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Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond => Heath Ledger Remembrance Forum => Topic started by: Aloysius J. Gleek on October 30, 2008, 06:56:27 pm

Title: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Aloysius J. Gleek on October 30, 2008, 06:56:27 pm

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/a-new-restaurant-in-heath-ledgers-memory/?hp (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/a-new-restaurant-in-heath-ledgers-memory/?hp)

(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs_v3/cityroom/cityroom_post.png)

October 30, 2008, 4:58 pm
A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
By Andrea Rice


(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/10/23/nytdigital/23leaves533.jpg)
Two of Heath Ledger’s friends — Scott Campbell, left, and Jud Mongell — helped him plan for a restaurant-bar in Brooklyn before his death in January. Mr. Mongell, the actor’s business partner, opened the establishment in September. (Photos: Elizabeth Payne)


After the actor Heath Ledger died in January, the fate of a restaurant and bar he had planned to open in Brooklyn was thrown into question. Then in July, his family announced that it would release money from his estate to complete the business.

On Sept. 17, the restaurant-bar, Five Leaves, opened at 18 Bedford Avenue, near the Greenpoint-Williamsburg boundary. In an interview, Mr. Ledger’s business partner, Jud Mongell, and Scott Campbell, a tattoo artist who was also a friend of the actor’s, traced the evolution of their friendship with Mr. Ledger, who they say relished his friendships with ordinary people.

Mr. Mongell said he was introduced to Mr. Ledger at a beach party in Australia more than two years ago, not long after the filming of the influential drama “Brokeback Mountain” (2005), for which Mr. Ledger was nominated for an Oscar.

Two weeks after the beach party, they met again at a wedding, and standing in the corner of the dance floor, they chatted the night away and discovered similarities in their lives, Mr. Mongell recalled. “I had lived in L.A. and N.Y., and so did he,” Mr. Mongell said. “I went to Burning Man, he went to Burning Man -– all this stuff came up.”

From music to motorbikes, tattoos to coffee, and even daughters who were the same age, the men linked one conversation to the next. Mr. Mongell and Mr. Ledger both had plans to move to New York in the following months. They broached the idea of opening a coffee shop together and decided to stay in touch.

“When I got to New York, I thought I should give that dude Heath a call, but I figured he was probably real busy,” Mr. Mongell said. “I was sure he’d screen me.” But Mr. Ledger’s phone barely rang twice before he answered, eager to pick up where they had left off, Mr. Mongell recalled.

Mr. Ledger was on his way to Saved Tattoo in Williamsburg for the first time, where he was to meet Mr. Campbell, on the recommendation of Helena Christensen, the Victoria’s Secret model.

“It’s funny because the first time he came in, I didn’t even know who he was,” Mr. Campbell said, recalling that he was unable to fit the actor into his very busy schedule that day. While Saved Tattoo is notorious for having waiting times as long as three months, Mr. Campbell asked the actor to come back a week later for the bird tattoo he wanted.

“Heath would come hang out at the tattoo shop all the time, and they started talking about doing something around here,” Mr. Campbell said. (Mr. Ledger showed up for his appointment, but he already had the bird tattoo on his arm because he said he hadn’t been patient enough to wait. But he wasn’t happy with the tattoo, so he kept the appointment with Mr. Campbell, who fixed it.)

The next day, when a photographer stopped by the tattoo shop asking about Mr. Ledger’s tattoo, Mr. Campbell realized who he was. “Oh yeah, sorry mate,” Mr. Campbell recalled Mr. Ledger saying when told about the photographer. “I just did this movie, ‘Brokeback Mountain.’

Mr. Campbell did a half-dozen more tattoos for Mr. Ledger. “I don’t know how many times he would call me at, like, 8 a.m., 6 in the morning with tattoo ideas — he would be jet-lagged, just flew in from somewhere on a completely different time schedule, and he would be like ‘Ohhh! I just saw this in a book. I decided what I want to get tattooed! I was like, ‘Okay, cool, we will get around to it!’ ”

Mr. Ledger would insist that he would be there in 20 minutes or so, Mr. Campbell said. “I’m like, Heath, it’s 7 in the morning; just call me later,’ ” he recalled. “I’d hang up the phone, and like half an hour later, he’d be knocking on my door, like, ‘Let’s go!’ ”

The actor soon introduced Mr. Mongell to Mr. Campbell, and the three became fast friends.

