I hardly know Brooklyn, but we have been getting along famously in the food department. Last weekend Michele and Burke met us at the Lorimer station for a quick tour of Williamsburg. We walked right by Fette Sau and Saltie… and we kept on walking. I started to panic. I always wonder where I’ll be eating my next meal. What if we had passed by the two best options already?  M + B have never picked a bad restaurant, so I kept mouth shut and tried to keep my anxiety under wraps. After looping back to the L, our next stop was Bushwick.

By now, everyone was hungry. We ascended at Morgan Ave station and here Brooklyn was quieter, with artist’s lofts visible across the street. The scale and openness reminded me of Red Hook and the quiet put me at ease. After a quick turn into a dingy curtained doorway, we were inside Roberta’s Pizza. I had never heard of it, but I filled with hope. I could imagine The Selby shooting in this dining room. Maybe he already has.

There were a few open spots at the communal tables and we were immediately seated right next to a window. Brunch is available until 4pm and serious concentration broke out as everyone zeroed in on different items on the menu.

First good sign: perfect ice cubes in my bloody mary.

Love these glossy beauties. The mixed olives will hold you over til the pizza arrives.

Who could keep their hands off these buttermilk biscuits with honey butter? I wish I had ordered my own or ordered more to go!

M’s soft scrambled eggs, (I think) with hen of the woods and taleggio

More brunch goodness: slab bacon, pancakes and yogurt & granola.

There’s a really nice laid back vibe for mid Saturday afternoon.

So where’s that pizza I mentioned?

Hold on, it’s coming…

Meet the Bee Sting: tomato, mozzarella, sopressata picante, basil and honey.

Later that evening, we headed back towards the Williamsburg riverfront to meet Katherine & Nathan. They brought us to a Japanese brasserie called Zenkichi. It it s a dimly lit, wonderfully private dining experience. I gave my camera a break and simply enjoyed the cubes of cool silky tofu and bottle after bottle of sake.