We're Summer-Maxxing

Skipping Spring... (sun emoji, dolphin emoji, ice cream cone emoji)

Outdoor dining has returned to most of the neighborhood, including the beloved Long Island Bar, which is sure to have even longer wait times once “The Devil Wears Prada 2” premieres. I’m excited to see Miss Hathaway sip on a Cosmo and scarf down some cheese curds.

While the wait at LI Bar is still manageable, I met my friend Ella for dinner and sidewalk dirty martinis. I had the burger and fries, and she raved about the trout. The deviled eggs are still the best in the city. We parted ways. The warm breeze swept a scoop of black cherry chip on a sugar cone into my hand. Summer indeed.

If anything signals the change of seasons, it’s the return of L’Industrie’s cantaloupe sorbet. When I visited on Thursday with my friend Eva, we waited in line and spied on ourselves from DamnLines.com, a website as helpful as it is dystopian. At 5 PM, we didn’t wait longer than seven minutes to order. My buratta slice was pretty close to perfect, as usual, and the cantaloupe sorbet, drizzled with olive oil and flaky sea salt, was ripe and nostalgic. It was delicious, but very sweet. It left me craving a large cantaloupe slushie from Shan Fu in Chinatown, a slurry of nothing but melon and ice. Sources are saying Shan Fu has shuttered, but this post from @lodownny suggests they’ll be making a spring return. My fingers are crossed.

Finally, Bar Ferdinando has opened in Carroll Gardens. It’s a resurrection of the shuttered Ferdinando’s Focacceria, the 121-year-old Italian staple in South Brooklyn, which was brought back to life by Sal Lamboglia, the chef and restaurateur behind nearby Cafe Spaghetti, Swoony’s, and Sal Tang’s. I visited last week with my friend Aliza, hopeful for a spritz outdoors. But when we arrived, it was past 80 degrees. We were thankful the outdoor patio wasn’t ready for customers yet and warmly welcomed the air conditioning. We shared arancini and bolognese, ricotta-filled panelle sandwiches, and garlicy clams over thin-cut fries with a side of aioli. More on this below.

We’re summer-maxxing

My childhood spent on the Gulf Coast was summer-maxxing to begin with. An ice cream cone on the beach at sunset felt just as appropriate in November as it did in July, so I guess it was in my bones from the start.

Publix, the southern grocery chain “Where Shopping Is a Pleasure”, is well known for its deli subs. It’s exciting to see a food lover cross a chicken tender Publix sandwich (or Pub Sub, as it is lovingly referred to colloquially) off their menu-essentials bucket list. My mom would have a variety platter of them every Halloween, but if you ask me, a Pub Sub really shines with a side of SPF. On the beach, the Pub Sub is exalted by its surroundings, dusted with sand and whispered to by the salty air.

When I think of summer in Florida, I think of a Pub Sub on the beach, scarfing down each craggly bit of fried chicken and seeded loaf as quickly as I can to get back in the cool Gulf water. I’m looking forward to that experience when I visit Florida this summer, but until then, I’ll be capturing that feeling at Bar Ferdinando.

Sal Lamboglia’s clams over fries conjured July months in advance. Sure, maybe it was the sweat dripping down my back on the 85-degree walk to the restaurant through Carroll Gardens, but slurping down buttery, garlicy clams and finishing the fries soaked in their juices felt like a hopeful promise of things to come. It promised pretzel carts and ice cream cones; cherry-dipped swirls from Mister Softee melting down your hand, dripping onto the boardwalk. After this brutal winter, after our soups, stews, chilis, and broths, I’m looking forward to more clams and fries. I’m skipping Spring and going straight for the hot dog eating contest.