The L’s Best Bars of 2007
In their current year-end issue, the L Magazine lists their top 7 bars of the year—and 3 of them are in Brooklyn. The winners include the Gutter and the Southside Lounge in Williamsburg, as well as the Black Rabbit in Greenpoint.

The Transformation of Franny’s
The 2007 restaurant round-up in today’s Times lists Franny’s among the year’s most impressive restaurant transformations: “An example of Brooklyn’s growing restaurant bounty, this ingredients-fastidious restaurant added some very fine pasta dishes to its menu of lovely salads and dynamite pizza.”

Now Open: Kim Paris-Vietnamese Grill
128 Montague Street at Henry Street, Brooklyn Heights
“I ate there on the 20th. Had an appetizer portion of the pho bo tai[sic]. It was pretty good. I’m not a pho expert, but I’ve had, and enjoyed, the pho at a pretty well regarded pho place in the DC area, so I know what I like. The pho at the brooklyn restaurant tasted pretty much like I remembered the DC place’s pho tasted like. It came with the usual fixings, and a small bowl of hoisin sauce… I plan on frequently going back.” [Chowhound]