Pumpkin: Pinkberry

You all know about my love of pumpkin, and now Pinkberry has pumpkin! It's great topped with graham crackers, cinnamon and whipped cream - like a health(ier) pumpkin pie.

Francois Payard Bakery

This doughnut from Francois Payard is perfect for a decadent breakfast, with vanilla custard and an orange blossom glaze.

Five Leaves

Brunch at Five Leaves in Williamsburg is great, especially on a sunny day. Most of the seating is outside, and it's perfect to take in some sun with a coffee and a delicious brunch. The ricotta pancakes are amazing - very thick and topped with honeycomb butter, strawberries, blueberries and banana.

I loved the egg sandwich - the eggs are cooked with sage and cheddar in between a panini.

Tacombi @ Fonda Nolita

The tacos at Fonda Nolita are fantastic - and made in a VW minibus that's parked inside a garage-like space. The laid-back place is a great place to stop for a daytime or late night snack. I tried the short rib, with tender meat, peppers and onions and the creamy corn, poblano pepper and queso fresco - and I'll be back to try the others!

Little Cupcake Bakeshop

I can't resist a chocolate cupcake topped with meringue, and the newly opened Little Cupcake Bakeshop has a great version - a light, fluffy chocolate cake with soft meringue frosting and chocolate sprinkles.

They also have so many other interesting flavors - blue velvet (blueberry/cream cheese), dreaming princess (almond cake with raspberry/vanilla buttercream and meringue), hummingbird (banana/pineapple) and peanut butter and jelly - that I'll be tasting my way through all winter.

Grub Street Food Festival @ Hester Street Fair

The Grub Street Food Festival took place last Saturday at the Hester Street Fair, and it had great food, worth wading my way through 13,000 people for. I was most excited about trying the Mexicue truck, for it's BBQ/Mexican combos. The barbecue beet was great, with beets in a strong barbecue sauce and topped with goat cheese. The chorizo taco was very spicy, with habanero aioli slaw and cilantro and feta cheese.


Their bbq brisket slider was also incredible - smoky, tender meat flavored with with spicy slaw and avocado.

Unfortunately, by the time we reached the front of the line at Pako Taco, the beef tacos had sold out, but this Korean chicken taco with spicy sauce, kimchi and cucumber was still really good.

Dessert from Melt Bakery was fantastic - thick molasses cookies with creamy pumpkin ice cream filling.

Souvlaki Truck

Souvlaki GR is a great new food truck - I could eat their charcoal grilled pork in a perfectly seasoned pita with onions, tomato, feta, fries and tzatziki sauce every day.

Akariba

The number of sake bars in the city is limited as compared to the options for wine bars, cocktail bars and beer gardens, so I'm super excited about the opening of Akariba, a tiny sake bar in Williamsburg. The space is cute, with an outdoor porch vibe and a glass ceiling for viewing the treetops above. The sake is good, and served in huge glasses, and there is a menu of small plates from neighboring Zenkichi. I tried the shrimp tempura with a curry dipping sauce - a great sake drinking snack.

Bun & Co.

Bun & Co., on the LES, serves up Cambodian sandwiches and sandwiches in "buns", which are actually a thick toasted slice of buttery bread, topped with things like pulled pork and cabbage. What is a Cambodian sandwich? It's much like a Vietnamese sandwich, with cilantro, carrots, cucumber and a spicy sauce - except here the pork pate is replaced by things like bacon (yum!) or cauliflower.

Francois Payard Bakery

I'm thrilled that the Francois Payard Bakery just opened downtown. It's not only a bakery, but also has savory options, like this incredible roast beef sandwich. The meat is like a porchetta of beef - juicy, tender and full of herb flavor. It's topped with fontina and pesto on their signature baguette.

The arugula and asparagus salad was fresh and crisp, topped with parmesan and a lemon dressing.

The broccoli quiche was cheesy and delicious.

On to the desserts...the lemon tart was creamy and citrusy in a crusty shell.

The strawberry tart was bursting with strawberry flavor on a bed of creamy custard and accented with a few pistachios.

Of course there had to be chocolate - perfection in the form of this raspberry and milk chocolate cake roll.