As his celebrity status escalated in the aftermath of “Brokeback Mountain,” Mr. Ledger yearned for genuine human interaction, his friends said.

“We would all hang out in the West Village, and he was just like the guy with a cigarette,” Mr. Campbell said. “He loved when anyone would react to him as a normal person. He really appreciated that.” Mr. Ledger would give out his cigarettes and strike up conversation with just about anyone, he said. But the minute anyone said, “You’re Heath Ledger,” the conversation would become stilted, he said.

“He’d be like, ‘Yeah, that’s right’ and he would let that conversation just end there,” said Mr. Mongell. “And then they could either have regular conversation or there would be no more conversation.”

Mr. Ledger would open up more to fellow Australians, Mr. Campbell said. “Australians have this amazing camaraderie,” he said. “They run into each other anywhere, and if you’re Australian, it’s like, ‘Cool, what do you need? Do you want my wallet? What?’ Amazing.”

Mr. Ledger lived in Boerum Hill with the actress Michelle Williams and their daughter, Matilda, until the couple separated. During that time, he spent much of his free time in Greenpoint and Williamsburg, where he discovered the triangular-shaped space for the future restaurant-bar while skateboarding, Mr. Campbell said.

At one point, Mr. Ledger made an offer to buy out an elderly Polish woman running a barbershop in the neighborhood. “He even pitched an offer for the whole building,” Mr. Mongell said. “He was going to build a commune for all of his friends,” Mr. Campbell added.

The original idea of a coffee shop morphed into a plan for an Australian-meets-American restaurant-bar that would serve local and organic fare. “This would have been Heath’s hangout,” said Mr. Mongell, who now runs Five Leaves with his wife but still refers to Mr. Ledger as an equal partner in the business. Mr. Ledger’s father, Kim, is managing the business’s finances.

Over time, the Williamsburg community became desensitized to Mr. Ledger’s celebrity presence. He would show up at the local lounge Zebulon to watch soccer with the bartenders or show up at Union Pool with the crew from Dumont Burger. He took the wheel of the DJ booth and laid down a few tracks at the hipster hangout Enid’s for a birthday party of fewer than a dozen people. “After a while, Heath had all his regular spots around here, and no one would call Page Six anymore when he walked in the door, because nobody cared,” Mr. Campbell said. “He was the Williamsburg dude.”

Mr. Campbell said that Mr. Ledger loved having friends around. Mr. Campbell raided the actor’s closet and slept on his couch. There were always people coming and going at Mr. Ledger’s place, drinking tea, using the computer and gathering around for dinner. Mr. Ledger was always manning the barbecue grill or making espresso. “If he could cook at his house with an ocean of people laying on the living room floor watching movies, that was his heaven,” Mr. Campbell said. “That and his daughter, Matilda -– she was everything to him.” Aside from his production company endeavors, Mr. Ledger also planned to build a drive-in at an old garage to watch movies with his daughter.

Mr. Mongell, who described himself as Mr. Ledger’s “boring” friend who organized play dates for their daughters and was always talking business, said the actor truly lived the New York experience. He taught his daughter how to skateboard. He rode his bike over the Williamsburg Bridge. He visited farmer’s markets. He played chess in Washington Square Park, and he brought coffee for the paparazzi.

“He really just took New York and rolled with it,” Mr. Mongell said. “He was just one of us, man.”

(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/10/27/nyregion/fiveleavesbar-533.jpg)
Scott Campbell, left, and Jud Mongell in Five Leaves, the restaurant and bar that Mr. Mongell opened with support from the family of their late friend, the actor Heath Ledger.


Map:
http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GWYA,GWYA:2006-09,GWYA:en&q=18+Bedford+Avenue+nyc&um=1&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&resnum=1&ct=title (http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GWYA,GWYA:2006-09,GWYA:en&q=18+Bedford+Avenue+nyc&um=1&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&resnum=1&ct=title)
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Ellemeno on November 03, 2008, 01:52:48 am
Thanks, John.  That's the best article yet on it.
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Aloysius J. Gleek on November 03, 2008, 07:31:03 am

Very sad.

