So, perhaps you’ve heard already, but kale has now officially been declared (by the paper of record, no less) as being “so ubiquitous in Brooklyn that it could be named the borough’s official vegetable.” Hooray for kale! No, but really. Hooray for kale. Kale is delicious and a superfood and all that good stuff. Sure, some people go a little overboard in their love for leafy greens, as demonstrated in this past Sunday’s front-page story in the New York Times. wherein we learned all about how a “kale crusader” (um) has decamped to Paris from New York to spread the gospel of this nutrient rich cruciferous vegetable. Unfortunately for Kristen Beddard, kale evangelist, Paris doesn’t really care about kale, finding it “superfluous” to the already healthy, balanced French diet. But just because Kristen Beddard maybe goes a little bit overboard in her kale enthusiasm, it doesn’t mean that kale isn’t great. Because you know where kale is always needed and never redundant? Brooklyn! Kale is everything here, so we thought we’d celebrate kale and Brooklyn and, like, America by highlighting the ten best kale dishes in the borough. Because in Brooklyn? You can never have too much kale.
[jump]
Love you Kris, but no, Kale is just a trend, mostly for rich white gentrifiers. Why is it so expensive, when growing them isn’t? Where was kale 10 yrs. ago? I’ts not like it was just invented like froyos. Kale is for the trendy white riches.
Kale with bacon and honey that comes with Sidecar’s fried chicken!
Kale Salad at James Restaurant!
JOR: some things (especially trends in the food world) just need to get enough traction to take off and become a thing. 10 years ago it was frisee and radicchio. Now it’s kale. Get used to it! I for one love the stuff and couldn’t be happier that it’s become a thing. And it’s not even that expensive! You can get a giant bunch of the tuscan kale (the good kind IMO) at the McCarren Park Farmers Market for just $2!
The Rooftop Red kale pizza from Paulie Gee’s looks the best!!!
John Kale, that’s because you follow any trend there is, FOMO for mofos. And yes, they’re just $2 at farmer’s market, so why so expensive at a restaurant. Get used to using your own brains and judgment (if you have any), and not what the trend is or other poeple follow.
And 10 yrs. ago, you were probably just 11 yrs. old being bought everything by your mommy and daddy, and probably still on mommy and daddy’s wallet, now and forever and ever. And you didn’t argue against that the trend is only for rich white gentrifiers.
And much like a typical white gentrifier narcissists, people who are into this kale trend feel cut off from real human connection so you create constant pseudo-connections via trends. You feel empty and express their aggression through shopping compulsively and consuming aggressively. You are grandiose and believe the world revolves around them.
You demand constant attention, thus waiting on line for any trendy stuff. Your hidden, deep belief in their own worthlessness makes you strive for high-status jobs and condo lifestyles and trends, where a false sense of power temporarily lifts you up. And the rich white gentrifiers are sociopathic, without conscience and without remorse and you are the fastest growing subgroup of hipsters gentrifers sprouting in Brooklyn.
And, I know, bunch of dislikes on this comment. Unlike you narcisistic rich white gentrifiers, I don’t need constant praise. Truth hurts. Get use to it. Now, go consume that kale.
Wow, JOR. Why are you so angry? And why the need to generalize so much? You couldn’t be more off about your assumptions about me. I’m over 30 years old, had to work shitty service jobs to earn any of my own spending money through high school and (public) university, and non-white. I just like kale. Maybe you should look in the mirror and try to figure out why you need to feel so victimized.
If a general group of people are engaging in a particular actions or behavior, then yes it’s a sweeping generalization. .
What no one has commented on is ton the kale crusader; she’s trying to bring kale where, as the article says, “don’t need magical vegetables or superfoods. They already have a tradition of eating balanced meals.” This is similar to gentrification; instead of adapting to neighborhood where they moved in, they are forcing their ways into that neighborhood But of course, no one would see this, since the kale lovers are so into themselves that they can’t see outside of themselves. Enjoy your kales.
I moved to Paris and searched high and low for kale. Like the “kale crusader” I grew up eating kale. Her parents grew it in their garden. While kale may be newly discovered by trendy American restaurants (which is wonderful), kale has been a staple in many parts of the world for a very very long time (including, for example: Poland, Germany, basically all of Scandinavia). I won’t bore you with the health benefits of incorporating kale into your diet, but if you care to read up on it, here are a few publications (see, for example: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=38 & http://www.huffingtonpost.com/drew-ramsey-md/health-benefits-kale_b_3529768.html?). Anyhow, I am extremely grateful to Kristen for what she has accomplished as are my french friends who have, thanks entirely to Kristen, been introduced to kale and have incorporated it into their diets because they realize the health benefits for doing so. Not sure why all of the hostility or blanket generalizations. Perhaps it was just an attempt to garner more readership by being more provocative. Anyway, when one of the top 3 chefs in France has decided to start growing kale and farmers markets all over Paris have begun to carry it and sell out every time they have it, I think it’s safe to say that this “trend” is catching on in Paris. I for one am happy that Kristen has made these efforts. If people don’t want to eat Kale they don’t have to, but at least more of them now have the option.
I would also recommend the kale salad at the Mayfield in Crown Heights – uncomplicated, unfussy, but delicious