A Weekend in Brooklyn – NYC Weekend Diaries Vol I

This post is all about my weekend in Brooklyn.

September 15, 2023

Welcome to the first post in the series of NYC Weekend Diaries!

I am so excited to share with you a glimpse into what my weekends living in New York look like. But most importantly, I’m hoping to give you some inspiration on how you can curate some of the best weekends and memories for yourself – whether you’re a local or a visitor.

It’s officially fall in New York.

It’s mid-September and we are finally getting a taste of those early crispy fall days.

This time of year is one of my favorites, where it’s in the 70s by day and 60s by night. It’s approaching that time when we bid our farewell to those endless summer nights and turn in a bit earlier to put on a pot of tea and a good movie.

Nothing is more thrilling in New York (and exhausting) than a jam-packed summer, and I swear this one aged me. But boy, was it fun!

NYC September Essentials

A Weekend in Brooklyn.

Friday Night in Williamsburg

Lately, I’ve been spending a fair amount of time in Williamsburg. Most of my friends live here and what can I say, it simply has some of the best bars and restaurants in Brooklyn.

While we had plans to further explore the night, we started early at The Woods to grab some food and catch up with some old friends, but we ended up staying for the party into the wee hours of the night.

While I barely took any photos (oops) The Woods is one of those awesome venues that has a huge courtyard, delicious food truck, and a dance floor on the inside. It’s built for any kind of weekender!

Saturday in Prospect Heights

While I may be biased because I live in the neighborhood, this area is one of my favorites to spend my days. It’s residential, yet sprawling with unique nightlife spots and cocktail bars.

I began my day at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. It was my first visit to the gardens, but I’m already hoping I can return soon.

How to Plan Your Day at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

Tickets for visitors cost $18. If you live nearby, you may get free entrance depending on your zip code.

If I were to do it over again, I would have started earlier with brunch at the restaurant on site, Yellow Magnolia Cafe. Definitely make reservations!

Best Time to Visit

The best time to visit the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens is March-August. However as I visited in September, I still found it to be really beautiful and felt like I had beat the summer crowds.

After the gardens, we went to a bar & restaurant I’ve been wanting to try called Names in Prospect Lefferts. It’s an awesome outdoor spot by day and club by night. Perfect for some happy hour oysters and a glass of wine.

Saturday Night in Williamsburg

Back to Williamsburg to check out some spots I’d been keen to try and had reserved.

Deux Chats

I started off at Deux Chats which is a cocktail bar that has been rising to fame on TikTok. While so many TikTok finds can be overhyped, This place was the bees knees! It’s so intricately decorated and the cocktails are really nice as well.

Average cocktail price is $17.

This is a great date night spot.

Reservations are encouraged.

Dinner at Misi

Misi is one of the hardest reservations to get in Brooklyn.

We started off with wine and appetizers. The waiting staff was very knowledgeable and helpful in guiding the dining experience. They recommended the whipped ricotta crostini (the TikTok viral dish) and the slow-roasted tomatoes in hot honey.

The crostini was dramatically underwhelming, I was shocked that anyone found it worthy of dedicating an entire TikTok video to. The tomatoes were excellent and when paired with the crostini, a much better bite.

Next was the most exciting part of the evening – the pasta!

We ordered the spinach and mascarpone-filled Tortellini and Tagliolini pesto pasta.

The Tortellini was the clear winner, and I wish we had ordered two of those instead of the Tagliolini.

Lastly, we ended with dessert. The only dessert they offer is gelato, however, it is super tasty.

By the end of the night, they were out of several flavors so we opted for the pistachio which was an excellent combination of salty and buttery.

All in all, I did not see the hype in Misi and I don’t have a strong feeling I’ll be back. While it was a nice experience, it doesn’t compare to my favorite pasta places in the city.

Check out my full Misi restaurant review.

I booked an Uber share and was happily in bed by 1 am.

Weekend Highlights

If I had to pick my highlights of the weekend it would be:

• Dancing at The Woods
• Cocktails at Deux Chats
• Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

This post was all about my weekend in Brooklyn.