Brooklyn vacation report

A good time was had by ... me

Posted by David Roberts at 8:47 PM on 09 Apr 2007

Read more about: New York | shameless self-promotion | food

Just got back in town today. Not quite ready to jump back in the grind, so I'll procrastinate a bit by talking about my vacation.

We woke up Saturday morning(ish) to discover that quite literally across the street from the friend's place where we were staying (on the east side of Fort Green Park) there was a little street market, with vendors selling local, organic, farm-raised, home-baked, hand-crafted, packed-full-of-authentic-goodness foodstuffs and crafts. Thus, breakfast: locally made banana bread and apple-raspberry juice squeezed from local fruit. This was emblematic of our trip, which basically consisted of shopping, eating, reading, sleeping, and enjoying the local culture.

Slavishly following the suggestions of our resident foodie Mr. Philpott, we managed to eat at (among other wonderful places) such Brooklyn institutions as Grimaldi's pizza, Italian trattoria Al Di La, and local-ingredient-focused 360. I can recommend each of them without reservation (literally -- the first two don't take reservations), but the uncontested champion of our eating vacation was Al Di La. Matter of fact, I'd put it up in the top five eating experiences of my life.

The first plate to hit the table was roasted asparagus topped with bearnaise sauce. Words fail me. I wanted to carve it up into tiny bites so it wouldn't end. And so it was with every dish: the beet ravioli. The sheet steak with arugula. The duck on creamy polenta. The pear cake with bitter chocolate chunks. The plum sorbet. And the wine. All in an atmosphere convivial without being crowded or loud, with service that was attentive but never overbearing.

I tell you, I f**king love Brooklyn. Who needs Manhattan? Everywhere we went -- always on foot, of course -- there was a vibrant street culture, packed with people in roughly my age group (call it 25-40). Interesting people and conversations were everywhere. There were more fascinating little nooks and crannies, books shops and cafes, art installations and niche markets than we could have possibly visited in 10 vacations. And I got more exercise than I have in the past six months.

Almost uniquely among places I've visited, Brooklyn is a true melting pot (or better yet, stew). There is matter-of-fact diversity of races, languages, ages, and subcultures. Race has not disappeared anywhere in America, certainly not in its densest cities, but Brooklyn gets it just about right.

I swear if I didn't have two young kids and a life in Seattle I'd move there tomorrow. And go broke shortly thereafter.

For story: Brooklyn vacation report
17 Comments | Post a Comment

Have you thought about becoming a food writer?

Welcome back.

by Lisa Hymas at 10:10 PM on 09 Apr 2007

Yes.

Don't even get me started on Brooklyn. Or Al Di La.

Victual Reality

by Tom Philpott at 4:56 AM on 10 Apr 2007

"Who needs Manhattan?"

Well, ummm, how about the people who choose to live here? We sort of need it, in our own funny way, don't we? Without DR's permission, even?

Nobody, I think, has ever asked any staff member of Grist to immigrate from Seattle to NYC. That is not entirely impossible, but be assured, I as a New Yorker have nothing to do with it. Please, stay in Seattle, where your Blue-Grass heart is at rest.

Mind you, I love Brooklyn. And I have written several times to Gristmill about my admiration of Brooklyn, historically. And a minor civil war simmers still, over the political reduction of Brooklyn, as an independent city, to a borough of Manhattan-centered New York City. I am entirely on the side of the "Free Brooklyn!" party. And I love the anti-Manhattan neo-classical allegories on the facade of the Brooklyn Museum.

That said, I think it is best that DR, having studied the super-foodie-snob Mr. Philpott (whom I do indeed love, after a fashion), and having wined and dined deliciously in Brooklyn, including "duck on creamy polenta" -- gevalt!, Lisa, tell me, is that what a PacNW environmentalist leader eats? -- , return to Seattle, sooner rather than later.

And if he wants to reduce his trip to mere epicureanism, that is fine.

But let us be clear, that is all it was.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 6:11 AM on 10 Apr 2007

Boy,

... and I thought I was grumpy.