 :(
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: MaineWriter on November 03, 2008, 09:00:24 am
Where did Heath have a bird tattoo? That's not one I recall ever seeing pictures of.

L
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Penthesilea on November 03, 2008, 10:03:45 am
Where did Heath have a bird tattoo? That's not one I recall ever seeing pictures of.

L


Left forearm, inner side:

(http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m47/Penthesilea06/Heath2/bird001.jpg)
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: MaineWriter on November 03, 2008, 01:49:12 pm

Left forearm, inner side:

(http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m47/Penthesilea06/Heath2/bird001.jpg)

Oh, right...of course. Thanks, Chrissi.

L
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Aloysius J. Gleek on December 23, 2008, 02:08:51 am

Meryl and I went to Greenpoint, Brooklyn today, and we had ourselves a Christmas Week Luncheon at
Five Leaves (Heath's restaurant).
Much better than the Greyhound Station Cafe--we had a great time!


Monday, December 22, 2008
1:00 - 4:00 PM
(13 degrees Fahrenheit!)


FIVE LEAVES
33 images




1 Leaf
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/1Leaves.jpg)



2 Leaves
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/2bLeaves.jpg)



3 Leaves
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/3Leaves.jpg)



4 Leaves
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/4Leaves.jpg)



Five Leaves (The desserts are on the wall. Very serious!)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/5Leaves.jpg)



6 Leaves (The Kitchen--cleverly situated immediately opposite our table!)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/6Leaves.jpg)



7 Leaves
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/7Leaves.jpg)



8 Leaves (The Breakfast ('Brekkie!') Menu--lots of BEANS~
                 and Mr. DelMar sure never heard about them TRUFFLED fries before.

(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/8Leaves.jpg)



9 Leaves (Great coffee!--oh, right, they call 'em 'Lattes.')
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/9Leaves.jpg)



10 Leaves (Meryl arrives!)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/11Leaves.jpg)



11 Leaves (Fries are temptin')
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/12Leaves.jpg)



12 Leaves
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/14Leaves.jpg)



13 Leaves (In case we need to drown the truffle oil!)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/13Leaves.jpg)



14 Leaves (We love those truffled fries!)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/15Leaves.jpg)



15 Leaves (Hey, even the beans are great!)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/16Leaves.jpg)



16 Leaves (Meryl's Scrambled Eggs with Sage!)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/17aLeaves.jpg)


17 Leaves (Meryl approves--she didn't even mind that I scarfed up most of the beans!)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/18Leaves.jpg)



18 Leaves (Burnt--on purposed--Tomato Soup)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/19Leaves.jpg)



19 Leaves (Meryl takes the iPhone, I take the spoon)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/20Leaves.jpg)



20 Leaves
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/21Leaves.jpg)



21 Leaves
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/22Leaves.jpg)



22 Leaves (No really, the soup was great; I was just thinking about it!)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/23Leaves.jpg)



23 Leaves (We rest.)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/24Leaves.jpg)



24 Leaves
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/25Leaves-1.jpg)



25 Leaves
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/26Leaves.jpg)



26 Leaves (Dessert! I have the Early Grey Ice Cream, Meryl has the
                  Mexican Cinnamon Ice Cream, and we both have the shortbread--intense!)

(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/27Leaves.jpg)



27 Leaves (Meryl takes a picture of me as Rick Warren, thinking I might get an invitation to
                  the Inaug-rashun.' Suddenly I feel spiritual--and fatter. But that was
                  the shortbread and the ice cream.)

(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/28aLeaves.jpg)



28 Leaves (Meryl thinks we should start to mosey--it's getting cold! Like, really, really cold;
                  one of the owners arrive--I think it was Heath's manager, Jud Mongell, very, very friendly--
                  and tells us that the boiler has suddenly died. They are putting on electric heat. We say
                  they should start burning the chairs--he looked nonplused--it was a joke!

