and smile of anyone willing to try something new and learn drives me to search the world for new, creative or just awe-inspiring beers.

Luckily, I have a couple thousand from just one country that I have yet to try.

BEER SPEAK @ Life Cafe 983

By Andy, Beverage Manager in Bushwick, Brooklyn

LOVE FOR THE BEER

I love beer. Have for a long time. And I love sharing what I love with our customers, many of whom love beer as much as I do.

Welcome to my first experience with beer.

I was 9 years old in a small rural town in central Pennsylvania. My brother had a friend over for the night and my parents had evening plans. You can imagine what that meant. We were bad, bad boys; we found an 18-pack of Coors Light that my father shouldn’t have left in the fridge in the garage and got really drunk, so drunk that my brother’s friend swung his pants around his ankles and jumped around pretending to be a frog. Hey, we were young; what can you expect! It was a marvelous feeling, of laughing and not knowing why. My first high . . . .

It doesn’t end badly either. I obviously liked it; whether it was the cheap 12 pack of Bud I had when I was broke to that magnificent angels-f**king-in-your-mouth experience of the Belgian quad that I paid $35 dollars for, it’s all good. Good enough for me to base a career on. That good.

CURRENT PREMIUM DRAFT

Here’s one I found true love for.

It’s St Bernardus Abt 12, A Belgium Abbot - Quad Ale (10.5% ABV).

This style of beer is traditionally saved for the most senior monk of the monastery, the Abbot. "Quad" simply means that sugar was pitched into the fermenting beer four times, making it quadruple fermented. Like most beers of this style, the color is dark brown. The flavor is amazing. Big malt base with a little bit of dark fruit flavor from the Belgian high gravity yeast. This beer was fermented openly. Having no cover on a shallow fermenter allows natural air-borne yeast to cultivate in the beer, instead of being added. Really cool process.

Another fact about this: I’M NOT GOING TO HAVE THIS ONE, BUT A COOL FACT INVOLVING ST BERNARDUS --
Westveletren Abt 12 - Consider by most beer snobs to be the best beer in the world.
Westveletren is an monastery five miles away from St. Bernardus. The monks at the abbey control the beer they make so strictly that Belgian citizens have to call months in advance in order to procure the beer, at which time, their names and purchases are recorded in a database. Belgian citizens are only allowed to purchase six cases of 12 11.2oz bottles a year. Non-Belgian citizens are allowed only one case. The story goes that 50 years or so ago, this ultra secret, illegal to resell recipe escaped down the road to a little brewery called St. Bernardus. :)

Could St. Bernardus Abt 12 be the best beer in the world?

More on hoppy happenings next week.

*(ABV = Alcohol By Volume)

LIFE CAFE 983 DINNER SPECIALS 10/1-10/7

APPETIZER

HAMBURGER EMPANADAS 4.99

Served with chipotle sauce and sour cream..

ENTREES

SIRLOIN STEAK 13.99

In a red wine reduction,

served with mashed potatoes and asparagus.

GRILLED SALMON FILLET 12.99

Served in soy sesame sauce

with mixed vegetables and brown rice.

ROASTED CORNISH HEN 12.99

Served with oven roasted garlic potatoes and broccoli.

EGGPLANT NAPOLEON 11.99

Stuffed with ricotta cheese and mozzarella,

served with a side salad.