Immaculate Infatuation

In case you haven’t noticed, Cobble Hill is fully stacked with great restaurants these days, many of which are new Infatuation favorites. Right at the top of that list is Char No. 4, and it’s easy to see why. It’s essentially my New York City dream house – a warm, inviting space with a wall of bourbon and a smoker. When we sell this website to Excite or Lycos or whoever is spending money these days, that’s totally what I’m buying. I guess for now I’ll have to stick with my current method of tossing a few woodchips into the toaster and ripping the batteries out of the smoke alarm.

While smoking meat is definitely a huge part of what Char No. 4 does (you’ll notice that damn near everything on the dinner menu is a “house smoked” something), it’s not all just ribs and brisket sandwiches. This is Southern influenced food in New York City, and you will find some really creative things on the menu, like the insanely good lamb pastrami, a ridiculous crispy sweet potato gnocchi, and a more than respectable brunch. We recently decided to put it all to the test by bringing in some palates even more discerning than ours. One of our favorite new bands hails from Dallas, and we decided to introduce them to Southern food, Brooklyn style. Take a look and see what happens when Char No. 4 meets Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights.

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Five Points should have been one of the first reviews up on Immaculate Infatuation. The fact that it had to wait until slot #126 is completely our bad. It’s one of the most reliable and universally likeable restaurants we’ve been to, coming through in the clutch time after time. Need the ultimate place to take your mom when she comes into town? This is it. How about a centrally located spot for a business dinner downtown? Check. Date night? Absolutely. Better yet, make a day of it. Play hooky from work with your current love interest, get a massage at Great Jones Spa next door and follow that up with lunch. Now that’s the start to a quality day. Although it’s not in the food rundown below, brunch at Five Points is top notch.

Not only is their menu updated seasonally, the entire restaurant goes through a transformation. Everything from their drink menu to the decor changes with the seasons. Personally, autumn is my favorite time to come here with their leaf filled branches, strategically placed pumpkins and gourds, apple cider drinks, pork chops, sweet potato mash and pumpkin desserts.

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Cookshop, like Five Points, is a review that was long overdue on this site. There aren’t many restaurants in New York City that you can count on for an excellent meal regardless of circumstance, and this one is certainly among the few. Chances are that you, a dedicated Immaculate Infatuation reader, already know all of this, and have either recently dined at Cookshop or confidently sent a friend on a recommendation. Then again, maybe you haven’t.

In that case, we can simply tell you that breakfast, brunch, and dinner are all amazing, and that Cookshop needs to be on your list. Or, we can put it into our own terms to help you really understand how we feel. How good is Cookshop? So good that you won’t give a damn if you are the only person in the house not on a really intense date. So good that you will swear to never waste another dollar on trendy let downs like Permanent Brunch or The Standard Grill. Cookshop is so good that you’ll want to take your leftovers home and bury them in a time capsule.

Yep, we back this place pretty hard. Find yourself some time in the near future to visit. And make sure to bring something along worth burying.

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You might remember a review/rant we wrote about Tipsy Parson and the so called “comfort food” there that really isn’t comfort food. In case you were wondering where all that anger came from, it has built up over time from repeated dissapointment. The bottom line in most of these cases is that if you want real comfort food, skip the trendy new spots and go to Harlem or Charleston. Or maybe just go have dinner at grandma’s. We’re sure she would love to see you.

But there are some exceptions to the let downs, and Buttermilk Channel is one of them. It exceeded our expectations, not only when it comes to the menu of classic American guilty pleasures, but also the restrained and tasteful decor. No antique phones or kitschy mugs on display here. This is simply a true Brooklyn Neighborhood Hang, and it’s equally popular among young hipster singles and the families that fill it for Sunday dinner. The fried chicken is one of the best you’ll find in town, and almost everything else you’ll eat here is fantastic. Just don’t over do it – this food is rich and we suspect that it’s not entirely healthy. Then again, we’re not doctors, so who’s to say it isn’t? Oh right. Doctors.

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Believe it or not, people used to live in Williamsburg because it was cheaper than Manhattan, not because it was cool. Before the hipster invasion began in the late 90′s, the South side belonged to the Hasidim and Peter Luger. Sure, there were always artists, musicians and .com hopefuls living there, but it was nothing like it is today. Hipster idealism has spread through Brooklyn like wildfire since then, and the outbreak isn’t contained within the borough. It’s become a nation-wide epidemic. Rappers in tight pants and fedoras. PBR on tap in Oklahoma. Meatheads in Ray-Bans and artists like MGMT and Grizzly Bear blasting from frat house speakers around the country. This is getting ridiculous and The ‘Burg is to blame. The initial source of the breakout? Diner. That’s right, one little restaurant that opened back on new years of 1998 started a domino effect felt around the USA. Didn’t you read The Tipping Point?

Diner has been a Williamsburg institution for a decade now. Originally built out of necessity by two friends in need of a place to eat, drink and hang out – it soon became not only their home base, but every other recent settler’s home as well. It’s like the hipster Plymouth Rock. As expected, Diner takes the form of, well, a diner. It’s basically a hole in the wall, and if it weren’t for the constant crowds, you’d probably wonder how a place that looks like this stays in business. Everyone inside is most definitely cooler than you, but they don’t think they’re better than you. Both the clientele and staff are friendly, and generally seem to be enjoying themselves. There are no hard copies of the menu, your server personally writes the daily specials by hand on your table.

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