Brunch: Five non-Yelp Stars

So far, Abigail is one-for-one; the jazz brunch was pretty great. Good food, loud jazz, completely relaxed atmosphere. And I love the people on Yelp complaining about the service; it warms my heart, it really does, to know that there are this many douchebags in NYC that I don't ever have to speak to. It's on fucking CLASSON Avenue, people--be happy there IS a fucking restaurant on this spot. Oh, you waited five extra minutes for your eggs benedict at brunch? Sorry! Walk north 15 minutes and go sit at a counter at one of Clinton Hill's crappy breakfast places; you'll be served inedible breakfast in five minutes for five bucks. Then leave the rest of us alone who don't mind waiting for good food while listening to live music that isn't some sort of inappropriate dub/DJ crap at 1:15 on a Saturday afternoon. Good riddance.

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Coffee , Nightlife , Restaurants • Prospect-Lefferts Gardens / Crown Heights

The Islands

Among the many advantages of reduced crime and increased financial livelihood in the Crown and Prospect Heights neighborhoods of Brooklyn is the wealth of delicious and amazingly affordable food options. One such gem is The Islands, a tiny affair wedged (literally–it’s shaped like a tall slice of cake) among the hodgepodge of small businesses that now characterize Washington Avenue. Chefs and Letchford and Reid prepare mouthwatering food while engaging patrons in conversation about everything from the food itself to the family cookouts they attended recently–once I was even offered a strawberry daiquiri from a not-on-the-menu pitcher prepared by a patron. My favorites include stew peas (a delicious vegetarian concoction of beans and vegetables in a sweet and savory sauce), moan-worthy jerk chicken, and the best baked macaroni and cheese I’ve ever eaten–and I’m a lifelong connoisseur. There’s also sinfully sweet homemade lemonade to compliment the flavors of the food. Food is available to go or in the triangular upstairs dining room–accessible by way of a staircase so steep it’s nearly a ladder–busy with island patterns, bright tablecloths, and no shortage of tangy olfactory previews from the kitchen below.

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Restaurants • Prospect-Lefferts Gardens / Crown Heights

Brooklyn Museum of Art

The best thing about this place is First Saturdays. The entire museum is opened up to the public FOR FREE from 11 am -11 pm. March 5th, the museum has also splurged (thanks to funding from a Target sponsorship) for a cabaret with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, a DJ spinning funk and soul, and a short-film fest. If you’re there, don’t miss “I Wanna Be Loved By You: Photographs of Marilyn Monroe from the Leon and Michaela Constantiner Collection” (until March 20th). I’ve always had a weak spot for Marilyn and there are some very intimate portraits…some eerily disturbing in that she clearly did not want them to be seen publicly. Oh well, I guess only lawyers and people who own copyright have control these days. In this show, it does seem that the scale is tipped to her being exploited more than us.

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Landmarks , Museums • Prospect-Lefferts Gardens / Crown Heights