A Twee Grows In Brooklyn

So, I am back in Brooklyn for a couple of days in order to celebrate a friend's birthday. I must admit I have been excited to visit old favorite bars and restaurants (Diner, Marlow and Sons, the Cobb Salads at Lodge and Teddy's) and to experience the new ones I have been reading about. Really, the only thing I actually love about Brooklyn is the dining and bar scene. Such options!

But I must admit that everything here is so...just so. The cutesy, old timey, farmhouse chic aesthetic becomes a little cloying after a while. While the abundance of new restaurants is a blessing for us consumers, resulting in constant one-upping on quality and price and experience, it also means one-upping on twee.

Today, for instance, I spent the afternoon in Clinton Hill, a charming and diverse neighborhood where Rosie Perez once watched me play tennis! The polar opposite of Williamsburg. Families and black people live here. Hipsters are scarce. But, we walked into a new charmer named LOU LOU for brunch and are immediately greeted by a skinny beauty with scruff on his face and jeans painted on.

The walls are a perfectly faded blue barn wood. Our water glasses are small jam jars. Nothing matches, but it all looks lovely together. Did I mention this place is called Lou Lou? Cute. Cute. And more cute. "Uggh" I think at first. South Philadelphia will certainly change a perspective. But then I look at the menu and see only solid gems. And then I take another look at my server and think I want to marry him. And then they present us with a complimentary round of mimosas in honor of Obama. WTF? Brooklyn is la la land. I order the skate sandwich with applewood smoked bacon (is there any other kind anymore?) and housemade tartar sauce and give in to Lou Lou.

The sandwich is super tasty. The sweet and salt of the skate perfectly balanced by the creamy tartar and smoky bacon. The roll is perfect. Joel's Monte Cristo sandwich is huge, delicious and not greasy. Maggie's Omelette is perfectly fluffy. The portions are actually big and the bill is pretty small. The coffee was the only downside to this meal. Watery and tasteless. Note to Lou Lou: if you are going to do everything right, you have to do right by the coffee!

We went for a walk in the snow covered park afterwards. Children were sledding. Beautiful people were laughing and jogging. It felt a little like magic. I hated myself for loving this so much. Next weekend I will have to do with the certain charm of trash-lined streets and a Royal bloody and burger.