Finally, an Eater's Guide We Can Get Behind!

Photo via thislittlepiglet.blogspot.com

Remember when GQ Magazine took a big steaming crap on our dear borough with their "Eater's Guide to Brooklyn?" Yeah. I'm trying to put it out of my mind, too. Well, here's something good to help you forget!

Carey Jones is the New York editor for Serious Eats and she's put together a neighborhood food guide for the North Slope and Prospect Heights, where she lives.  Jones does just about everything right with her guide, if you ask me.

She acknowledges that the places that make her list might not all be the absolute best, or even her absolute favorites. But they're the places in her neighborhood that she, herself, likes. That's the essence of good criticism in my opinion -- recognizing that what's objectively "good" and what you personally love might not be the same thing. Frankly, I'm more likely to trust people who can explain exactly why they're passionate about something when they can acknowledge that it might not top everything else in the whole freakin' universe.  

The guide is well-rounded: spots for take out, delivery, cheap eats and fancier places all made her list. And I love that it's not just a restaurant guide; the shout-outs to the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket, and Brooklyn Larder make the guide more complete. She includes recommendations that people familiar with food in the neighborhood can easily get behind -- because, honestly, if you don't like the sandwiches at Bierkraft or the yogurt at Culture, there's clearly something wrong with you -- but there are also a lot of places on her list that weren't on my radar. So now I've got a bunch of new places to check out!

On top of all of that awesomeness, it's a guide that you can actually use.  There are phone numbers, addresses and even a map. It covers breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, drinks and snacks.  With a click of the mouse, you can expand the concise paragraph in the guide to reveal lots more about each place.  I love, love, love utility, and I love the way this guide is set up.

So, Carey Jones, if you're out there: thank you for restoring my faith in food guides.