By Lee Morgan
In a place like
New York City, the options for dining out are endless. Even if you cut it down to a single borough like Brooklyn, there is still more to try than you can possibly fit in. Sometimes you just have to make a choice and hope for the best. However, if you select from a few handpicked restaurants in Brooklyn you are highly likely to be pleased by great food and service.
Applewood
Applewood Restaurant, located in the Park Slope area of Brooklyn, is run by two Culinary Institute of America graduates who dreamed of returning to New York to open their own place after years of working in critically acclaimed restaurants. Since 2004, Laura and David Shea have been at the helm of Applewood, a successful restaurant known for purchasing all their produce from self-sustaining nearby farms, using only wild caught fish and hormone-free meats. As a result, this restaurant has been named one of Brooklyn's five best restaurants by New York Magazine.
The restaurant features a rustic dining room with heavy wood tables, pale walls and a fireplace in the middle for everyone to enjoy. The food is high quality and averages just over $20 per plate. Among the main dinner dishes you can expect to find on the menu are grilled New York venison, sautéed striped bass and braised Vermont pork ragout. Appetizers such as butter-poached Maine lobster and roasted red beets are sure to please.
Applewood
501 11th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11215
applewoodny.com
al di lá
Also landing in New York Magazine's top five Brooklyn restaurants is al di lá. Husband and wife owners Anna Klinger and Emiliano Coppa find their Venetian eatery packed regularly as people squeeze through the doors to get their teeth into the braised rabbit with black olives and polenta and the Venetian malfatti, which is made up of Swiss chard and ricotta gnocchi with brown sugar and sage.
Stopping by al di lá for dessert is also well worth the effort. The restaurant features excellent gelati as well as more creative items such as frittole (ricotta fritters served with warm chocolate sauce and whipped cream).
al di lá
248 Fifth Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215
aldilatrattoria.com
Franny's
Environmentally conscious pizza that tastes great is the concept at Franny's on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. The owners Francine Stephens and Andrew Feinberg are committed to serving a product containing only local and organic ingredients, hormone- and antibiotic-free meats and sending them out from a kitchen powered by 100 percent renewable energy. Even the washing detergent for the dishes is environmentally friendly, and the grease is converted to biodiesel.
As for the pizza, it's considered some of the best in New York City---and that is a statement New Yorkers don't throw around much. The menu changes based on the availability of the ingredients, which means you are bound to get a surprise each time you visit.
In addition to the feel-good concept and the delicious pies, Franny's has an outdoor garden seating area that is open throughout the summer. The restaurant was named one of the five best restaurants in Brooklyn by New York Magazine.
Franny's
295 Flatbush Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217
(718) 230-0221
frannysbrooklyn.com
About the Author:
Lee Morgan is a fiction writer and journalist. His writing has appeared for more than 15 years in many news publications including the "Tennesseean," the "Tampa Tribune," "West Hawaii Today," the "Honolulu Star Bulletin" and the "Dickson Herald," where he was sports editor. He holds a Bachelor of Science in mass communications from Middle Tennessee State University.
