I wrote in February about Williamsburg, fast becoming a habitat of choice for many New Yorkers who want to live in a trendy place and cannot afford Manhattan. Recently, I had a chance to visit my friend there and here is an update. First, while it may be cheaper than Manhattan, it is not cheap. To no surprise, rents have gone way up in the last few years as it has gotten discovered and many trendy stores, cafes, boutiques have moved it. As a "desirable place" to live rents are even higher than some other places near by, such as Brooklyn Heights, with better housing. Walking in the Bedford Avenue area you can see the colonization at work with many older shops still next to the new galleries and cafes. Most of the older places (like two Polish bakeries) are not open on Sunday (when we went) so I do not know if they still operate during the week. There are a lot of nouveau furniture stores that sell for moderate to high prices, the stuff my parents got rid of in the 50s. If you only keep it long enough I guess. There is an artists' flea market with an inviting selection of used books. I almost got a few. I liked the tee shirt that said, "only pussies live in LA."
The food is good. Here are two places to add to the earlier list. I was also advised to take the The Lodge off the list as it has gone down hill, at least for the moment. We will be back so stay tuned for more.
Roebling Tea Room. We ate a fine brunch here. It reminded me of several places in LA, especially the Doughboy Bakery, and is located in a converted industrial site. They have many kinds of tea, drinks, a daily frittata ( I had the parmesan, tomato, and spinach), a nice egg & gruyere on a roll (I had a bite), and baked French Toast (I had a bite also). The baked goods looked good enough to take home so we did. It is located at 143 Roebling St, Brooklyn, NY 11211 (718) 963-0760. The entrance on Metropolitan, between Roebling Street and Havemeyer Street.
La Bonita is a great “modern” Mexican place that I was told to add to the list by my friend. New York magazine writes, that the owner who is preservationist, has kept “the former Latino lunch counter's sign trumpeting comidas criollas, the row of stools opposite the open kitchen, and a few nods to the old menu, like plantains and rotisserie chicken. But cheese-dusted corn on the cob, fish tacos, and chiles rellenos, not to mention soft light flickering off multicolored tiles, set an entirely different tone.” The old place sounds good but so this update. It is located at 338 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11211 between S. 3rd and S. 2nd Sts. 718-384-9500
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