Surrounded by water on two sides, separated by a highway on the others, and no subway stop -- there's a reason that Red Hook doesn’t make it onto most tourists' itineraries. Sure, Red Hook’s isolated, but it's also got some pleasant bars, restaurants, and shops, and an appealing old-Brooklyn atmosphere that make it worth a visit, especially on a lazy weekend.

LeNell's 

If you want to get to one of the neighborhood pioneers, though, you’ll have to hurry. LeNell’s, a liquor store on the main drag of Van Brunt Street, is looking for a new home because of lease difficulties. For now, though, you can still check out it’s famed selection of whiskey and other spirits, their bottles piled high amid a small cupid statue and other odd furnishings.

Brooklyn Ice House 

f you’d rather sit down with a drink rather than just get the supplies for one, then one likeable option is the recently opened Brooklyn Ice House, up the road a bit at 318 Van Brunt. The beer here comes with impressively low prices, and so does the BBQ: I recommend the pulled pork sandwiches ($5), which come two to a plate with potato chips. It’s a low-key place during the day, with lots of board games to play, a TV that might be tuned to some sports, and no reason to hurry out.

Red Hook ballfields on weekends 

Van Brunt’s fun for a stroll, but the best reason to go to Red Hook hasn’t even opened yet this year. For nearly 20 years food vendors have been setting up shop at the Red Hook ballfields on weekends, serving a primarily Latin American crowd that comes here for the soccer and baseball games. Don’t’ expect hot dogs or boring old pretzels: think instead ceviche, pupusas and other exciting dishes. Legal snags have kept the vendors away during the sports season so far, but the director of the vendors’ group, Cesar Fuentes, is certain that they’ll all be up and running again by 26 July at the latest.

IKEA 

Photo by Specialkrb

But how are you going to make it to Red Hook if the subways doesn’t? Believe it or not, a certain large Swedish retailer is here to help. Last month, IKEA opened a huge store along the water in Red Hook. The mega-store runs a free water taxi between Manhattan's Pier 11 (just south of South Street Seaport) and its entrance. There's no rule that you have to set foot in IKEA for even one Lack shelf if you take the taxi, which runs every 20 to 40 minutes.

Photo by Specialkrb 

Certainly, a recent ride back from the store showed lots of people without any telltale bags--and some were even taking their bikes along. The trip itself is fun, with views of Brooklyn’s waterfront, the Statue of Liberty, and Olafur Eliasson’s waterfall installation, which will remain in the East River until mid-October.

This week I was so happy to be able to revisit a two-block stretch of Grand Street. It's one of my favorite places for good snacks - let's call this Lower East Side strip the Walk of Nosh.

Doughnut Plant

First up: Doughnut Plant at 379 Grand. At this eight-year-old landmark, the doughnuts, made fresh daily, are much more intensely (and often unusually) flavored than the much more boring options elsewhere. Think grapefruit, peanut butter and jelly, even marzipan, and not just vanilla or chocolate. Lavender and blueberry were options the day I went, but I went for the tres leches, a takeoff on the Latin cake of the same name. Covered in a crisp, pale-white frosting, this doughnut had been soaked in sweet milk, making for a gooey interior. A tip: if you do head here, don't go too late in the day: when the day's allotment are gone, they're really gone.

Kossar's Bialys

A couple doors down from Doughnut Plant, at 367 Grand, is a much older and traditional carb-seller: Kossar’s Bialys. Although you can get bagels at this bakery, the real reason for coming is the bialy, a flatter, denser bagel variant that comes with a mass of smashed onions in the center. It addition to being delicious, those bialys are also a reminder of the area's heritage. At one time, Grand Street, like most of the L.E.S., was intensely Jewish. The neighborhood has changed in many ways since then, but Kossar's and many other kosher and Jewish places remain in and around Grand Street.

Pickle Guys

With your dougnut and bialy needs taken care of, there are lots of other places nearby worth checking out. If you're seeking something salty and sour, head to nearby Essex Street for the Pickle Guys, where its pickled vegetables of all sorts are stored in large open tubs. Sure, the pickles are great, but I also love the giardinera, a heavily brined mix of carrots, cauliflower, red pepper, and celery that's very good at a picnic.

Isabella's Oven

If pizza's on your mind, Isabella’s Oven, at 365 Grand, makes a tasty, albeit somewhat pricey, option -- bonus points for the charming small garden in back. Farther east, at 409 Grand, is the laidback Roots and Vine cafe, serving wine and beer as well as coffee. Either place is a good spot for plotting and planning your next NYC destination.

The mainstream American kitchen has a bad reputation and frankly it is well deserved. But of course New York is different and Babbo proves that eating out can be absolutely fantastic. I really can’t believe I walked by this restaurant for so many years without booking a table.It’s a charming Italian eatery that’s earned more than just a terrific reputation with locals – it’s also been named a top place to dine.

Normally, you have to book weeks in advance. Luckily they reserve a few tables for booking on the day, which is how I got to celebrate my birthday with delicious beetroot tartar and linguine with clams and pancetta.

The atmosphere is rustic, friendly, cosy and down to earth with not a shred of snobbery. The bar is buzzing with people meeting for an after –work, pre-dinner drink. If you don’t book in advance, be prepared to sit very close to your fellow diners – which is just added value if you like to eavesdrop.

Babbo, 110 Waverly Place (the northwest corner of Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village)

Even though I am a bit of a hotel-alholic, as a friend of me once called me, I don’t always spent a lot of money on accomondation. I don’t mind sharing a cheap room in a Christian hostel just right of Union Square. But I always go for location, which is why Washington Square Hotel is one of my favourites.

It does get mentioned a lot, but is also the only hotel in the Greenwich Village close to Soho that is reasonably priced. It might not have the coolness and celeb clientele of the Soho hotels. But it has character and you really can’t beat the location right at the corner of Washington Square Park - in walking distance to Soho, Lower East Side and the Meatpacking District.

I always try to get a room with a view over the park, where men play chess, dog walkers take the pets out in playgrounds for small or big walks and the students from the surrounding university hang out.

Washington Square Hotel; 103 Waverly Place (north corner of Washington Square park)

I am not ashamed to admit I like to follow the hype. For a couple of years now, the Meatpacking District has been the big thing with funky bars, clubs, cool hotels and fancy shops in old warehouse buildings. Spice Market, just across the popular Gansevoort Hotel, is a cool place to eat.

In summertime you can sit outside and spot the fashionistas and New Yorkers walking by like models on a catwalk. Pass the plain black building in the winter and you’d never in your wildest dream imagine that what an exotic and colourful palace it is inside. Like a magical, Arabian ‘1001 nights’ room with small separate dining sections stacked with sparkling pillows and silk lanterns.

You go (and pay) for the entire experience. The food is spicy delicate Asian - like ginger fried rice and delicious chicken samosas with mango and mint. Don’t miss a cocktail like kumquat mojitos. This is street food made glamorous.

Spice Market, 403 West 13th Street (at Ninth Avenue in Meatpacking District).