Alison Roman's Brooklyn: A Chef's Guide to the City's Real Heartbeat

For cookbook author Alison Roman, a great New York restaurant isn’t about hype. It’s about character. “I’m drawn to the small, independent places with a specific point of view,” says Roman, whose latest book, 'Something from Nothing,' was published last fall. “The food has to be good, but so does the feeling. I want to know I’m supporting a real business.”

We spent a winter day with Roman in her Brooklyn haunts, visiting three spots that define her personal map of the city. For her, these are places layered with memory and meaning.

First, Hart’s in Bed-Stuy. “It’s the answer to ‘Where should we go tonight?’ for almost any occasion,” she says. The seasonal menu shifts constantly, leaning on vegetables and proteins, but one fixture is the clam toast. Roman describes it as a garlicky, wine-soaked clam stew poured over thick, crusty bread. “It has celery in it, which gives it this stuffing-like comfort,” she notes.

In Greenpoint, Di and Di offers a Vietnamese menu that balances tradition and invention. “They take creative chances,” Roman observes. When dining alone, she orders the rich, generous pho. With company, she focuses on the starters. “That’s where they get most interesting—like their grilled meat skewers you wrap in lettuce with herbs.”

Her final stop is Tera Mera, a cozy Indian restaurant in Prospect Heights run by two women. “It’s their version of home cooking,” she says. Roman praises the goat curry and samosas, and appreciates its naturally vegetarian-friendly approach. She discovered it simply by walking past. “I hadn’t read a review. I just walked in,” she says. “It’s a reminder that the best finds are often the ones you stumble upon yourself.”