I went to this super hipster spot on the Lower East Side for brunch – Chalk Point Kitchen. A lot of the food is organic, local…you know the whole drill. BUT IT WAS GREAT. I brought the Scott with me, and after this meal we both decided: We love hipster food.

There’s just something about it – it’s cool, but they actually aren’t trying too hard, as much as I would like to imagine. It’s all about the hipster lifestyle (#AUTHENTIC). The food is fresh, the flavors are clean and while the cocktails may be a little more complicated than most (ahem, see below for the ingredients in the “Gin Tin Tin”), it’s delicious and makes me feel happy.

What I ate/drank at Chalk Point Kitchen:

Gin Tin Tin (Botanist Gin, citrus infused tonic water, basil, rhubarb syrup, lime juice, cucumber. Yes, lots of ingredients, but the taste was pretty straightforward. Very refreshing, and a little sweet for the summer.)

 

Whipped Ricotta and Black Pepper Herb Honey on Ciabatta (This was probably my fave. There’s nothing like a bunch of cheese and bread, but this cheese and bread also had some nice herbal notes, and the honey really melded well with the black pepper.)

Steak & Eggs (Grilled petite filet, arugula, horseradish creme fraiche, pickled red onions, crispy potatoes, two sunny side up eggs. This dish was classically cool, thus the name of my article. The steak was cooked really well and the rest of the dish was hot, delicious comfort food).

Smoked Salmon Benedict (With griddled roma tomatoes, baby field greens, pecorino, pressed ciabatta, rosemary olive oil hollandaise. I tasted only one bite, since it was Scott’s, but I must say it was very flavorful, and they dish out enormous amounts of salmon.)

Dessert (I shall reveal this later in the form of seductive photos)

Now, the brunch atmosphere was very low-key, and *CitizenMag wrote that it was even low-key for dinner. This restaurant would be a hole-in-one for a night out it seems, because they have a cocktail bar with heavy comfy leather chairs on the bottom floor. It’s called the Handy Liquor Bar, and I sneaked down to take a peek while I was waiting for my brunch table.

Now, it’s time to show off what I ate for dessert. Because, brunch always ends in dessert, no? (Brunch definitely never ends in dessert, but I made it happen because I wanted to try this cake really badly).

BEFORE shot of the Old-Fashioned Devil’s Food Cake (with cream cheese icing and vanilla bean ice cream):

AFTER:

SUPER AFTER:

Then, let it be known, I died. No I didn’t, I’m alive. You can tweet at me just in case if you want to check.

@maryinmanhattan

*This post was in collaboration with CitizenMag.