Alejandro Teichberg puts the finishing touches on his “Not Out of the Woods Yet” exhibit at the Everbrite Mercantile Co. in Red Hook (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
So you’re finally ready to venture off to that hotbed of Swedish home furnishings, IKEA, prepared to face massive crowds and track down all the parts you need from the nearly endless warehouse section before bringing it home to figure out how to put it all together. If you don’t have a car, the best way to get there is via the Water Taxi that leaves from Fulton Ferry Landing every forty minutes (beginning at 11:00 in the morning) and is free on Saturdays and Sundays. But when you get off in Brooklyn, don’t hurry your way into the superstore. Instead, first take a ramble through Red Hook, another gentrifying nabe that offers some great places to eat, shop, and check out art. And you’re gonna need this foray before foraging through IKEA. Head down Van Brunt and begin your Red Hook ramble at the Red Hook Lobster Pound (284 Van Brunt), where you can order an excellent lobster roll and enjoy it at the next-door inside picnic area. Then stroll to the Everbrite Mercantile Co. (351 Van Brunt), where you can buy all sorts of unusual objects and see Alejandro Teichberg’s “Not Out of the Woods Yet” exhibit, consisting of some wonderful paintings of natural scenes immersed in personal memories. Next up is the Kentler International Drawing Space (353 Van Brunt), which is currently showing Lezli Rubin-Kunda and Ellen Moffat’s collaborative multimedia “Marking Space.” Then stop at Baked (359 Van Brunt) for a ridiculous sweet & salty brownie, a slice of crazy good Red Hook Red Hot red velvet cake, or the insane, heavenly chocolate cloud cookie. Now that you’re stuffed with food and art, you’ll be ready to navigate through IKEA — or else you’ll be so satisfied with your lovely afternoon that you’ll board the free ferry back home and take a good, long nap filled with pleasant dreams instead of facing the nightmare of having to assemble that computer desk, headboard, or kitchen table you don’t really need as much as you originally thought.