"Brooklyn Spirits": A Very Special Book Launch

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Last night at Powerhouse Arena in Dumbo, Brooklyn

Peter Thomas Fornatale and Chris Wertz

Signing copies of 'Brooklyn Spirits'

Chris Wertz, Max Kelly and Peter Thomas Fornatale 

Photographer Max Kelly with his super proud mama.

This being Friday, perhaps you may allow me to slip from neighborhood blogger into the role of very proud mother just this once.

Last night, I attended a very special book launch for "Brooklyn Spirits: Craft Distilling and Cocktails from the World's Hippest Borough" at PowerHouse Arena in Dumbo. Special, because all the photographs in this book were taken by my son Max Kelly.

Co-authored by Peter Thomas Fornatale and Chris Wertz and published by Powerhouse Books, 'Brooklyn Spirits' highlights many of the borough's new craft distilleries like Breukelen Distilling, Greenhook Ginsmiths and Noble Experiment and the producers behind these Brooklyn start-ups.
Photographs  for 'Brooklyn Spirits' were taken on location at the distilleries and in some of the most popular watering holes in Brooklyn.  Most of the 95 cocktail recipes contributed by the authors, distillers and borough bartenders have been beautifully photographed.

The New York Times writes about "Brooklyn Spirits"

"Lavishly photographed, the book chronicles the experiences of a dozen start-up whiskey and liqueur makers in the borough, including Breukelen Distilling, Van Brunt Stillhouse, Cacao Prieto, Greenhook Ginsmiths and Uncouth Vermouth. Threaded throughout are stories about the bars that use the spirits and the cocktails they create, like the Crown Heights Negroni and the Gravesend Smash. It includes several recipes and an excellent index of the cocktails."

I wonder what Grandpa Kelly would think of all this. Back in the days, he owned the White Shutter Inn at 98 Wyckoff Avenue in Bushwick. Though he probably didn't serve fancy spirits and drinks like those photographed by his grandson Max, I know that he would have been as proud of him as I am.

The book is available at Powerhouse Arena here and from Amazon here.