(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/29Leaves.jpg)



29 Leaves (Even Mrs. Twist would approve.)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/30Leaves.jpg)



30 Leaves (Very clean.)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/31Leaves.jpg)



31 Leaves (And Spiritual.)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/32Leaves.jpg)



32 Leaves (Politely, we do not burn the chairs.)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/33Leaves.jpg)



33 Leaves (A Ledger ancestor? Probably not!)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/34leaves.jpg)



FIVE LEAVES
Cafe Bar Oysters

18 Bedford Ave
Greenpoint, Brooklyn 11222
Phone: 718.383.5345

Open 7 days
8am til 12 am
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Ellemeno on December 23, 2008, 02:40:43 am
I love going to lunch with you two!  :-*

I was excited by the Earl Grey ice cream, I was hoping we were going to have that when I saw it on the menu.  :)

It's an unprepossessing lil place, in' it?  I expected grander.  Or at least plus grand

Wonder what Heath would a et.  Did you see the table with the chess board top that we read about?

I feel sad and happy.
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Meryl on December 23, 2008, 02:44:55 am
 :laugh: John!  You are too funny.  ;D


23 Leaves (We rest.)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/24Leaves.jpg)

For some reason, this made me laugh so hard!  I look like the Sphinx anticipating the next course.  :laugh:

Thank you for another marvelous culinary adventure, full of Brokie goodness.  And thank you for my beautiful present!  :-*  :-*  :-*
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Meryl on December 23, 2008, 02:46:58 am
I love going to lunch with you two!  :-*

I was excited by the Earl Grey ice cream, I was hoping we were going to have that when I saw it on the menu.  :)

It's an unprepossessing lil place, in' it?  I expected grander.  Or at least plus grand

Wonder what Heath would a et.  Did you see the table with the chess board top that we read about?

I feel sad and happy.

That Earl Grey ice cream was sumpn, wasn't it?  Yum.

Dang it, I thought about looking for the chessboard tables, but then forgot as we were leaving.  Next time, though!  :)
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Aloysius J. Gleek on December 23, 2008, 02:59:50 am

:laugh: John!  You are too funny.  ;D
For some reason, this made me laugh so hard!  I look like the Sphinx anticipating the next course.  :laugh:
Thank you for another marvelous culinary adventure, full of Brokie goodness.  And thank you for my beautiful present!  :-*  :-*  :-*


Hey, Meryl, we did it! It did take several months and about, oh, 60 (or 70...) degrees colder, but we did it! Yay!



I love going to lunch with you two!  :-*
I was excited by the Earl Grey ice cream, I was hoping we were going to have that when I saw it on the menu.  :)
It's an unprepossessing lil place, in' it?  I expected grander.  Or at least plus grand
Wonder what Heath would a et.  Did you see the table with the chess board top that we read about?
I feel sad and happy.


Thanks, Elle!
Not grand at all--but the details are really very nice. (Except for those chairs!)

The food is great--and we love our food!   ;D

As Ah-nold would say--we'll be back!
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: belbbmfan on December 23, 2008, 03:15:09 am
John, Meryl,

I love reading your lunch report(s)!  :laugh:  :) The restaurant looks really nice with a laidback atmosphere. Those fries looked delicious, hmmm.

I noticed that there's a 'big breakie' on the breakfast menu. That's australian right?

I wanna go, I wanna go...
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Monika on December 23, 2008, 03:30:29 am
Wow, thanks for the pics! Love them. And that soup looked really good.
That painting was fab also.



thanks for posting!
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: serious crayons on December 23, 2008, 04:31:38 am
Leaves Nos. 29 and 31 do look very Lightning Flat!

Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Ellemeno on December 23, 2008, 04:57:02 am
Autumn Leaves (Les feuilles mortes)
Edith Piaf

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2s2tPORlW4[/youtube]




The falling leaves
Drift by the window
The autumn leaves
All red and gold
I see your lips
The summer kisses
The sunburned hands
I used to hold.

Since you went away
The days grow long...
And soon I'll hear
Old winter songs
But I miss you most of all
My darling, when autumn leaves start to fall...

C'est un chanson
Qui nous ressemble
Toi qui m'aimais
Et je t'aimais
Nous vivions tous les deux ensemble
Tou qui m'aimais
Moi qui t'aimais

Mais la vie sépare
Ceux qui s'aiment
Tout doucement
Sans faire de bruit
Et la mer efface sur le sable
Les pas des amants désunis.

