Isn’t that what the weekends are for?
As mentioned last week, I’m trying to spend most weekends exploring new areas of the city. It’s such a joy to live in New York, but it’s far too easy to stay cooped up (especially as temps dip and prices rise).
To mitigate my temptation to stay inside, I made a commitment to get out every weekend. So far so good! (Hold me accountable in winter, ha).
The highlight of this past weekend was spending Saturday in Greenpoint, so I’ll focus on that today.
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Saturday in Greenpoint
The train to Greenpoint takes 45 minutes from our apartment, so when we make the trek, we stay for most of the day.
I really like Greenpoint because it has a relaxed vibe and reminds me a lot of Portland, Oregon (where I used to live before moving to NYC). Saturday’s mission was to find some new-to-us gems at a relaxing pace.
We started at Bakeri, which I wanted to try for a while because everyone raves about the pastries and decor. Bracing for an over-hyped instagram sensation, I’m happy to report I was wrong.
The baked goods are top-notch (we got the savory quiche and cheese danish) and dinning area was buzzing with warmth and cheerful chatter. We arrived just as the corner table was clearing out (what luck), so we opted to eat inside while people-watching for a few minutes over coffee.
First Stop: Breakfast at Bakeri
After breakfast we walked around the neighborhood with no plan in mind. We popped into random shops that piqued our interest, here’s some highlights:
- Dashi Okume: Super cool Japanese shop/restaurant
- Tula House: Charming plant shop
- Wilcoxson Ceramics: Ceramics shop that offers workshops where you can make your own mugs and/or dinner sets. We walked in on a class and it looked really fun, thinking about returning mid-winter for a date night (thinking of different ways to get out of the house).
- Taqueria Ramirez: Probably needs no explanation, some of the best tacos in NYC.
- Paulie Gee’s: Classic NYC pizza slices/pies. The square pepperoni is where it’s at!
After lunch, we made our way over to WNYC Transmitter Park for striking views of the NYC skyline.
It was so windy by the water (swear it always is)! We walked the promenade for few minutes and then made a beeline to Greenpoint Beer & Ale Co. for some mid-day brews.
I’ve been to a lot of breweries in NYC (mom, are you reading this??), and am always keen to try more. Greenpoint Beer & Ale Co. didn’t disappoint.
The rooftop area is half the draw, but it’s the beer that impressed me most (this is a great spot for those that love German-style lagers). Anyways, we mingled on the roof for an hour or so while waiting for a friend to arrive.
Upon his arrival, we got another round (a sunny November day calls for two rounds!) before walking over to Hana Makgeolli Brewery & Tasting Room to try some Korean rice wine.
We learned that Korean rice wine is similar to sake, but it’s more tart (reminded me of kefir actually). The tasting room is so inviting and the service was great, I’d return in a heartbeat!
After the sake tasting we had to decide on the next move. Our friend suggested Bar Blondeau (at the Wyeth hotel) for a nightcap, making a strong argument for the views.
We got in without a reservation (on a Saturday night, imagine!) and ordered one round of cocktails. The views were incredible and after an hour or so, we double-backed to Paulie Gee’s (where we had lunch) to catch the Georgia Bulldogs over a pepperoni pie.
I’ll say it again: Greenpoint is a gem. I swear, the more time I spend in Brooklyn the more tempted I am to swap zip codes (the neighborhoods are so unique!).
Let’s see where next week takes us.
P.S. Central Park was glorious this past weekend! Highly encourage you to get outside if you can!
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