The long-awaited, sometimes-controversial Gowanus Whole Foods is finally opening on Dec. 17.
The food retailer has spent the last year of construction on the gourmet grocery store doling out tantalizing tidbits about what artisanal, organic treasures and whiz-bang features the outlet will hold. Here is a sampling of what to expect:
• A rooftop beer bar and restaurant overlooking the fetid Gowanus Canal that will serve up a variety of brews, including Red Hook favorite Sixpoint. The food menu is not finalized yet, but will boast burgers, ribs, and vegetarian dishes from local vendors including pickle company Brooklyn Brine.
• A massive, energy-efficient roof greenhouse, which will supply a few sprigs of the store’s produce.
• Monthly “drink and draw” sessions at the rooftop bar, where doodlers from Arts Gowanus will run session on topics including still life and collage, according to media reports. The events are not to be confused with those of the same name at the now-shuttered Third Ward art space where former Brooklyn Paper editor once scarred retinas by posing nude.
• A Yuji Ramen stand owned by chef Yuji Haraguchi, whose eatery is already serving up steaming bowls of noodles at the Bowery Whole Foods in Manhattan.
• Products by borough companies made exclusively for the store, including a line of frozen pizzas from fancy Bushwick pie palace Roberta’s and the sweet kind of circular pastry from Whole Foods’ bakery neighbor Four and Twenty Blackbirds. Also, beer-infused chocolate truffles.Brooklyn’s first Whole Foods opens at (214 Third Street at Third Avenue in Gowanus, www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/brooklyn). Tues, Dec. 17, 8:30 am.
