Time Out Love New York Awards 2014: Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO & Brooklyn Heights

Four veterans of Public are behind this seasonal American restaurant in Brooklyn Heights. Paying heed to the current barnyard-chic aesthetic, the rustic eatery showcases a vertical herb garden, grown on a wall dividing the bar and dining areas. The short menu features simple fare, like charcuterie, cheese and raw-oyster platters, and chef Alex Sorenson dispatches more composed dishes—including rabbit lasagna with Swiss chard and ricotta, and oysters baked with Worcestershire sauce, bacon and parsley—from a white-tiled open kitchen. Locavores will be pleased by the drink offerings, focused on regional beers, seasonal cocktails and five wine taps pouring selections exclusively from New York vintners.

The Dumbo coffee company expands with a second Kings County location, taking over the JJ's Navy Yard Cocktail Lounge space. Outfitted with a pair of Loring Kestrel Smart Roasters, the airy café showcases four rotating espresso varieties (like Iris and BQE), as well as hot and iced coffee roasted from Fair Trade and Rainforest Alliance beans. For snacks, find croissants and sandwiches from Williamsburg's Margo Patisserie and doughnuts from Dough. The shop honors its nautical predecessor, JJ's, with ship-in-a-bottle models docked at the marble-topped bar, and artifacts from the old dive, including light fixtures and columns reclaimed from strippers' dressing rooms.

This quirky home decor shop features items collected by owner Pam Shelala's travels to India mixed with vintage and locally-made furnishings. Look for home goods and gifts and more from labels such as BDI, Jorhn Derian, Gail Garcia Pottery, Votivo Candles and more.

The carefully crafted mise en scène (ragtime music, a rickety bar) at this old-timey watering hole comes to us from the owners of nearby Brooklyn Social. Henry Public’s studied collection of drinks sound awfully appealing on paper, but many don’t succeed. While the Ether (Scotch, vermouth, yellow chartreuse and absinthe) was an herbaceous delight, others—like the Eagle’s Dream, a cloying mix of gin, lemon, egg white and violet liqueur—fell short. The bar’s offerings are shaky, but the kitchen is sure-footed. Old-world snacks (plateaus of oysters) and filling sandwiches (milk-braised turkey on rye) are more memorable than the drinks.

The splashy new 19,000-seat Barclays Center opened September 2012, and brought with it the Brooklyn Nets, the borough's first major pro sports team since the Dodgers left in 1957. Besides NBA, the venue hosts concerts by superstars such as Rihanna and (part owner) Jay-Z, sports tourneys including the Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship, family-friendly events like Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and more.