Backyards & patios, marked
Every garden, backyard, and hidden patio I’ve wanted to sit in this summer, mapped and marked for you.
One of my favorite things about New York is that a building can look completely unremarkable from the outside and still be hiding an oasis out back: a garden strung with lights that looks like it belongs anywhere but the city. These are the places I find myself wanting to be when the weather’s nice, wine in hand or laptop open, somewhere with a little green and a nice breeze.
I’ve been keeping track of them all summer: brunch spots with real gardens, wine bars with back patios bigger than the room up front, even a rooftop farm looking out over the water. There’s a massive museum garden that happens to have WiFi too, and a running list of cafes where I’ve gotten work done outside, which might be the most useful section in this post. I’ve been adding each one to a map the second I find it.
Paid subscribers can find that map at the end of this post, with every backyard and patio pinned.
Brunch/lunch
Coffee, eggs, and some place green to eat them.
Colonia Verde (Fort Greene): Latin American food in a farmhouse-feeling space that opens into a bright greenhouse room, then out again into a small patio. Go for the shrimp tacos.
ACRE (Greenpoint): Somewhere to pop in for a matcha or an iced hibiscus tea, or stay for a real meal, the grilled salmon bento is the one people talk about. Either way, there’s a garden patio out back.
Gertie (Prospect Heights): The bagel and deli spot that closed in Williamsburg came back in a new Prospect Heights space. Get the Best Bialy, hot and cold smoked salmon with a dill caper schmear, and find a shaded spot in their back patio.
Milk & Roses (Greenpoint): The inside looks like a moody little library, all dark wood and bookshelves, with a fireplace crackling in the colder months. Out back there is a big garden with a small greenhouse, pretty enough that people get married in it.
Bakeri (Greenpoint & Williamsburg): A Scandinavian bakery, known for its bread and pastries. The Greenpoint location has the larger outdoor seating.
Wine bars
Natural wine had a very good summer.