Since you went away
The days grow long...
And soon I'll hear
Old winter songs
But I miss you most of all
My darling, when autumn leaves start to fall...
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Ellemeno on December 23, 2008, 05:00:00 am
And the album people hypothesize Heath got the name from:

Five Leaves Left
Nick Drake


[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-ghwLfaKTI[/youtube]
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Shasta542 on December 23, 2008, 05:36:33 am
Very nice lunch album! Thanks.

I would have eaten Meryl's tomatoes.  8)
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Aloysius J. Gleek on December 23, 2008, 06:49:06 am

Very nice lunch album! Thanks.

I would have eaten Meryl's tomatoes.  8)


Thank you!

I would have eaten the tomatoes too, but I was mesmerized by the beans!
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Aloysius J. Gleek on December 23, 2008, 07:02:57 am

Leaves Nos. 29 and 31 do look very Lightning Flat!


Thank you!
(I bet Ennis would have recognized No. 30 as being very Lightening Flat, too, if he had had a chance to look around!)

(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/31Leaves.jpg)
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Aloysius J. Gleek on December 23, 2008, 07:15:20 am

And the album people hypothesize Heath got the name from:

Five Leaves Left
Nick Drake


[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-ghwLfaKTI[/youtube]



Wow.

Elle--

'Sad' is the word.

Thanks for the YouTube post.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Drake (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Drake)


Nick Drake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/20/Nick_drake_way_to_blue.jpg)
A 1967 photograph of Nick Drake, wrapped in a blanket, holding a harvest of mushrooms.

Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter and musician best known for his acoustic, autumnal songs. His primary instrument was the guitar, though he was also proficient at piano, clarinet, and saxophone. Although he failed to find a wide audience during his lifetime, Drake's work has grown steadily in stature, to the extent that he now ranks among the most influential English singer-songwriters of the last 50 years.[1][2][3]

Drake signed to Island Records when he was twenty years old, and released his debut album Five Leaves Left in 1969. By 1972, he had recorded a further two albums, although none sold more than 5,000 copies in their initial releases,[4] while his reluctance to perform live or be interviewed further contributed to his lack of commercial success. Despite this, he was able to gather a loyal group of people who would champion his music. One such person was his manager, Joe Boyd, who had a clause put into his own contract with Island Records that ensured Nick's records would never go out of print. Drake suffered from depression and insomnia throughout his life, and the topics were often reflected in his lyrics. Upon completion of his third album, 1972's Pink Moon, he withdrew from both live performance and recording, retreating to his parents' home in rural Warwickshire. On 25 November 1974, Drake died from an overdose of amitriptyline, a prescribed antidepressant; he was 26 years old.

There was residual interest in Drake's music through the mid-1970s, but it was not until the 1979 release of the retrospective album Fruit Tree that his back catalogue came to be reassessed. By the mid-1980s, Drake was being credited as an influence by such artists as Robert Smith and Peter Buck. In 1985, The Dream Academy reached the UK and US charts with "Life in a Northern Town", a song written for and dedicated to Drake.[5] By the early 1990s, he had come to represent a certain type of 'doomed romantic' musician in the UK music press, and was frequently cited by artists including Kate Bush, Paul Weller, and The Black Crowes.[6] Drake's first biography was written in 1997, and was followed in 1998 by the documentary film A Stranger Among Us. In 2000, Volkswagen featured the title track from Pink Moon in a television advertisement, and within one month Drake had sold more records than he had in the previous thirty years.
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Penthesilea on December 23, 2008, 07:38:57 am
I like how Elle phrased it and I second it: I love going to lunch with you! :D
Thanks so much for the pics and reports, friends :-*.


Them soup bowls are huge (and I guess hard to pack). You could feed a horse out of them :o. That's about three times the size of what you would get for soup here in Germany.
Everything on the dessert menu sounds good. I would have chosen the apple crumble. Almost as good as plum crumble, and you don't get it here, whereas it's no problem to find 1001 sorts of ice cream.

The whole place looks inviting and very low-key.
Oh, and the coffee cups are Ikea :).

Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Aloysius J. Gleek on December 23, 2008, 07:40:04 am

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1580085/20080122/drake_nick.jhtml (http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1580085/20080122/drake_nick.jhtml)

Jan 22 2008 10:15 PM EST

Heath Ledger 's Video For Nick Drake Song: Eerie Postscript To Actor's Death
Actor said he was 'obsessed' with long-dead singer.

