there’s an article i’m trying to write that branches off one that i’m trying to finish.
this place that i live in: bedstuy. it’s going through its latest reinvention in probably 15 years? twenty?
the original article is kind of talking about those changes, i guess. just from where it was when i started hanging out here – before, even – to now when it’s getting kind of pricey and destination-y. all the changes; the new places opening up.
hey, i’m having fun not completing it, in any case.
anywho, this is about i went to a place recently that i passed a few times – badaboom, a frenchy* rotisserie chicken joint over on howard – and never really went inside, for one reason or another.
*(real frenchy: the folks who own wine bar “frog” – they’re not above a catchy epithet – are also involved here.)
and to get the kind of review-ish aspects of this place out of the way, because that’s not really what i’m here for: the food is really really good, the space is really nice to look at, the service is super friendly. i might have knocks, but they’re not very important ones.
if anything, i recall a little hangryness one night that caused me to puppy-dog eyes at the kitchen constantly. but that was just a symptom of how popular the place is.
and that last point is what i want to talk about. that’s what interests me. badaboom is always packed. always. and it’s not really “close” to things; close to the subway, close to tompkins or bedford. people seek IT out. people hang out here for hours just because.
why this place works when several others don’t. that’s the whole thing. the thing i’m trying to get a handle on.