TAKE FIVE NATIVE NEW YORKERS BY HESU COUE-WILSON OF THE UK GUARDIAN

March 8, 2009 - View actual article by clicking here

From East Village thrift shops to the best steakhouse in Brooklyn, Annabelle Thorpe visits the favorite neighborhood haunts of five clued-up locals for a fascinating new take on a city she thought she knew.

The best place to head for on a Saturday morning is the Brooklyn Farmers' Market at Grand Army Plaza; get ridiculously cheap and fresh oysters from the fish folk who come straight from Montauk with the morning's catch.

Press 195 is a great spot for lunch (try the squash with chipotle chilli) and ideal for stoking up before a walk through Prospect Park. Walk far enough and you can find sections that feel lost and bucolic and very different from Central Park, where you can never really forget you are in the middle of a vast city. If you fancy a bike ride, it's a great wheel from Grand Army Plaza to Coney Island.