Carroll Gardens Staycation Guide: Mollie Chen

With the arrival of summer comes the annual exodus of New Yorkers to various vacation destinations. But just as many out-of-towners will be heading to the Big Apple in exchange—especially Brooklyn!

To give visitors an inside look at some of the best places in our neighborhood, we asked local tastemakers to share their personal faves. This week's Carroll Gardens Patch Staycation Guide includes tips from Mollie Chen. Mollie is the editorial director at Birchbox, a discovery ecommerce service that helps people find the best beauty, grooming, and lifestyle products.

Where do you like to go in South Brooklyn (Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Gowanus) for a morning coffee and what breakfast food would you recommend there? I average at least two Grady's Cold Brew iced coffees from Stinky's a weekend, and have been known to eat one of their salted rice crispie treats for breakfast. When I venture further than two steps from my apartment, I love Bien Cuit because a) it smells insanely good and b) all their breads and pastries are fantastic. I love their diamond-shaped wheat raisin rolls.     

If you’re in need of a little retail pick-me-up, what is your neighborhood go-to? I wish I could say I splurge on Marni shifts at Bird but I'm not quite there yet. Instead, I go crazy on the always-darling stationery, notebooks, and washi tape at Papel. It's good incentive to write handwritten notes!     

What is the best street for taking an afternoon stroll and why? Court Street if you're in the mood to eat, drink, or spend money; Clinton for ogling handsome brownstones. I also love taking Columbia down to Red Hook—ending at Baked for treats or Fort Defiance for cocktails, of course.     

Perfect al fresco dining destination in the ‘hood? So many options: A glass of rose and blistered peppers at Jake Walk; negronis, salad, and too much crusty bread and spicy olive oil in Frankie's back garden; gin and tonics and fried artichokes at La Vara; or a double-decker cookies n' cream and salted caramel cream cone (that's dinner, right?) at the Ample Hills stand in Brooklyn Bridge Park.    

What local summer event are you most looking forward to this year? Bastille Day! Petanque, Lillet fedoras, and license to eat merguez sausage and fries—what could be better?