Brooklyn Commune

Vanderbilt Playground in Windsor Terrace is one of my favorite places in Prospect Park to take Nico and Leo to play. It was renovated last year and has lots of different structures that appeal to big and little kids. Occasionally, we stop at the pizza place across the street for slices, and for a while, I thought it was the only food option nearby. Then I read about Brooklyn Commune, a new cafe on Greenwood Ave. We tried it out last week and just a few blocks from the playground and right next to the Fort Hamilton subway stop, it's a wonderful, and much needed addition to the neighborhood.

Opened by a couple with culinary backgrounds, the cafe uses CSA-sourced produce and sells a small selection of local products. We went for an early breakfast on one of those days when it was sweltering by 9am and cooled off with some grapefruit juice mixed with mint before sharing a bowl of homemade granola, an egg sandwich with mushrooms and spinach on multigrain, and a blueberry yogurt muffin with an incredibly light crumb.

We picked up a jar of rhubarb rose petal preserves and have been enjoying it all week on buttered toast and I'm hoping to go back again for lunch to try one of their salads. They also sell prepared foods that would be perfect on nights when it's too hot to cook, and since Brooklyn Commune is BYO, it was nice to discover The Juice Box, a cool wine shop one door down.

Brooklyn Commune
601 Greenwood Ave
Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn
718-686-1044

Windsor Terrace is Waiting, Blue Marble

Obviously I was excited when Lia's Ices first opened in Windsor Terrace. For one, I loved their sign. It felt like a place just for me, complete with smiley sweets. Close to Prospect Park and The Pavilion, it was on quiet side street with a few benches. I could sit while Nico played on the sidewalk, ice cream dripping down his arms. On occasion, we'd strike up a conversation with another family. In a big, busy city, benches work wonders at bringing people together. I really wanted to love the place. We shared a name after all, but everything I tried was kind of blah, including the soups and smoothies. The gelato always seemed sort of runny and while I ate my fair share of rainbow Italian ices when I was little, food coloring freaks me out these days.

It's always sad to see a local business go away, but it's a little less upsetting if another takes its place. I'm crossing my fingers for Blue Marble. Their ice cream is the best in Brooklyn if you ask me. The strawberry is tart, not too sweet, and one of my favorite things in the summer, or on a snowy, winter day. Dark chocolate, root beer, and peach are also out of this world. They closed their Atlantic Avenue location a few months ago, a place with where lines regularly ran out the door. I hear their landlord raised the rent, so maybe a former refreshment shack would be more budget-friendly?

Dub Pies

Decaf mocha lattes from Dub Pies have been keeping me warm this winter. I  just wish I didn't feel like a bull in a china shop every time I go there with my kids. Getting in with a double stroller is kind of tricky since the door opens into the shop and not toward the street and once we're finally in, we take up half the place. On most visits, I feel like that Mom. I could always go to Connecticut Muffin across the street, but everything at Dub is so much better. Good thing Prospect Park is nearby. I get my mocha to go, and usually a few of their flaky and filling New Zealand-Australian meat pies (refried beans/jalapeno and chicken thai curry on my last visit, plus a few mini ones which are perfect for kids) and enjoy everything there. For movies at The Pavilion, I like to sneak in some of their sweet treats. Anzac cookies with oats, coconut, and what seems like a lot of sugar are delicious, and I'm hoping the mini fruit mince pies will be around after the holidays, but something tells me their days are numbered.

Dub Pies
211 Prospect Park West (corner of 16th Street)
718-788-2488