(http://www.mtv.com/news/photos/l/ledger_heath_memory_flip/281x211_b.jpg)

By Jim Fraenkel, with additional reporting by Rodrigo Perez


Appearing at a news conference at the Venice Film Festival in September to promote the Bob Dylan biopic "I'm Not There," Heath Ledger, who died on Tuesday, spoke of his "obsession with an artist by the name of Nick Drake," an English-born singer/songwriter whom he characterized as a "very mysterious figure."

"I was obsessed with his story and his music and I pursued it for a while and still have hopes to kind of tell his story one day," a soft-spoken and fidgety Ledger told the assembled media, though he also said that any such aspirations had "faded away."

But in an eerie postscript to the actor's own death on Tuesday, MTV News has learned that Ledger recently shot and edited a music video for a Drake song called "Black Eyed Dog," so titled because of a Winston Churchill quote describing depression as such. It is also reportedly the last song Drake recorded before overdosing on antidepression medication in 1974 at the age of 26.

A representative for Drake's estate described the "gorgeous" and "extremely moving" clip as a stark black-and-white composition, consisting mainly of the director turning the camera on himself. In the end, Ledger is seen drowning himself in a bathtub.

The video, which has not been released commercially and has apparently not yet leaked to the Web, has been screened just twice, once last Labor Day weekend at the Bumbershoot festival in Seattle and a second time in October at "A Place to Be," an event honoring Drake held in Los Angeles.

Ledger also directed Ben Harper's video for "Morning Yearning" and announced plans to start a label with the singer called Masses Music Co. last year. The label's first signing was a singer from Ledger's hometown of Perth, Australia, named Grace Woodroofe; Ledger also directed a video for her cover of David Bowie's "Quicksand."

While Drake garnered just a cult following during his life, his music has enjoyed a renaissance in recent years. In 2000, Volkswagen scored a ubiquitous television ad with the title track from his 1972 album, Pink Moon, after which Drake's albums reportedly sold more in one month than they had in the previous 30 years. This past November, fans were treated to a limited-edition box set that included not only the three albums Drake recorded in his short career, but also a book and a DVD documentary about his life.
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Penthesilea on December 23, 2008, 07:41:10 am
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/7Leaves.jpg)


This is a beautiful still life John.
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Aloysius J. Gleek on December 23, 2008, 07:43:22 am


This is a beautiful still life John.


Thank you, you are so kind!  :-*
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Penthesilea on December 23, 2008, 07:43:35 am
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1580085/20080122/drake_nick.jhtml (http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1580085/20080122/drake_nick.jhtml)

Jan 22 2008 10:15 PM EST

Heath Ledger 's Video For Nick Drake Song: Eerie Postscript To Actor's Death


Haven't you heard about it before? The video is posted somewhere here on BM. Not the whole video, which wasn't released, AFAIK. But parts of it. I'll go looking for it and give you the link.
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Aloysius J. Gleek on December 23, 2008, 07:48:09 am


I may have found it.

Thank you. (I must have been dreaming. Or a coma. Ha! Well. You know what I mean.)


This is seriously gorgeous. Look:


Heath Ledger & Nick Drake: Black Eyed Dog  (3:30)
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPKnGo_WOp4&eurl=[/youtube]
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Kerry on December 23, 2008, 07:52:48 am

12 Leaves
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/14Leaves.jpg)

14 Leaves (We love those truffled fries!
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/15Leaves.jpg)


They're not truffle fries! They're good ole Aussie chips!   :D

No wonder Heath liked eating there. It's probably the only place in New York where he could get  Aussie-style hot potato chips!  ;)   :D  Traditionally eaten with tomato sauce!  ;D

Thank you for taking us along with you, Meryl and John. It was fun!   :D
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Aloysius J. Gleek on December 23, 2008, 08:04:52 am

They're not truffle fries! They're good ole Aussie chips!   :D

No wonder Heath liked eating there. It's probably the only place in New York where he could get  Aussie-style hot potato chips!  ;)   :D  Traditionally eaten with tomato sauce!  ;D

Thank you for taking us along with you, Meryl and John. It was fun!   :D

Thanks so much, Kerry!

I bet Heath loved these chips.
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Penthesilea on December 23, 2008, 08:05:39 am

I may have found it.

