A Culinary Renaissance in Brooklyn

My best friend began making pasta in our tiny, Brooklyn kitchen a couple of years ago. She would drape her freshly made linguini over clothing hangers and store it wherever she could. She left Brooklyn to learn about sustainable farming practices and moved to a small family run farm in India where she apprenticed, learning how to make things like ricotta, yogurt and other fermented concoctions. Her return the the US was somewhat reluctant, not quite sure where or how she could manage to make cheese and grow things as she had in India. After a brief stint in Kentucky she returned to Brooklyn for love, but it appears, also landed smack dab in the midst of a local culinary renaissance.
A recent NY Times article explores this emerging, hyper-local foodie scene in Brooklyn and the people making it happen. Cheese, chocolate and bacon (!) are increasingly being produced and distributed locally in small batches. I moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles last year and just as I was leaving was starting to hear about someone's amazing heirlooms or "you have to try this" escarole. DIY food projects are increasingly moving out of the garden and into the pickling jar (you can find Brooklyn made pickles here) and while gardens continue to thrive on rooftops artisan, food-making is urbanizing as well. This is exciting news for foodies and urban planners alike. That cities and neighborhoods continue to organically re-invent themselves is inspiring. As a former Brooklynite, current Angeleno (food and neighborhood enthusiast) I wonder how we can encourage more of that here. If Brooklyn has become the local food mecca of the East Coast I wonder what could happen in Omaha and Nashville or maybe even Los Angeles.

A few of my favorite in Brooklyn:
The Brooklyn Flea
The Bedford Cheese Shop (they even have a cheese blog!)
+ You can find the best local Brooklyn based designers at Stuart and Wright

And one of my favorites in L.A:
Carmela Ice Cream

What are your favotite local spots?