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A Look Into The Past OfSome Montague StreetRestaurantsby Evan BindelglassLet's take a trip back in time downMontague Street. What was therebefore today’s eateries? What do theowners want you to order if you stopby? Let’s find out!

Teresa’s Restaurant(80 Montague Street)

According to owner TeresaBrzozowska (yes, there is a Teresa) itwas a dry cleaners before she openedthe restaurant in 1989.Brzozowska is originally from Gdansk,Poland. She came to America in 1980and settled in Williamsburg, where shehas lived ever since. She had what shedescribed as “life experience in the foodbusiness.” She worked in delis(German, Jewish, Polish, French, andAmerican) and, in 1985, she openedTeresa’s in the East Village (on 1stAvenue between 6th and 7th). She hadsome customers and friends who livedin Brooklyn Heights and she foundMontague to be a “nice street” andopened the second location. Theoriginal bit the dust in 2007, but thesecond incarnation is still going strong

25 years on. Brzozowska loves thesupport of the public and said being a“neighborhood place makes businessvery stable.”What The Owner Says To Order:Appetizer: Chicken soup Entrée: Cheese andblueberry blintzes

Custom House(139 Montague Street)

CustomHouse is a relative newcomer.According to city records, the locationhoused a two-car garage as of 1922.However, people have been eating atthis spot for decades. It was a HebrewNational deli, visual evidence of whichwas left behind. La Traviata was around

for about 30 years.Custom House owner Red Davis is anative of Dublin, Ireland, where he wasa busboy atO’Dwyer’s pub.He came tothe U.S.A. in 1992 in search of a“change of scenery” and eventuallylanded at Clancy’s on 2nd Avenue and52nd Street inManhattan, which he ranuntil 2010. Then he set his sights on Bkand opened Custom House on June 9,2012.When youwalk in, don’t forget tolook up. The atrium is two-stories-talland the ceilings beyond are also high.What The Owner Says You Should Order:Drink: GuinnessEntrée: Shepherd’s Pie (made with lamb)

On the web:brooklynbugle.com | brooklynheightsblog.com | cobblehillblog.com

Montague Strret(continued)

Heights Café

(84 Montague Street)

Buildings Department records from1930 list the first floor as simply “stores.”As of 1940, the second floor was beingusedas a school.A1976document calledthe “Montague Street Revitalization”listed aYork School, aswell as an antiquestore. As of 1967m it was the PlymouthPharmacy.For the27yearsprior to1995,the first floor was the PromenadeRestaurant, a staple of the area. It evenhad its own postcards!

Eventually it closed and the spacebecame available. That caught the eye ofGreg Markman, who opened CaffeBuon Gusto up the block in 1992 (hesold his interest in it over a decade ago).Markman teamed up with JoeSecondino, who was an accountant atABC and with whom he’s been friendswith since they were seventh graders atJHS 281 (now IS 281) in Bensonhurst,and, on May 15, 1995, opened HeightsCafé on the corner of Montague

and Hicks.

What The Owners Say To Order:

The Southern Boneless Fried Chicken withmashed potatoes, gravy,

and coleslaw.

Do You Live in the FortStirling Neighborhood?by Claude Scales

Reader Ion Freeman has Willowtown envy:hewants to live in apart ofBrooklynHeightsthat has a name, other than “BrooklynHeights” or even “the North Heights.”We’re not sure exactly where he lives; it’s “insome unnamed region of the [N]orth [H]eights between the fruit streets andMontague.” The name he proposes is “FortStirling Neighborhood.”

If you’ve ever entered or exited thepromenade at Clark Street, or walked alongColumbia Heights where Clark Street ends,you’ve passed the site of Fort Stirling .. It’snow marked by a sign that says “FortStirling Sitting Area,” but the onlyopportunities for sitting when I visited thesite yesterday were if one were to borrow

the seat of one of the bikes parked there.

There was, back in the eighteenth century, afort there.A signwhichhas been in place forsome years, tells its history.

Supposing there were a Fort StirlingNeighborhood, what should be itsboundaries? Extending it as far south asMontague seems a stretch, as does, as Mr.Freeman suggests, having it go eastward toCadman Plaza. I would put its southernboundary at the north side of PierrepontPlace, and its eastern at the western side ofHenry. “The fruit streets,” as Mr. Freemanacknowledges, seems to be a neighborhoodsub-designation of its own. Since PineappleStreet is the next street north ofFort Stirling,I would have the Fort StirlingNeighborhood include Columbia Heights,Willow,Hicks, and thewest side ofHenry asfar north as Pineapple, but would notinclude the south side of Pineapple. How’sthat?