Thank you. (I must have been dreaming. Or a coma. Ha! Well. You know what I mean.)


This is seriously gorgeous. Look:


Heath Ledger & Nick Drake: Black Eyed Dog  (3:30)
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPKnGo_WOp4&eurl=[/youtube]



I think that this video is made by the person who put it on youtube. Out of the parts of the video by Heath, which were released, and Nick Drake pics/footage.

The original video Heath made was never completely released (again: the info is from back in February or so, but I think we would have heard about it it had there been any news since then).

I couldn't find it on BM, but found a link to a news show where parts of the video Heath actually made are shown. It's disturbing, and the self-proclaimed (or factual) experts talking between the video snippets are not my taste (too speculative), but see for yourself.

http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=384338 (http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=384338)
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Aloysius J. Gleek on December 23, 2008, 08:33:04 am


Thanks. That video with the authoritative talking heads is a little--disturbing.


The following is something everyone may already know, but to me it's new.
Black and white photos of Heath with the Cello Song.

Very sweet.



For Heath and Nick (Cello Song)                                    (4:32)
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzA-qM23pv4[/youtube]

   
Strange face, with your eyes
So pale and sincere
Underneath you know well
Strange face, with your eyes
You have nothing to fear
So pale and sincere
For the dreams that come to you when so young
Underneath you know well
Told of a life
You have nothing to fear
Where spring is sprung
For the dreams that come to you when so young

Told of a life
You would seem so frail
Where spring is sprung
In the cold of the night

When the armies of emotion
You would seem so frail
Go out to fight
In the cold of the night
But while the earth sinks to it’s grave
When the armies of emotion
You sail to the sky
Go out to fight
On the crest of a wave
But while the earth sinks to it’s grave

You sail to the sky
So forget this cruel world
On the crest of a wave
Where I belong

I’ll just sit and wait
So forget this cruel world
And sing my song
Where I belong
And if one day you should see me in the crowd
I’ll just sit and wait
Lend a hand and lift me out
And sing my song
To your place in the cloud
And if one day you should see me in the crowd
Lend a hand and lift me out
To your place in the cloud
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Aloysius J. Gleek on December 23, 2008, 08:38:11 am

Them soup bowls are huge (and I guess hard to pack). You could feed a horse out of them :o. That's about three times the size of what you would get for soup here in Germany.


And I ate the whole thing. What a pig!  ::)
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: belbbmfan on December 23, 2008, 08:46:47 am

12 Leaves
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/14Leaves.jpg)


Australian hunh? They look very Belgian to me! And you're drinking the right beer too, I see. Very good.  ;D   :)
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Aloysius J. Gleek on December 23, 2008, 08:55:04 am

Australian hunh? They look very Belgian to me! And you're drinking the right beer too, I see. Very good.  ;D   :)


What can we say, it was a very Australian-Belgian afternoon--

Only in Brooklyn!!!  :laugh:
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: belbbmfan on December 23, 2008, 09:01:35 am
One of the best songs by Nick Drake, Nothern Sky. I've loved this song for a very long time. I actually find it difficult to listen to these days. Not that it's a sad song, on the contrary. I think of Heath a lot when I'm listening to Nick Drake, and feel doubly robbed...

*sigh*

I'd love to go to Five Leaves though. It looks like a very relaxing place (when it's not too cold of course).

[youtube=425,350]http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=1oitSlHi3MY[/youtube]

I never felt magic crazy as this
I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea
I never held emotion in the palm of my hand
Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree
But now you're here
Brighten my northern sky.

I've been a long time that I'm waiting
Been a long that I'm blown
I've been a long time that I've wandered
Through the people I have known
Oh, if you would and you could
Straighten my new mind's eye.

Would you love me for my money
Would you love me for my head
Would you love me through the winter
Would you love me 'til I'm dead
Oh, if you would and you could
Come blow your horn on high.

I never felt magic crazy as this
I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea
I never held emotion in the palm of my hand
Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree
But now you're here
Brighten my northern sky.
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Aloysius J. Gleek on December 23, 2008, 09:25:09 am

I never felt magic crazy as this
I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea
I never held emotion in the palm of my hand
Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree
But now you're here
Brighten my northern sky.

