The Best Restaurants in Brooklyn, NYC

Crossing the bridge from New York’s sprawling Manhattan metropolis into the rich and varied neighbourhoods of Brooklyn will take you world’s away from the frenetic pace of corporate Wall Street, the tourist-hordes of Times Square and the glossy avenues of the Upper East Side. With a fresh and exciting homegrown food scene, Brooklyn is now one of the most exciting places to dine in New York with a wealth of restaurants that are dedicated to a more purist, organic and artisanal approach. After eating our way from one end of this vast & vibrant neighbourhood to the other, we reveal our Top 5 favourite places to dine in Brooklyn right now:

1. Marlow & Sons  This cosy, communal dimly-lit local gem is one of our all-time favourite places to dine in New York. Tucked away behind a rustic storefront in the seriously hip neighbourhood of Williamsburgh, entrepreneurs Andrew Tarlow and Mark Firth have created a rustic, dimly-lit wood-panelled canteen which attracts a local crowd of artists, musicians and creatives throughout the day & late into the night. Chef Sean Rembold’s daily-changing menu celebrates the season’s premium organic produce, with signature dishes including the knock-out brick chicken (a half-chicken cooked flat beneath a warm brick) and a wholesome wild-leek-and-goat-cheese tart. The team have even gone so far as to establish their own open-plan butchery and delicastesen up the road, Marlow & Daughters, to guarantee the quality of their meat ingredients. Don’t miss their equally good American bistro next-door, Diner, another quintessential Brooklyn dining spot. 81 Broadway, Brooklyn  +1 (0) 718 384 1441   Website

2. Vinegar Hill House  Attracting fellow Manhattanites and other New York locals from all over the city, Vinegar Hill House is one of the shining stars of Brooklyn’s dining scene. Hidden away in a rough-and-ready area in the northern part of Brooklyn, you’ll at once feel the warm & welcoming, cosy & eclectic vibe of Vinegar Hill House. Everything about this place is comforting, from the vintage-meets-Llittle House on the Prairie furnishings to the fresh, seasonal and rustic cuisine cooked in a roaring wood-fire oven. Don’t miss their signature melted Bailey Hazen blue cheese with cubes of sweet roasted butternut squash, or their perfectly roasted chicken served in a piping hot cast-iron pan straight from the oven to your table. 72 Hudson Ave., Brooklyn  +1 (0) 718 522 1018   Website

3. Frankies 457 Spuntino  We’re actually going to cheat and recommend two places at once, as both Frankies 457 Spuntino & Prime Meats are technically owned by the same owners (chefs Frank Falcinelli and Frank Castronovo) and are located just a stone’s throw from one another - both offering a quintessential Brooklyn dining experience. What Frankies 457 Spuntino lacks in physical size, it more than makes up for in flavour, with bold, sumptuous and deeply comforting Italian flavours. Don’t miss their homemade meatballs with a decadently rich tomato sauce. Located just a few buildings down the road, Prime Meats is their other large, rustic wooden dining space with, you guessed it, some of the best prime meat cuts in town. Frankies 457 Spuntino: 457 Court St., Brooklyn   +1 (0) 718-403-0033  Website

4. Roberta’s  When punk blues rock musicians Chris Parachini and Brandon Hoy decided to turn a former garage workshop into a cutting-edge artisanal Italian pizza haven in the gritty, industrial area of Brooklyn’s outlying Bushwick district , they had no idea just what a local success story it would become. Drawing in the foodie crowd from far and wide, Roberta’s authentic Neopolitan-styel woodfired pizzas are so good that you’ll almost feel like you’ve been momentarily been transported back to Naples. The artfully shabby-chic decor features thrown-together furnishings of long rustic wooden tables, eclectically mismatched chairs and even a rusting Mercedes-Benz sedan decorated in flower pots thrown into the mix. This fabulous local gem is definitely worth the trek to Bushwick. 261 Moore St., Brooklyn  +1 (0) 718 417 1118   Website

5. Dressler  Named for the lead character of Steven Millhauser's Pulitzer-winning historical novel, Williamsburg’s ultra-hip Dressler is an intimate sanctuary of intricate wrought-iron candeliers (made by local artisan sculptors, no less), zinc bars and artfully placed light box screens. As one of the area’s most stylish dining experiences, enjoy a long and lazy dinner of simple, thoughtful & well executed modern American bistro fare in their intimate candle-lit dining room. 149 Broadway, Brooklyn  +1 (0) 718 384 6343   Website

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