And Now, Resy Brooklyn

Today we’re excited to officially welcome Brooklyn to the Resy dance floor.

Here are our first 10 restaurants in the borough that would be the 7th largest city in the U.S. were it not for its pesky ties to the rest of New York City; also, home of the first roller coaster; the implied capital of extreme eating (thanks, Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contest); and the borough that birthed Jay-Z and raised Biggie:

BAR CHUKO
There is a subgenre of Asian cuisine and it is the Rice Cake with Pork. (Swoon.) There is the stupidly famous version at Momofuku Ssam, which is sort of in a bolognese style. And then there are these guys at Bar Chuko, which are the lasagna to Momo’s bolognese. They’re a huge win. In fact, Huge Win is the story across the board at the 70-seat izakaya, David Koon and Jamison Blankenship’s (two Morimoto vets) follow-up to their mobbed ramen joint up the street. Bonus: they also get tons of cred for its beer, sake and wine program. Book Now at Bar Chuko

BATTERSBY
Since Bon Appetit put it on their Best New Restaurant list in 2012, Battersby has been a Smith Street restaurant darling. Joseph Ogrodnek and Walker Stern, the two hugely talented chef-owners here, cooked for the French master, Alain Ducasse, before deciding Brooklyn hi-lo was their thing. The restaurant is small and intimate, brick walls and wood plank floors. But that’s where the Brooklyn ticks end. The food is often times spectacular; when it’s not it’s somewhere between very good and excellent. They’ll have you at rosemary flatbread. Book Now at Battersby

DO OR DINE
The thing you have to understand about Justin Warner, now a star of food television, is that he’s going to be Justin. And in a world of chefs who never met a bandwagon they didn’t like, Justin — and by extension his team at Do or Dine, of whom all of the founding partners cut their teeth at the very serious Manhattan restaurant, The Modern — is as refreshing a product as they come. Which, not surprisingly, can also be said for his totally unquantifiable Bed Stuy restaurant of one thousand colors. The NY Times says it was, “born of cravings at midnight.” We’re calling the cuisine “Brooklynian,” because there’s really no other way of classifying it. Just go and see it for yourself. Book Now at Do or Dine

DOVER
“With their debut, the perpetually mobbed Battersby, chefs Walker Stern and Joe Ogrodnek dance the high-low jig particularly well, serving fine-dining food in a boisterous room. At Dover, the setting is more serene, and the food even more refined. A central bar anchors the unadorned space, where couples on the brink of parenthood lean close over Ikea-esque tables. While the spartan decor is a bit of a snooze, the menu is anything but. Dish after dish, Stern and Ogrodnek throw down big flavors, never failing to whip them into a surprisingly delicate balance.” —Time Out NY Book Now at Dover

LITTLENECK
3rd Street, and Gowanus, get tons of buzz around the massive cultural, mainly culinary, explosion that’s apace. And to some extent it’s true that awesome things are happening. But, this “explosion” is five years in the making, maybe more. And, here’s the point, Littleneck was here early. It was here before Runner and Stone (amazing in its own right), the Pines (same), and long before Whole Foods and the shuffleboard club. What’s on offer today is the same as it was on Day One. A rock-solid New England style seafood shack. It really ties the neighborhood together. Book Now at Littleneck

LUCALI
When the history of pizza is written, there’s a real chance that Lucali comes to be known as the best pizzeria ever in New York City. There are other heavies, of course, and let’s not too-hastily push them to the side. But it may turn out that never before or never since did all of the elements of greatness — setting, dough, ovens, sauce recipe, pizzaiolo — come together quite as succinctly as they do here. Book Now at Lucali

MAISON PREMIERE
Absinthe is not just legal but safer than drinking water,” says the NY Times about what is probably Brooklyn’s most perfect cocktail bar and seafood restaurant. Travel and Leisure names it one of the best seafood restaurants in the world. The vibe is Paris in the good old days — of 1890. Get a dozen oysters, a King Cole martini and settle in. Sometimes the Williamsburg hispters nail it. Book Now at Maison Premiere

MEADOWSWEET
Polo Dobkin’s calm and collected Williamsburg restaurant opened in June of 2014 and quickly won itself a Michelin star, one of only 10 Brooklyn restaurants to do so. Restaurant history buffs will note that Meadowsweet replaces Dressler, which was a an early New Brooklyn pioneer. But forget about the past, because this restaurant lives in the present: daily changing menu, interior foliage, mosaic floors. It’s all very come-as-you-are, so do. Book Now at Meadowsweet

NOODLE PUDDING
“Noodle Pudding’s quietly excellent Italian cooking avoids both the attention-seeking chic of modern Italian cuisine (no fennel pollen here) and the caloric suicide of “Sopranos”-style fare,” so says the New Yorker. Brooklyn food blogger Nona Brooklyn adds, “Far from the media spotlight and the glamorous sheen that can come with high concepts and pedigreed chefs, Noodle Pudding, with no website, Facebook page, Twitter account, or portfolio of glittering reviews, has been packing in regulars for almost two decades.” Book Now at Noodle Pudding

PRIME MEATS
Frankies 457 Spuntino is Court Street and its’ owners The Franks, Falcinelli and Castronovo, are the spirit of Brooklyn food. So, at Prime Meats, their most Restaurant-like restaurant, you’re in good hands. The backdrop in terms of culinary inspiration is the hearty staples of the German Alps, like schnitzel and bratwurst. But, just go with it: there’s a world class steak frites, too, which has little to do with alpine food and everything to do with The Franks. Book Now at Prime Meats

THE PINES
Rustic chic in sort of a post-taxidermy New Brooklyn way, The Pines is largely considered one of Brooklyn’s few true Modern American restaurants, where the cuisine unapolgetically commands the same amount of attention as, say, their amazing backyard. The chef, John Poiarkoff, cooked at the Modern before he left for Gowanus. Sophisticated, yes; stuffy, no. Come for the foie gras, stay for the bread plate. Book Now at The Pines