The 5% Project

by JMG at 9:04 AM on 10 Apr 2007

Glad you had fun

It sounds amazing. But let's not pit Manahattan v. Brooklyn v. Seattle. All places have their charms. :-) Brooklyn is diverse, energized, and has great food, among other things. But if one lives in Seattle both the Cascades and Canada are only a few short hours away. Manhattan also has its wonders. And honestly, if I moved back to NY, I'd even consider Queens or the Bronx--also nice places, and more affordable. Isn't it great that we live in such a diverse and fascinating country and that people make interesting and beautiful lives all over the place? Even in Texas!

Stephanie

by Stephanie Paige Ogburn at 9:19 AM on 10 Apr 2007

shades and connotations

Well, yes, dear Jesus-Mary-Giuseppe, you are indeed gloriously grumpy, when you are at your best, and I am hideously cranky, when I am at my worst.

And DR is simply snotty, when he is at his typically DRish average.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 9:26 AM on 10 Apr 2007

My favorite thing about Brooklyn...

I don't know if it's still there, but there used to be a building upon which an arist would, every year, paint a gigantic fake ad. Two of my favorites were: "Insist upon plates...they make any meal special!" and "Your dreams can come true with cash!"

by Roz Cummins at 12:19 PM on 10 Apr 2007

Welcome back

yes, nyc is great. and the best part is the food. nice post.

caniscandida, once again, you are a pain in the butt. sorry you had to make your plea for attention so public.

Benny Big Eye

by Benny Big Eye at 12:31 PM on 10 Apr 2007

Grumpiness and eco-anxiety!

For awhile the back and forth "grumpiness," "crankiness," etc. in Gristmill was getting to me and depressing me. But now I actually found this amusing, endearing, and it made me laugh out loud- a good thing in the face of rampant eco-anxiety and eco-depression! Oh wait... maybe that's just my eco-meds talking....

An ounce of practice is worth twenty thousand tons of big talk. -Vivekananda

by karenc at 1:24 PM on 10 Apr 2007

Can't Do Queens

Stephanie, if you grew up in Brooklyn, like I did, you can never live in Queens, or in New Jersey, for that matter. It just cannot be done. Better Seattle, which when I visited, left me just as wide-eyed as David in Fort Green.

Speaking of which, Fort Green Park has changed a lot over the years. When I was in grade school, the park was actually deserted, littered and the buildings around it burned out. Our entire school descended on the park for the first Earth Day and cleaned it up, beginning a long process of renewal that culminated in David's excellent vacation...

Samuel Fromartz Author Organic Inc.

by Samuel Fromartz at 1:44 PM on 10 Apr 2007

brooklyn loves you, too.

one of the things i've loved the most about brooklyn since moving here is how easy it is to live green. nyc is like that on the whole-- i read somewhere that we have the lowest per-cap energy consumption of anywhere in the states (and certainly we have the lowest space consumption, ahem). but the highlight of brooklyn for me, in addition to the conscious street culture, all the eco-gourmet blah-blah and farmers markets, is that we have the BEST EVER member-run food-coop. it makes local and organic sustainable, so to speak, for those of us without trust funds... and from the conversations i've had, our coop seriously rules. so if you're ever making your way though you should stop in and pay homage to our otherworldly produce isle... (you can't shop there unless you're a working member though. foodcoop.com) the popularity of the coop and the willingness of my fellow members to work their monthly shifts and and wait in long-ass lines for sustainably grown food is one of the main things i look to for hope these days...

brooklyn also has a green one up on manhattan because we can still have critical mass here, whereas they passed an ordinance essentially outlawing it in manhattan, the fascist jerks.

by bk racer at 1:55 PM on 10 Apr 2007

Don't they still

have Critical Mass in Manhattan anyway? I thought they did...

I was never such a big fan of Brooklyn, sorry to say. I have friends who moved from the Upper East to Williamsburg, and it was always just a pain-in-the-butt schlepp for me to get there from the Upper West. A few cool shops and lots of tea houses, for some reason but, it was always kind of creepy at night - too dark and not enough people around. I guess that what you get when you're used to Manhattan.

