Idlewild Books — Brooklyn

Cobble Hill Description

Idlewild Books — Brooklyn is located in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Manhattan. Cobble Hill may often get mistaken for its big brother, Brooklyn Heights, but it's unquestionably a neighborhood with its own charm and style. The dueling main streets of Court and Smith offer a wealth of shops and restaurants of every stripe and style. There's Hibino, serving sushi and traditional Japanese dishes like fresh tofu and beef kakuni, or Bocca Lupo, with their masterful menu of unbelievable, paralyzing Italian cuisine. Since no upscale New York neighborhood can exist without one—or twelve—French bistros, Cobble Hill has Quercy, a bright provincial restaurant specializing in food that feels like a home-cooked meal, if home just happened to be France, and your mother charged you a prix-fixe for a seat at the table. The best of the bars in old Cobble Hill are as eclectic as they come anywhere in the city. Last Exit represents the hip eccentrics, with a curiously decorated garden in warm weather and indoor furnishings that might've previously adorned the curb. The music, however, is great, the prices are right, and the after-work suits are usually gone by the time any sane person would head to a bar. The Waterfront Ale House represents the traditional, with a jam-packed selection of beers and—fancy that—ales as well as a truly tantalizing menu, which looks even more appetizing wearing two pints of Hoegarrden. Then there's the relaxing atmosphere of Floyd, which will sate anyone who's read our Park Slope Guide and desires some competitive, inebriated bocce ball.