Brooklyn is the new trendy borough that everyone’s talking about, but it can seem big and foreign if you’re accustomed to spending your time in Manhattan.
There’s a good reason for this: Brooklyn is roughly three times the size of Manhattan—it’s the city’s second largest borough, after Queens, and the most populous. You could easily spend several weeks (or months!) exploring all the neighborhoods that this borough has to offer, but here are a few favorite spots to start with, chosen by a dedicated Brooklynite.
Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens
These three neighborhoods are picturesque, full of families and not far from Brooklyn Bridge Park. From the city, take the F train to the Bergen Street or Carroll Street stop to get started (it’s about a 20 minute ride from downtown Manhattan).
Shopping
By Brooklyn (Carroll Gardens)
This is a wonderful gift shop that’s solely dedicated to pieces made in the borough: tote bags, soaps, cards, ceramics, foodstuffs and the like. The chocolate-dipped sea salt caramels from Liddabit Sweets are a no-brainer. 261 Smith St.
Twisted Lily (Boerum Hill)
Right on the busy shopping street Atlantic Avenue, this boutique and apothecary specializes in fragrances that are natural, niche, indie or hard-to-find. Beard oil, pomade or mustache wax from Brooklyn Grooming make great gifts for guys. Local jewelry designer Erica Weiner sells her affordable creations in the same building. 360 Atlantic Ave.
Food
Frankies (Carroll Gardens)
This cozy restaurant specializes in seasonal Italian fare and you might spot a celebrity while you’re there. The BLT, with thick-cut bacon, might be the best you’ll ever have (note: it’s only available at lunch). The sister restaurant next door, Prime Meats, is a great place for a steak dinner. 457 Court St.
Lucali (Carroll Gardens)
The rustic, brick-oven pies from this pizza spot are easily some of the best that the borough has to offer. It’s not uncommon, however, to wait two hours for a table on a weekday. Take-out is usually a more efficient option. 575 Henry St.
Mile End Delicatessen (Boerum Hill)
This Montreal-inspired Jewish deli is a meat-eater’s dream. The smoked meat sandwich is made of some of the best brisket you can find the city, and there’s also smoked meat poutine! 97A Hoyt St.
Momofuku Milk Bar (Williamsburg, Carroll Gardens)
There are two locations in Brooklyn (and a few in Manhattan) where you can get cookies, pies, cake truffles, soft serve, and savory breads and buns invented by James Beard Award-winning chefChristina Tosi. A corn cookie may sound weird, but it’s actually genius. 360 Smith St. and 382 Metropolitan Ave.
Wilma Jean (Carroll Gardens)
From chef Rob Newton, this is the place to go for no-frills, down-home Southern food, like fried chicken and cornmeal crusted Virginia oysters with comeback sauce. The cheeseburger is sensationally juicy. Newton also owns another excellent restaurant down the block, Nightingngale 9, which offers dishes that are inspired by Vietnamese street food. 345 Smith St.
Park Slope
Go a few more stops on the F train, to the 4th Avenue stop, and you’ll arrive at Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard’s neighborhood, which is filled with fun shops and excellent restaurants.
Shopping
If you need a fashion fix, you must hit up this shop, which offers designer duds from the likes of Alexander Wang, Proenza Schouler, Rag & Bone, Rachel Comey and Isabel Marant. There are collections for both men and women. 316 5th Ave., 220 Smith St. (Cobble Hill) and 203 Grand St. (Williamsburg)
Food
This restaurant offers casual, Asian-American fare from chef Dale Talde, a Chicago native and “Top Chef” contestant. The Kung Pao Chicken Wings and Pretzel Pork and Chive Dumplings, among other dishes, will blow your mind. For roadhouse BBQ, check out the nearby Pork Slope, which is owned by the same folks. 369 7th Ave.
Williamsburg
When people talk about Brooklyn, they’re usually talking about Williamsburg. It’s the ultra-cool-yet-gritty neighborhood filled with hipsters riding fixed-gear bikes (though, as rent prices have risen, more young people are moving to the neighboring areas, Greenpoint and Bushwick). From Manhattan, take the L train to the Bedford Avenue stop; Bedford is the main drag and a great shopping street.
Shopping
Whether you’re in the market for a beautiful side table or simply looking for a cool bottle opener, this home furnishings store is worth a look. The furniture is modern and affordable, and they ship their merch all over the country. 111 N. 6th St.
Textile and jewelry designer Caitlin Mociun is renowned for her Bauhaus-inspired designs, and her store is like a little museum, featuring high-end jewelry, ceramics, textiles, accessories and more. This is the perfect place to get a really special gift (for yourself, perhaps!). 224 Wythe Ave.
Food
This casual restaurant is located in a rehabbed 1920s train car and its owner, Andrew Tarlow, is often credited with making Brooklyn into a dining destination (he now has a small empire going). The menu changes daily, and your server will jot it down on the white paper covering your table. The burger, made with grass-fed beef, is a particular favorite. 85 Broadway
This corner shop near the water in Williamsburg aims to be a high-end convenience store. It’s a great place to shop for artisanal Brooklyn foodstuffs, such as Empire mayonnaise and Brooklyn Hard Candy. The sandwiches are melty and delicious; I recommend the speck with Fontina and Gruyère.242 Wythe Ave.
You may know this artisanal dark chocolate company from your local Whole Foods, but it’s worth stopping into their store to sample all of the varieties, see all of the colorful wrappers and shop for gifts. The bakery counter offers seasonal baked goods and specialty chocolates. Tours are available, and there’s even a brew bar that specializes in chocolate beverages. 111 N. 3rd St.
Perhaps the most efficient way to enjoy all the great eating and indie shopping that Brooklyn has to offer is to head to the Flea, which features 100 vendors and 30 food vendors. It takes places on Saturdays in Fort Greene and Sundays in Williamsburg (where you can enjoy a dramatic view of the Manhattan skyline), from April through Thanksgiving. In the winter, it moves indoors. There’s also a sister fair, Smorgasburg, that’s solely dedicated to Brooklyn’s artisanal food scene.
Parks, Museums and Sights
This park offers gorgeous views of Lower Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge, and is a great place to picnic when the weather is nice. Recent expansions include playgrounds, a soccer field and basketball courts, and there are often public events in the park. Nearby in the DUMBO neighborhood (Down Under the Manhattan-Brooklyn Overpass) is a fantastic pizza place,Grimaldi’s, where you’ll probably have to wait in a line, but it’s worth it. Take the F train to the York Street stop, or the A or C trains to the High Street stop.
The Brooklyn Museum holds its own among New York’s famed cultural institutions, with a renowned collection of Egyptian art and the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, where you can view Judy Chicago’s famous “The Dinner Party.” There’s always a cool exhibit going on—right now it’s “Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeled Shoe” (through Feb. 15, 2015)—plus, there’s a gourmet restaurant, Saul. Take the 2, 3, 4 and 5 trains to get to the museum. 200 Eastern Parkway
The gem of Brooklyn is this 585-acre park, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, who also designed Central Park. There’s a forest, a 60-acre lake, a 90-acre long meadow for flying kites and the like, a zoo and more. Walking, running, biking…you can pick your pleasure here. The lovely Brooklyn Botanic Garden borders the park to the east. A variety of trains go the park, depending on where you’d like to start.
In the summer, there’s nothing like eating a Nathan’s hot dog on the boardwalk and then riding the Cyclone, a wooden roller coaster in Luna Park that has been around since 1927. There’s also minor league baseball in Coney Island; the team is appropriately named the Brooklyn Cyclones. The F train will take you there.
