offManhattan

For the July 4th weekend, offManhattan chose to brave the crowds at the beach rather than on the banks of the Hudson River this year. And while the three wimpy fireworks that we managed to see in the Hamptons were disappointing, the setting at Social Life Magazine’s Gatsby Under the Red, White, and Blue soirée was anything but.

Poolside, with Peronis in hand, we chatted up celebrities like Twilight star Kellan Lutz and 90210’s AnnaLynne McCord while MJ songs blared through the speakers. In the backyard of a 10,000-square-foot pink mansion in Watermill, we found out who used to bring a whip to set and the best place—we verified—to get breakfast in Southampton.

Read on to find out what guests had to say.

This is the fifth of five interviews with small business owners at their boutique shops on Bergen Street, Brooklyn.

Shop: Private Stock

Wares: Affordable modern clothes, footwear, and merchandise.

Location: 458 Bergen Street

Woody Pierre, what was the motivation behind Private Stock? There was a big demand for contemporary men’s clothing in the area, and we always had men’s clothing at our women’s location La Vedette, which was a little cramped up. So we decided to branch off and open up a men’s clothing store.

This is the fourth of five interviews with small business owners at their boutique shops on Bergen Street, Brooklyn.

Shop: Bump

Wares: Contemporary designer maternity clothes for the pregnant urban shopper

Location: 464 Bergen Street

SaSaDi Odunsi and Hannah Macdonald, how long has Bump been in business? Two years this June.

What were you doing beforehand? I worked in wholesale jewelry, and then I took a break to be a mom, and then ultimately met my business partner [Hannah Macdonald] at Mommy Baby Yoga in Park Slope. The two of us decided that this area needed a maternity store and Bump was born.

What do you think was the biggest challenge opening the store? Well for one, getting this together as new mothers became a family endeavor. Trying to figure out the best neighborhood to open the store in for another. And we were ultimately the first store to open up on this block. We took a leap of faith.

This is the third of five interviews with small business owners at their boutique shops on Bergen Street, Brooklyn.

Shop: Babeland

Wares: Toys, lubricants, prophylactics, DVD’s, and more for both genders.

Location: 462 Bergen Street

Claire Cavannah and Rachel Venning, how long has Babeland been in business? 15 years.

What were you doing before Babeland? I was working odd jobs, in construction, at a coffee shop, and in film production.

This is the second of five interviews with small business owners at their boutique shops on Bergen Street, Brooklyn.

Shop: Eponymy

Wares: Modern and vintage women’s clothing, antiques, artwork.

Location: 466 Bergen Street

Andrea Miller, when did you open Eponymy? In late September of 2008.

What hatched the idea? I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but I knew what I didn’t want to do, and so I took a crapshoot and opened the store. My grandparents were in antiques so I developed an eye growing up. I can pick out things easily, and I started humble, so I thought it would be cool. . .this idea of being able to buy anything in a shop and have it be well curated and designed. My grandparents retired years ago, and all of our antique fixtures were in a horrible condition. I hauled them up from their old antique shop and I refinished and repainted all of them to give them a more modern feel.

This is the first of five interviews with small business owners at their boutique shops on Bergen Street, Brooklyn.

As we all know, the recession has affected nearly everybody, but especially the small business owner. With this is mind, we spent some time in the north end of Park Slope talking to storefront owners about a range of topics including the economy, their neighborhood, and their business.

Shop: Bergen St. Comics

Wares: Comic books and graphic novels.

Location: 470 Bergen Street

Tom Adams, owner of Bergen St. Comics, how long have you been in business? Since March 6th.

What was your biggest challenge opening the store? Deciding in the midst of all the bad economic news, to go ahead and pull the trigger anyway. Construction was no walk in the park either, but really just the decision to finally pull the trigger and do what we had been planning to do for a couple of years.

Growing up picking apples and pears with his older organic farming brother gave Jim Denevan the green thumbs and love of food that made him a pioneer in the culinary world. The fact that it all started because this 17-year-old surfer needed to earn money to buy a wetsuit is irrelevant.

The sibling-inspired “super passion” was further cultivated in the 1980s in Italy, where he lived on farms, cooking and eating products fresh from the land. Inspired to recreate that farm-to-table experience in the States, Denevan started Outstanding in the Field, a chichi yet down to earth way of celebrating the food and where it came from—with the help of award-winning guest chefs who devise the feast.

In anticipation of the OIF series heading to the East Coast this summer and fall, we dialed Denevan in Santa Cruz, California to see what was cooking with the surfer dude 10 years after his first sustainable alfresco dinner.

What are some of your earliest memories that led you to create OIF? Well, in Europe I became interested in the culture of food, something that was not yet really prevalent in the US. I wanted to promote that connection between growing perfect apples, organic farmers talking proudly around the table about their food, and the guests enjoying the whole menu that originated from the farm.

In today’s golden age of green travel, there are those people who start out eating organic food and biking to playdates. Still others take until their fifties to figure out that life’s a give and take. Luckily, there are jolly do-gooders like Seventh Generation’s President and “Chief Inspired Protagonist” Jeffrey Hollender to bring the late bloomers up to speed about why helping the planet is the most important thing anyone can do right now.

As the rain pelted down on Battery Park City last night, offManhattan made a visit to the penthouse apartment at Riverhouse, a LEED certified building, for the launch party of Fine Living Network’s newest TV series Big Green Lies, airing April 22nd at 8pm. After sampling the organic cocktails and watching a sneak peek of the program, we caught up with Hollender, the show’s creator and the host of the event, to push his green buttons. In the process, we learned from the authority on all products green and good that most tampons are highly carcinogenic and that bottled water drinkers are essentially stealing fresh water from those who need it most.