I've been a long time that I'm waiting
Been a long that I'm blown
I've been a long time that I've wandered
Through the people I have known
Oh, if you would and you could
Straighten my new mind's eye.

Would you love me for my money
Would you love me for my head
Would you love me through the winter
Would you love me 'til I'm dead
Oh, if you would and you could
Come blow your horn on high.

I never felt magic crazy as this
I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea
I never held emotion in the palm of my hand
Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree
But now you're here
Brighten my northern sky.


Beautiful!

At 8:20 AM
It is 19 degrees F (COLD!)
and it is gorgeously sunny!

It is going to be a great day--

Thanks!
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: mariez on December 23, 2008, 03:19:20 pm
18 Leaves (Burnt--on purposed--Tomato Soup)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/19Leaves.jpg)

Wow.  Thanks for the grand tour - that was great!  And the Burnt Tomato Soup looks awesome - it has my name written all over it!   :)

Marie
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Lynne on December 25, 2008, 10:15:23 am
What a fabulous trip report, John and Meryl!  Thank you very much.

Count me in the I want to go too crowd next time I'm in NYC.

Lynne
 :-*
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Kerry on January 20, 2009, 01:45:54 am
This article appeared in Sydney's Sunday Telegraph newspaper last weekend, John. It may be necessary to scroll over to the right to read it all.

(http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o126/kez4oz/Album%202/5leaves-120.jpg)

 
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Aloysius J. Gleek on January 20, 2009, 03:03:40 am


This article appeared in Sydney's Sunday Telegraph newspaper last weekend, John. It may be necessary to scroll over to the right to read it all.


Fantastic, Kerry, thank you so much! The article seems completely readable without scrolling, and it is not only well written, it is tantalizing. After a heavy snowfall today, the shepherd's pie with root vegetables seems necessary! You will have another report in due course, I think. (Meryl??)

(I also must mention, if I had not done so before: the coffee really was unbelievably good!)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j174/jmmgallagher/9Leaves.jpg)

Thanks again!

John
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Mandy21 on January 20, 2009, 01:09:13 pm
John and Meryl, thanks for the report and the great pics.  Up until today when I found this blog, I did not know you guys were up East freezing to pieces in Heath's restaurant, while another 6 Brokies were down East in sunny Florida, enjoying our little reunion and eating my mom's chili.

Would it be possible for the Brokies attending the NYC gathering on 2/13+ to enjoy a lunch on 2/14 at Five Leaves?  I definitely will see it while I'm there from the 12th thru the 16th, but it would be much better to share it with other Brokies.  Is that do-able?  Maybe we could make tentative reservations for a big ole table?

P.S.  John, you are quite the handsome fella, I must say.  I'm guessing you have to beat them off with a stick:)
Title: Re: Five Leaves: A Brooklyn Restaurant, in Heath Ledger’s Memory
Post by: Meryl on January 21, 2009, 02:20:22 pm
John and Meryl, thanks for the report and the great pics.  Up until today when I found this blog, I did not know you guys were up East freezing to pieces in Heath's restaurant, while another 6 Brokies were down East in sunny Florida, enjoying our little reunion and eating my mom's chili.

Would it be possible for the Brokies attending the NYC gathering on 2/13+ to enjoy a lunch on 2/14 at Five Leaves?  I definitely will see it while I'm there from the 12th thru the 16th, but it would be much better to share it with other Brokies.  Is that do-able?  Maybe we could make tentative reservations for a big ole table?

P.S.  John, you are quite the handsome fella, I must say.  I'm guessing you have to beat them off with a stick:)

John does indeed keep a stick with him at all times, except when we go out, since folks know better than to mess with me!  ;D  ;)

I just called Five Leaves and asked about reservations, and they told me they don't take them.  They do have a table that can accommodate 6 or so people, but we'd have to show up and wait for it.  I'm sure if we go on a Saturday, say Feb. 14, it will be a hive of activity.  So I'll leave it up to individuals to say if they want to make the safari out to Brooklyn for lunch/brunch.  It could take up most of the afternoon (it takes almost an hour, via three subways, to get there, and on weekends the trains run further apart).

I'm glad you've decided to brave the City, Mandy.  I'm sure you'll be an old hand at getting around after 5 days!  8)