Brooklyn Foodies Rule

Slowly, but surely, I'm becoming a bonafide foodie. I can't pinpoint the precise moment of transformation, but I now care about where food comes from and my eyes no longer glaze over when someone tells me about what they cooked for dinner last night.

I might not have the proper credentials to be a foodie, but I've got the interest. In other words, I still can't properly identify radicchio (see photo) and I have no idea what to do with one, but I'm curious and I'm learning.

Brooklyn is clearly the right place at the right time for a newbie foodie like me. In addition to the exciting "New Brooklyn Cuisine" served at restaurants such as Applewood and al di la, there is also a loosely formed community of home cooks in Brooklyn.

I always thought of foodies as snobbish, but the food folks I'm getting to know have been generous about sharing their knowledge.

I'm inspired by Brooklynites like writer Cathy Erway, who chronicles her attempt to not eat out in New York in her aptly named blog Not Eating Out in New York (as well as the soon-to-be-released book The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove).

Erway occasionally teaches classes at The Brooklyn Kitchen, the Williamsburg-based kitchen supply store. Now that the G stops at 7th Avenue, I've got no excuse not to make the trip to The Meat Hook, where you can buy fresh made sausages daily.

Gowanus music venue The Bell House has also become an official meeting (and competing) place for the new Brooklyn food community. It makes sense then that Erway will be holding her book publication party there on February 18th. In addition to reading from her new book, Erway is also engineering a "Bruschetta Takedown." Can't wait to experience that firsthand.

Meat eaters won't want to miss The BROOKLYN BEEFSTEAK on March 21st at The Bell House. What's exactly is The Brooklyn Beefsteak, you ask? Picture endless pitchers of McSorley's Light and Dark Ale on every table, mountains of choice steak cuts, and absolutely no utensils. Now that sounds like a good time!