Meet the Ladies Behind DUMBO's Nylon Cooks

When I heard about Nylon Cooks a new venture started by local DUMBO chefs Lindsay Broder and Kristen Clay, I was definitely interested in learning more. I can certainly relate as someone who loves to cook but is short on time. The following Q&A offers insight into the thinking behind Nylon Cooks and why you should give it a try.


Q: Why did you decide to start Nylon Cooks?
A: We started Nylon Cooks because we wanted to improve the in-home dining experience for busy New York City dwellers. We give our customers an alternative to typical take-out by offering them pre-prepared meals with carefully selected ingredients.

Q: Is there anything behind the name of your company?
A: We get that question a lot! Kristen is from England and Lindsay is from New York. Ny=New York, Lon=London. Nylon Cooks reflects who we are and what we do!



Q: How does it work?
A: We offer a selective menu of pre-prepared entrees, side dishes and soups. We also offer a children’s menu of healthy alternatives to your kids’ favorite meals. We schedule deliveries twice a week. Meals arrive in oven-proof packaging with heating instructions. It’s as simple as turning on the oven, eating a delicious dinner and throwing away the container. No pots or pans required!

Q: Aside from the fact you live in DUMBO, why target DUMBO?
A: As we were planning Nylon Cooks we kept hearing from our neighbors that they struggle with putting dinner on the table each night. They don't have the time to cook a full meal and they find the options for take-out to be limiting. That's where we come in!

Q: What's your most popular dish?
A: Our signature Lasagna has been very popular, but we've been getting great feedback on all our dishes!

Q: Do you take special requests, for example if someone has food allergies?
A: Since we are a startup company and it's just the two of us we aren't able to accommodate such requests at this time.

Q: Do you see Nylon Cooks expanding to become a catering service one day?
A: We have aspirations to expand Nylon Cooks to other areas of the city and we hope that our customers will see the value in ordering Nylon Cooks in larger quantities for holiday dinners or for their dinner parties.

Q: Why should people choose Nylon Cooks over say the prepared food from Forager's, ready-to-cook meals from Fresh Direct or Busy Chefs in Brooklyn Heights?
A: Our food is not about reheating. They are not prepared meals. They are pre-prepared. We've done extensive testing on our recipes and figured out to what point each dish should be cooked in order to make sure that when it comes out of your oven that it tastes as if we've just prepared it for you in your own kitchen. And the best part is no pots or pans to clean up!

Q: How much does it cost?
A: Our entrees range from $12-$15 and our sides $6.50-$7.50. Our kids entrees are $7.50-$8.00. A pint of soup is $5.50 and a quart of soup is $10.00.

Fireworks Last Night On Par with Macy's

Living in DUMBO, we are often lucky enough to see fireworks on any given night over the harbor. But last night's show was like Macy's 4th of July and I couldn't keep my eyes off the colored lights above downtown Manhattan.

According to McBrooklyn, the show was for the Deepavali Festival. More on the show from Brooklyn Heights Blog.

I took a short video of the fireworks, which I'll try to upload from home later.

Brooklyn Waterfront "Endangered"

A new report issued by nonprofit organization National Trust for Historic Preservation highlights 11 endangered places in the U.S. that are "being disturbed or damaged."

"The 2007 list includes historic motels on Route 66 that are losing out to chain hotels and travelers who rarely slow down along the newer interstates. They are listed alongside the industrial waterfront of Brooklyn that is increasingly being bulldozed to make way for multimillion-dollar condos, and a World War II-era internment camp that once held Japanese-Americans that is slipping into decrepitude ...

... The historic dockyards and factories are being replaced by acres of condominiums in suddenly hip areas with new acronyms like DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). The trust wants to preserve at least a portion of the borough's 19th-century industrial heart."

From the Salt Lake Tribune.

DUMBO Fights Back

The Brooklyn Paper reports on the opposition to the proposed Walentas building near the Brooklyn Bridge in DUMBO.

But Walentas’s Two Trees Management plan still doesn’t cut it: “We do need a middle school, but this need … should not be used to leverage an out-of-scale development,” Karen Johnson, president of the DUMBO group told The Brooklyn Paper.

I fully agree ... but ...

"Walentas told reporters this week that the reappearance of his old foes wouldn’t stop him from continuing to seek support from the city on his plan."

Save DUMBO

If you haven't already, please read dumbonyc's lastest post on the latest in terms of the proposed building in the Novo Clutch lot near the BK Bridge. He notes a NYT article from yesterday's paper that included a letter from council member David Yassky opposing the construction.

I didn't realize it but a Web site has been established, www.savedumbo.org, to help raise awareness for this issue. The Web site cites its mission as follows:

the brooklyn bridge and neighborhood of dumbo are currently being threatened by developers as historic buildings are being demolished and out-of-context replacements are being erected, all without regard for the interests of the local community. this site aims to give supporters of the brooklyn bridge and residents of dumbo a unified voice so that together we can preserve these unique landmarks. please join us in our current fight against dock street dumbo.

Click here to voice your concern too.

NYT on Proposed DUMBO Historic District

Came across this post today on NYTimes.com's CityRoom blog.

They set out to profile the architecture in DUMBO amid the proposed historic district plan and found several folks rushing through construction (assumed because of the plan). In particular, the post focuses on 215 Plymouth, which was proposed to be included in the plan.

From the post:

The building, she explained, was included in the proposed historic district. (Like numerous structures around Dumbo, it retains a hand-painted sign on the brickwork, badly faded but still legible: “Peerless Paint and Varnish.”) Ms. Ryan said she suspected the owners were trying to get a step ahead of regulation by doing the work before the historic district is formally established by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Sure enough, at 215 Plymouth, two workers were jackhammering a small area of the ground-floor facade. They kept at it while City Room snapped away. A front-loader appeared to cart the pile of rubble from the sidewalk.

(UPDATED) This Weekend in DUMBO: Strange Constumed Folk

Did anyone see the large group of people walking through DUMBO dressed in red goth-ish costumes? Many of the women had red fairy wings while the men were dressed head to toe in red and black.

UPDATED:

Thanks to dumbonyc for offering a report and photos! Check it out.

It was One Night of Fire, which began at Brooklyn Bridge and went to Coney Island.

From NYT: Galapagos Moves to DUMBO

A NYT article caught by Brooklyn Record reports that the Galapagos Art Space is moving to a DUMBO venue next year -- a 102-year-old, 10,000 square-foot former horse stable at 16 Main Street that is owned by Two Trees. For more information, visit here.

Hampton Jitney to Stop in DUMBO

Hampton Jitney will now make stops in Brooklyn, one of which will be on Cadman Plaza and Clark Street. The new Brooklyn route begins on Friday, May 18.

Note that the Brooklyn Jitneys won't run on the Westhampton and Sag Harbor lines, but service will be available on the North Fork and Montauk lines (East, South, Bridgehampton).

Summer is almost here!