Read the full story at

BrooklynHeightsBlog.com

Now we've seen everything. Word comes to us via Twitter of a JustinBieber piñata on sale at the Montague Street Key Food.

This, friends, is something thewholeworldwants and needs- the chanceto smack ol’ Biebs around. His seemingly insane behavior over the lastyear is enough to fuel your aggression and bloodlust while hacking atCanada’s most hated export.

Justin Bieber Piñata On Sale at MontagueStreet Key Food

Here's an excerpt of Tim Sommer's Noise, TheColumn found at brooklynbugle.com:

Finally, did you know that Cap’nCrunch’s full name is Horatio MagellanCrunch? Seriously. And now that Iknow that, for some reason I cannotget out of my head the concept of (thefilm) Captain Phillips being re-madewith Captain H. M. Crunch in thetitular role. Because that would havechanged everything. If those Somalipirates had boarded that boat andencountered that squat, pop-eyed,Leno-jawed thing, they would have justjumped overboard screaming andrapidly intoning the name of whatevergod they worship. No hijack, noviolence, end of story, my friend.That’s a film I want to see.

Way back in 2012, the New York StateLottery filmed a commercial in and aroundBrooklyn Heights. It featured zombies…lots of zombies.

BHB's Chuck Taylor wrote:

By mid-afternoon, the storyboard hadevolved to a crowd of zombies collectedaround the shiny newnewspaper vendor sitein front of City Chemist at 129 Montague(with a car now completely overturned),apparently consumed with deadly desire topurchaseNYC lottery tix.Meanwhile, amobof ghoulish extras sat along Henry Street infront of NYKids Club, waiting their turn asthe action progressed. Photo: ChuckTaylor/BHB

Heights History: Jackthe Horse Tavern and66 Hicks Streetby Evan Bindelglass

Ever wondered what the story wasbehind your favorite restaurant?Well, it might be about more thanfood or even one man’s dream. Hereis an exploration of how someBrooklyn Heights restaurants cameto be and what their owners say bestexemplifies their spirit. Plus, you willget to see what they looked like backin 1967! (Full story atbrooklynheightsblog.com)

Jack the Horse Tavern(66 Hicks Stree)

According to owner Tim Oltmans,the building was constructed back in1829, but the restaurant actuallyoccupies space in 66Hicks Street andneighbor 64 Hicks Street, which wasbuilt in 1915 and was an apartment asfar back as 1940, according to cityrecords. 66 Hicks Street’s first floorwas G. Marcolini Fine Wines &Liquors for 50 or 60 years, saysOltmans.

Eventually it was another wine shopand even a pet store before sittingvacant in 2006. Enter Oltmans (andhis wife Micki), a native ofMinneapolis, where his father’s freshgarden engrained his love of food,and veteran of restaurants Trois Jean,Gramercy Tavern, and Tabla and ofthe French Culinary Institute.

In 2008, the couple opened Jack theHorse Tavern, whose name comesfrom Jack the Horse Lake inMinnesota, where Tim, his father,and brothers used to go fishing.

What The Owner Says To Order:Cocktail: JTH Negroni (made with Brooklyn

Gin) or an Old FashionedAppetizer: Heirloom tomatoes with mozzarellaEntrée: Slow-braised short rib with cheddar grits

and Brussels sprouts (Sep-Apr)

PublisherJohn “Homer Fink” LoscalzoCTOQfwfqSuper-Blogger/Corporate CounselClaude Scales

Staff ReporterMichael Randazzo

ColumnistsTim SommerAlexandra Bowie

ContributorsHeather QuinlanErin CassinTeresa GenaroKatherine HellerDan PattersonTK SmallColeen QuillMrs. FinkMatthew Parker

Video/PhotosJason Shaltz

Hard Boiled NewsmanMarc Hermann

Chief Correspondent EmeritusSarah Portlock

Contributing Editor EmeritusChuck Taylor

All inquires:info@thebrooklynbugle.com

Brooklyn Heights Blog hosted a debate on September 2 at St. Francis Collegebetween the Democratic candidates in the 52nd Assembly District. Jo Anne Simonbeat out challengers Pete Sikora and Doug Biviano in the September 9 primary. Shewill face GOP nominee John Jasilli in November. Photo: Jason Shaltz

BHB Hosts Political Debate

Links to all stories printed hereavailable at:

brooklynbugle.com/montague/

Heights History: Zombies!

Google Street View Car CruisesDown Henry Street

Mrs. Fink snapped a photo of theGoogle Street View Car cruising at the corner of Henryand Clark Streets in Brooklyn Heights on Sunday (9/14) afternoon. So look for updatedviews of the neighborhood soon on Google Maps!

66 Hicks Street, 1967. Photo courtesy New York City Landmarks PreservationCommission