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Where to eat off the beaten path

By Kristen V. Brown
for The Brooklyn Paper

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Where can you grab a coffee in Crown Heights or shrimp-and-grits in Bedford-Stuyvesant? Read on for our guide to the eateries that are transforming Brooklyn’s culinary landscape.

Clinton Hill

Nero Doro

395 Classon Ave. between Green Avenue and Clifton Place, (718) 484-8822

This Wi-Fi ready café is the newest in a slew of operations populating Clinton Hill’s edges with gourmet beans.

Prospect Heights

Cornelius

565 Vanderbilt Ave. at Pacific Street, (718) 398-6662

The cozy bar and restaurant provides an otherwise sparse stretch of Vanderbilt Avenue with seasonal fare and single-malt Scotch.

Crown Heights

Glass Sho

p

766 Classon Ave. between St. Johns and Sterling Places, (718) 387-4777

Last summer, premium Aussie-style coffee came to a former glass factory in java-starved Crown Heights.

Bedford-Stuyvesant

Saraghina

435 Halsey St. at Lewis Avenue, (718) 574-0010

The newbie pizzeria’s Neapolitan pie put Bed-Stuy on the culinary map, nabbing a spot in New York Magazine’s “Top 20 Pizzas of the Moment.”

Peaches

393 Lewis Ave. at MacDonough Street, (718) 942-4162

Southern home cookin’ came to grits-hungry Bed-Stuy courtesy of the Smoke House joint team in 2008.

Bushwick

Roberta’s

261 Moore St. between Bogart and White Streets, (718) 417-1118

Hankering for some good food and a place to hang, Bushwick residents opened this raved-about artisanal pizzeria. Fresh herbs are grown in a huge rooftop greenhouse.

The Northeast Kingdom

18 Wyckoff Ave. at Troutman Street, (718) 386-3864

This homey place — think cheeseburgers, homemade sausages and mac and cheese — doubles as restaurant and neighborhood hang-out.

Ditmas Park

The Castello Plan

1213 Cortelyou Rd. at Argyle Road. No phone yet

An offshoot of Mimi’s Hummus, this joint is slated to be a vast wine bar with more than 100 wines and a light menu.

The Farm on Adderly

1108 Cortelyou Rd. between E. 11th and E. 12th streets, (718) 287-3101

Sustainable cuisine and frequent community-based event (like movie night) make this a local must.

Purple Yam

1314 Cortelyou Rd. between E. 13th Street and Rugby Road, (718) 940-8188

Attracted by the neighborhood spirit, Purple Yam’s owners closed their popular SoHo eatery to bring their inventive Filipino cuisine to a neighborhood that needs it.

Prospect Lefferts Garden

K-Dog and Dunebuggy

43 Lincoln Rd. between Flatbush and Ocean avenues, (718) 282-7139

The solitary place in the neighborhood for a decent cup of coffee, this cozy café is always buzzing.

Café Enduro

51 Lincoln Rd. between Flatbush and Ocean avenues, (718) 282-7097

The Mexican fare here is the neighborhood’s sole relief from West Indian fare.

Kensington

Brancaccio’s Food Shop

3011 Fort Hamilton Pkwy. between E. Second and E. Third streets, (718) 282-7139

Just this year, Kensington got its first pioneer, hawking dishes like pear glazed pork tenderloin.

©2010 Community Newspaper Group

←Dining: Fork this! Foodies are now leading the gentrification of Brooklyn
→Carroll Gardens: Rung up on Tiffany

Reader Feedback

babs from PLG says:
I objext to your characterization of Enduro's as the "sole relief from West Indian fare." We have several non-Caribbean restaurants (never mind non-West Indian) in PLG in addition to Enduro: Sushi Tatsu III (the third outpost of a mini-chain that also includes locations in Prospect Heights, on Flatbush Ave., and Crown Heights, at Dean and Franklin) and King of Tandoor, excellent and cheap Indian food. It's BYOB which works well with 65 Fen, the new wine store across Flatbush on Fenimore St. You need to get out more!
March 1, 2010, 2:44 am
Bob from PLG says:
I love Café Enduro, but it's hardly PLGs "sole relief from West Indian fare." Besides K-Dog, which you also reviewed, there's King of Tandoor (Indian), and Sushi Tatsu III (Japanese). I'm sure there are others I've left out.
March 2, 2010, 4:47 pm
Ed from Kensington says:
Brancaccio's is in Windsor Terrace, not Kensington.
March 3, 2010, 12:41 am

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