Quit Calorie Counting: Our Guide to Brooklyn’s Starchiest Splurges
In the same way we celebrate holidays we have no direct tie to (such as Day of the Dead, St. Patrick’s Day or Oktoberfest) because the food and drink is just so great, that’s the tack we tend to take with the NY Marathon. We may have zero intention of logging 26 miles (frankly, since it falls on Sunday, November 6th, there’s a high probability we won’t even get off our couch) but we still feel propelled to eat in solidarity with the runners, padding our bodies with an extra helping of carbs. So whether your precisely like us (or, you know, actually plan to participate in the cross-borough sprint) you’ll appreciate this showcase of the borough’s top starch purveyors, from Brooklyn Bread Lab and their beautiful, burnished loaves, to Vinnie’s and their pizza-topped pizza.
Pazzi Pasta: Even gluten-free diners can indulge at Carroll Gardens’ family-run factory and pasticceria, which serves noodles made from a blend of five high-nutrient, non-wheat flours, to compliment a larger selection of brisket ravioli, nero di seppia, and other slurpable shapes, made with semolina, einkorn, kamut or spelt.
227 Smith St., (347) 916-1076
Vinnie’s: Though chef/owner Sean Berthiaume concocts a new, punny, over-the-top pie almost every day, it’s his duo of carb-loading creations that really caught fire in the media, namely, the Pizza in a Pizza Box (crafted entirely out of cheese, sauce and dough) and Pizza-Topped-Pizza, a round pie adorned with a series of tiny slices.
239 Flatbush Ave., (718) 782-7078
Perfect Potato: It’s hard to believe that in crunchy granola, health-obsessed Park Slope, there’s a restaurant entirely devoted to poutine—six Belgian french fry-based iterations include the “Roasted Pork” augmented with gravy, curds, sauteed veggies and fresh tomatoes, the “Chipotle-Mole Vegetarian” with seitan, English peas and pickled candy cane beets, and the all-in “Hangover Cure,” amassed with fried eggs, blueberries and applewood smoked bacon.
172 5th Ave., (917) 909-0465
Win Son: Taiwanese-style donuts are run through the deep fryer in service of the pineapple and ham-laden “nutritious sandwich” at Win Son, as well as the sugar-glazed mantou dessert, teamed with vanilla ice cream and sweetened condensed milk.
159 Graham Ave., (347) 457-6010
Brooklyn Bread Lab: In conjunction with the upcoming Williamsburg Hotel, this experimental, Bushwick-located bakery serves as a test kitchen, classroom and milling facility, devoted to the exploration and adulation of grain. Oh, and there’s also a pretty terrific retail component too, featuring a daily-changing roster of items such as classic Italian filone, and potato and onion pizza al taglio.
201 Moore St., (718) 418-4400
Rangoon NoodleLab: Myo Moe honors Myanmar’s obsession with noodles at her roving Brooklyn pop-up, offering traditional dishes like khao soi, curried shrimp udon and beef shan. And she really triples down on carbs with the cold salad leth thoke son, a tumble of turmeric and tamarind-sauced wheat noodles, mung bean noodles and rice vermicelli, topped—for good measure—with tofu and potatoes.
24 St Nicholas Ave., (347) 305-3344
