Step into Bakeri, a Williamsburg coffee shop owned by Norwegian expat Nina Brondmo, and it feels like you’ve been transported to Scandinavia — without having to fork over big bucks for plane fare. Brondmo, a statuesque blonde, bustles about the tiny space selling loaves of “fjord bread.” In the back garden you may as well be in Oslo, as striking Norwegians (along with a handful of Swedes, Argentines and Italians) tend to their pretty babies over specials like the herring sandwich with mustard and dill.
Welcome to the new guard of international restaurants . . . cool, understated spots that are magnets for communities of in-the-know foreigners hankering for a taste of home.
If your wanderlust has you wishing you could fly off to Norway, Serbia, Malaysia, South Africa or the Philippines (but you want to avoid the cost and the volcanic ash), you’re in luck. At these five hidden gems, you’ll eat and mingle like a local — no passport required.
Bakeri
150 Wythe Ave., Williamsburg; 718-388-8037
The scene: Nina Brondmo (left) opened Bakeri last summer, imagining it as a low-key European spot where locals and expats alike could linger over coffee and a pastry, guilt-free. “I wasn’t thinking of anything literally Nordic, even though Bakeri means ‘bakery’ in Norwegian,” says Brondmo. “But at least 75 percent of our customers are European, definitely Norwegians. In New York, people are so worried about eating this or that, no carbs, skim milk,” she says. “In Norway, it’s not like that. People linger over coffee and pastry and don’t overthink all of that. It’s part of the ritual.”
Order like an expat: Try the smoked salmon sandwich, served on a freshly made brioche with dill and caper yogurt, $9, or a miniloaf of fjord bread, $2.
Purple Yam
1314 Cortelyou Road, Ditmas Park, Brooklyn; 718-940-8188
The scene: Owners Romy Dorotan and Amy Besa are relative newcomers to Ditmas Park’s foodie row, Cortelyou Avenue. After shuttering their SoHo restaurant Cendrillon in early 2009, they brought their sophisticated brand of Filipino cuisine to Brooklyn last fall. The expats followed, giving this colorful neighborhood place just the kind of credibility yuppies love to get a taste of. On a recent Tuesday night, Chelsea resident Barbara Francisco, an intern at a financial firm, brought a date along for some chicken adobo. “It’s actually even better than the food I eat when I go back to the Philippines, though my aunts would kill me if they heard me say that,” she says. “I rarely cook Filipino food in my tiny kitchen, but I still crave it.”
Order like an expat: Go for tocino (cured pork sliders served with pickled persimmon), $6, and duck leg betutu with sauteed bok choy (pictured), $13.
B Koffie
370 W. 51st St.; 646-330-5515
The scene: When Tanya Hira walks down West 51st Street, neighbors call after her, “Hey, Miss Africa!” Hira, the owner of South African wine bar Xai Xai and South African restaurant Braii, just added the third jewel to her
Capetown-in-New York crown, a petite Hell’s Kitchen coffee shop called B Koffie. “They’ve started calling this street Little South Africa,” jokes Hira.
B Koffie, a rustic space that serves coffee made exclusively from African beans, opened earlier this month and quickly became a draw for South African expats (like the bigwigs at the consulate) who frequent Hira’s older establishments. Chalk it up to the hard-to-find South African provisions she sells, as well as to the pretty ex-pat barista behind the counter.
Order like an expat: Tanzanian coffee and specialties like Black Cat peanut butter and peri-peri hot sauce, from $2.
Laut
15 E.17th St.; 212-206-8989
The scene: When well-heeled Malaysians want to impress a date or take their visiting parents for a night out on the town, this somewhat flashy Flatiron restaurant is their go-to in spite of its long and somewhat confusing menu. Owners Kathy Wong and Michael Bong, both Malaysian, impress even the most skeptical Singaporean foodies with their light, flavorful cooking.
Over lunch on a Tuesday, Jason Best, who was born and raised in Singapore and traveled frequently to Malaysia as a child, said, “From the outside it seems like any other Asian joint in New York, but you taste the food, and you know it’s authentic.”
Order like an expat: Request the thom ka soup, $10, the coconut shrimp curry, $14, or nasi goreng, which is spicy fried rice with shrimp, beef or duck (pictured), $11.
Kafana
116 Avenue C; 212-353-8000
The scene: Come by on a Friday night after 10, and this eclectic
Alphabet City restaurant will feel a lot like Belgrade, as Serbian hipsters rub elbows with their old-school cousins from Queens, all here for a taste of the old country. Owner Vladimir Ocokoljic, who was born in Belgrade but has lived in New York for decades, has decked the walls with pictures of his great-grandparents and vintage postcards from Yugoslavia of old. But don’t mistake his trendy eatery for a theme restaurant.
“People want to be transported. I wanted to make a cozy place that felt like home but that wasn’t screaming ‘Serbia’ at you,” says Ocokoljic. It’s a formula that seems to be working. “Friends, new arrivals can come here and order cevapi (small sausages made with a blend of pork, veal, and beef) and ask for them like we do at home. You don’t even call them by name, you just say, ‘I’ll have 10 with onions.’ ”
Order like an expat: Sample the sopska (salad with tomatoes, cucumber, onion and feta), $7.95, or the mesano meso (a mixed grill platter), $29.95.