I did much enjoy Seattle when I visited over a decade ago (now I'm feeling old). Even then, coming from Boston (not the most diverse city on the planet) I was pretty surprised by how un-diverse Seattle was; not simply just white, but it seemed like everyone was the same age, dressed the same, had exactly the same values... like an entire college graduating class just up and relocated to Seattle about 3 years after school. Bizarre.

One pleasant surprise of moving to Manhattan from Boston was, not just ethnic diversity, which I expected, but age-diversity. Boston is often overwhelmed by it's college population, so it often seems that the whole world is 19 years old. In Manhattan I se actual children, old people, 40-somethings, families... it's quite lovely.

by kmp at 2:09 PM on 10 Apr 2007

critical mass

i think they do still have critical mass in manhattan, but some people usually get arrested each time they do it now, that's what i hear anyway. i also hear of bikers getting picked up randomly just for being punky-looking bikers in manhattan.

williamsburg is... often creepy, but arguably more so in the daylight!

by bk racer at 2:21 PM on 10 Apr 2007
[ Parent ]

Park Slope Food Coop

Yes, BK Racer, the Park Slope Food Coop is amazing, and when you leave Brooklyn, you sort of can't shop anywhere else. I wanted to send DR there, but, well, he would have been blocked at the front door by a very nice, but very firm, coop member.

As for Canis' execrations, all I can say is that we've come to an odd pass when Manhattanites feel the need to defend their borough, and charge Brooklyn enthusiasts with snobbery. For the record, i love the parts of Manhattan, and there are still many, that haven't been transformed into a "Friends"-friendly mall.

Victual Reality

by Tom Philpott at 2:26 PM on 10 Apr 2007

Co-op

We actually walked right past the co-op on a stroll around Park Slope with a local -- he pointed it out and enthused at great length about it. I gazed in longingly from the outside.

grist.org

by David Roberts at 3:14 PM on 10 Apr 2007

vivat burgus noster!

Et vivat Stephania pacifica! All places do indeed have their charms.

To Tom: I was certainly NOT execrating dear old Brooklyn, which I love. And my admiration of that wonderful city should be clear from a few things that I have written, now and again, to Gristmill.

But talk about major commissions of the non sequitur fallacy: Manhattan is my home, he polis mou, and is second to no place in the world, if you want my heartfelt opinion.

I was indeed execrating DR's little sentence, "Who needs Manhattan?," and perhaps ironically calling down fulminations upon it. (Osama bin Laden called down fulminations very literally and physically upon Manhattan itself.) I have no problem that that strongheaded Kid from Kentucky should choose to spend his Paschal holiday of rest and relaxation in the New York area entirely in Brooklyn. Brooklyn is a wonderful place, as I have said over and over again. But then, on the other hand, it was entirely unnecessary for that same Kid from Kentucky to go on foolishly and pronounce -- because, in his mind, he is always the rightest-minded of the right-minded -- that Manhattan is itself unnecessary.

And to Mademoiselle du Grand Oeil, whose butt, I wonder, may very well match her eye, let me just say, Good, I hope I am a pain. Think about how I feel, with all these economists and physicists and engineers going on and on, very very seriously. I am very glad that they do so, and I am very glad that they have had a hospitable forum here at Gristmill. But I for my part certainly do not follow all threads, nor do I make a point of reading all contributors -- to a large extent because I am too stupid and ill-educated to understand what they are talking about.

My cordial advice to Mademoiselle is to ignore me in the future, even as I have learned from some time ago to ignore Benny Big Eye.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 4:27 PM on 10 Apr 2007

Hunh.

Maybe I went on an off day at Al Di La -- it was great, sure, but not sublime.

I'm more indifferent to NYC with every visit; perhaps I've become too modestly Midwestern to understand its self-aggrandizing way.

by Payton Chung at 5:18 PM on 12 May 2007

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