Ernest is one of my favourite artists and I’m so happy he took time out of his busy Fall schedule to chat. His drawings/paintings always make me feel like I’m in the head of a little boy imagining war and anime, love and friendship - which is a good thing. That child-like quality plus the engrossing detail in his work creates a cinematic feeling. Each time I look at one of Ernest’s pieces, I see something new and am engaged in a new epic adventure. Check out his show, or even better, drop by tomorrow at the opening and say hi.

Name: Ernest Concepcion
Occupation: Artist/Museum Educator
Borough/Neighborhood:  Home: Brooklyn/Kensington, Art Studio: Gowanus

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Neiko Design bags are how I like to define New Yorkers: tough yet elegant, classic and timeless, classy and fashionable. Lucky us, we got to interview Amanda Truong, the woman behind the bag designs whose very hands stitch together each unique bag. These bags are functional, stylish, totally affordable, and not just for the ladies! (In fact, if you’re looking for an early Christmas present for yours truly, I am particularly fond of the Winton and Rogue.)

Name: Amanda Truong
Occupation: Handbag Designer & owner of Neiko Designs
Borough/Neighborhood: Manhattan/Upper West Side

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Name: Lauren Zettler
Occupation: Musician
Borough/Neighborhood: East Village

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I liked Stray Vintage immediately. I was so happy when they opened in the neighborhood. They’re a happy combination of vintage, new, and neighborhood-local. I love taking leisurely strolls down Skillman and wandering into Stray to check out bags and trinkets. (And usually end up crushing on a piece of furniture that I sadly don’t have room for.) It’s one of those places I’d like to keep a secret, but Dan & Tara are just so awesomely down to earth, how could I keep this treasure trove of a store to myself?

Name: Dan & Tara Glasser
Occupation: Owners of Stray Vintage & More
Borough/Neighborhood: Queens/Sunnyside

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Cathy’s food blog is one of those blogs where I bookmark recipes and find inspiration. Beyond her recipes, I visit her blog often to discover local food events (Pig butchering class anyone? Yes, I am one girl who is down!), or learn about foraging food tours in NYC parks (It’s completely safe, edible, and likely delicious!), or just get some gumption to cook a few more meals a week versus taking the lazy and often dissatisfying take-out route.

Name: Cathy Erway
Occupation: Freelance copywriter and sometimes journalist
Borough/Neighborhood: Brooklyn/Crown Heights

Tell us a little about your blog, Not Eating Out In NY (NEOINY), and the upcoming book you’re working on: It’s the true story of one woman’s struggle to not eat out in the city that never eats in! Or something like that. But to get all deep about it, when I began the blog two years ago, I was inspired by a “media fast” that a professor in college made our class go on, who was inspired by Thoreau’s wilderness retreat in Walden. The book will be a memoir about my experience rather than short snippets and recipes as seen on the blog.

[Photo from Food Candy]
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I first discovered Ganda’s blog, Eat Drink One Woman, when I was still living in Sunset Park. She had me at pupusa. I’m such a sucker. She’s smart, witty, has a beautiful voice, (She was part of Cibo Matto! She sang with David Byrne! And is a super-talented musician in her own right — check out the Solitary Cylist.) and just pretty damn cool. In light of the current political climate, Ganda also has some beautifully written, wonderfully articulate entries on the election.

Name: Ganda Suthivarakom
Occupation: Web editor, musician
Borough/Neighborhood: Brooklyn

[Photo from EDOW by Julie Dy]

Tell us a little about your blog (EatDrinkOneWoman) and its transformation over the years: Well, I started out trying to blog about my life, but my life was so boring that it never went anywhere.  Then I decided to blog about food, but really only as a lens through which I viewed life.  I had hoped it would help me become a legitimate food writer, which it sort of did.  And then this year, the economic downturn had me thinking about my obsession with food.  I started losing my appetite for it.  All of a sudden, it felt so…corporeal.  And unimportant.  And excessive.  I guess you could say I’m having a bout of moral constipation.  So now I’m writing about life through the lens of politics, which is my current #1 wakes-me-up-in-the-morning obsession.

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Dave & Alex have something special. The Diamond. It’s the right mix of good beer, a chill environment, and unpretentious company. Conversations flow freely from behind the bar to those sitting around the bar to even those playing shuffleboard. It feels seamless and open and never feels too crowded despite the crowds that do come through. They recently participated in Craft Beer Week, but Dave’s been guiding beer tastings for years. They’re green. They’ve always got good tasty beer. And, I hear their Brutus the Barber Beef Pie is scrummy.

Name: Dave & Alex Pollack
Occupation: We own the Diamond. Alex is a photo editor at New York Magazine
Borough/Neighborhood: Greenpoint

[Photo by James Turek from New York Magazine]

Tell us a little about the Diamond and how you got started: I was working for a very specialized beer importer, B. United International, while my wife Alex and I were dating and living in the East Village. This was a phenomenal company that invested heavily in my knowledge of specialty beer. I was all over Europe working on bringing in new beers and learning about our existing breweries. Meanwhile, Alex had her own catering company on Fisher’s Island and was doing promotional work for Eve Ensler. We took a trip to Seattle and were sitting at a wine and cheese bar one day and thought “we could do this.” Then we spent several years picking a location. I wanted to go pioneer in a depressed city in Connecticut. We looked at Bridgeport for a while and got pretty serious in New London. But we realized that it started to feel small. Living in New London one summer we started to notice it was like the Simpsons. Like there were really interesting characters there but by the 3rd week, we knew them all. It felt confined. So we came back to New York, settled in Greenpoint, and instantly felt home. I also worked on and off at Spuyten Duyvil through this period. This was the first time I had bartended or even worked in a bar. I learned so much there about how to run a business. I loved their model….no liquor, high quality/low maintenance food menu. Joe and Kim Carroll were major mentors for us.

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Andrew is this unassuming guy who totally schooled me in math. In case you’re one of those “Ugh, math” types, just keep in mind that math is what keeps your bank accounts secure and makes it less easy for people to steal your credit card numbers. Oh, and its also what keeps your cell phone lines (and those secret numbers) private. So, through encryption and cryptology, your shit is safe. And you don’t even have to think about it! Since the only math I do these days is random statistical equations and trying to figure out the tip on my bill, I find it totally fascinating. (But, this is the girl that loves to watch PBS and Nova specials.) But, mathematicians have to eat and drink, too…

Name: Andrew Stout

Occupation: Math Ph.d. Student at the CUNY Graduate Center

Borough/Neighborhood: Hamilton Heights

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I met Tom when he first moved to New York and he had this genuinely smitten, doe-eyed view of the city. It wasn’t naive, but actually completely refreshing and made you fall in love with the city all over again through his eyes. Even now, over 5 years later he hasn’t lost that.

Aside from being half of one of my favourite couples ever, he’s been writing, directing and producing skits and videos with his friends since college. I was excited to see Scissor Cop #5 viewed at the New York Television Festival this year! (He also does a kick-ass karaoke rendition of Hall & Oats’ Private Eyes.)

Name: Tom Silvestro

Occupation: DC Comics Coordinator

Borough/Neighborhood: Greenpoint, Brooklyn

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Hi everyone! I’m Serena and I’m the new editor at Neighborbee Blog. We’ll be introducing some new writers and features so stick around and stay tuned! This week, we’ll be starting our interviews.

First up is our very own Anthony Lobosco.

You may have already met Anthony, but do you know his favorite local spots? His favorite slice? That he’s very into zombies?

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