We Move Out, Robicelli's & Lock Yard Move In

I was upset when two new storefronts opened in Bay Ridge just months after we left our old Brooklyn apartment for Ohio. Mainly because I wasn't there to welcome them and patronize them often, both being less than a mile away from where we used to live. Luckily we visited both on our return trip to New York in June.

The first: Robicelli's. This husband-wife team opened a gourmet market in Bay Ridge not long after we moved there -- in fact, Paul won second place in a sandwich contest there. But they later closed to focus on their booming cupcake business, delivering to stores around the city. Now they have a Bay Ridge storefront again, this time focusing on their baked goods.

And they are delicious. The chocolate cream pie justified all the raves I had read about it, and the biscuits were amazing. The one thing I didn't try on this trip -- the cupcakes. But I've had them before, and they live up to the hype. I did get my Robicelli's cupcake cookbook signed, though.

The second: Lock Yard. Not far from Robicelli's is this beer garden, a real beer garden with a large outdoor space (by Brooklyn standards, anyway). I don't know what's best: the beer selection, the sweet potato tater tots or the fact that it's kid-friendly, at least during the day. Parents actually have meet-ups there with the kiddos.

I'm sorry I'm not in Brooklyn to spend all of my money at these two places. But as I type that, maybe that's a good reason to be glad I don't live down the street. Either way, they'll be part of our regular rotation on our return trips to Bay Ridge.