Dining: It’s long been the curse of Greenpoint that the neighborhood’s great restaurants — Queen’s Hideaway, Lamb and Jaffy — are in such remote corners that sometimes it’s easier to just grab a slice than trek to a restaurant and wait for a table. Now that Lokal has opened, all that has changed. Comments (1).

Shopping: There’s an easy way to give your loved ones the gift of Brooklyn this year, and it doesn’t involve shipping them a cheesecake from Junior’s.  Comment.

Breaking Chews: We’re dishing up Brooklyn’s latest food news. Comment.

Art: Brooklynites know better than anyone the havoc that development can wreak on a habitat. So on Saturday, Dec. 4, the Kentler International Drawing Space in Red Hook will host an artist’s talk on “Observing the Edge,” the gallery’s current show, which features works on paper relating to flora and fauna with habitats threatened by progressive development. Comments (1).

Theater: Tan Dun will be in China, where he is the official composer of the 2008 Olympics, until the day before ‘The Gate,’ his over-the-top music-theater work, opens at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, but two of Brooklyn’s cultural titans are making sure the show goes off without a hitch. Comment.

Dining: Sidecar is one sexy place. Opened in July by brothers Bart and Jon DeCoursy, the bar and restaurant evokes a swanky, classic New York with one well-appointed large room. Comments (1).

Cinema: Brooklyn’s own Steiner Studios provided the star-studded stage for the Gotham Awards on Tuesday night. The Independent Feature Project’s 17th annual gala bestowed the prizes for excellence in filmmaking. Comment.

With eight nights to celebrate, you might think that Hanukkah would seem like it lasts forever. But with all of the events planned boroughwide, eight nights hardly seems to be enough time. Comment.

Dining: With the holidays approaching, there’s no drink more seasonal than eggnog. in “Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to ‘Professor’ Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar,” David Wondrich revisits Thomas’s recipe for “Baltimore Egg Nog.” Comment.

Books: “Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to ‘Professor’ Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar,” is an awfully long name for a book when you’re sober. And after a few drinks, it becomes next to impossible. Comment.