ak Pelaccio and Geoffrey Chodorow’s Borough Food and Drink celebrates the best of New York City edibles. Many of their ingredients are locally sourced, from Greenpoint’s Sikorski Meat Market to Faicco’s Pork Store on Bleecker, Salumeria Biellese in Chelsea to Joe’s Dairy on Sullivan Street. Much like any culinary adventure in the city, Borough's extensive menu makes dining decision-making brutally difficult; so difficult, in fact, that we had to go back for a second opinion.

On our initial visit to Borough Food & Drink, the scene was a combination of circus and nearly-well-oiled machine. With almost as many employees as customers, the space between tables felt a bit congested. When calling ahead for a reservation, I had been assured that walk-ins could easily be accommodated; this proved woefully inaccurate. While waiting at the bar for almost an hour, bartenderess, Summer, took excellent care of us. The specialty cocktails ensured that our lingering moments were not idly spent. Almost unbearably sweet, the Legacy of Bay Ridge tastes of the tropics (Bay Ridge in August?), while the Chelsea Cherry skillfully blends chocolate and, um, cherry. The Queens Candy Apple, a twist on the classic apple martini, comes topped with a slice of apple that must be devoured before sopping up the last few drops of apple-y goodness.

Once finally seated, the service was attentive and the food arrived in a reasonably quick manner. BF and D is a comfort food heaven, assuming that "comfort" doesn't refer to your post-meal state. Not the wisest pick for waistline-watchers, the restaurant caters to those that worship at the happy tastebud altar and don't mind punching out a new post-meal belt hole. On our first visit, we began with flatbread topped with guanciale (unsmoked Italian bacon) and ricotta and the big bowl of dumplings; that would have been enough of a meal for me. The delicious flatbread made it difficult not to overindulge. The dumplings, pan-fried rather than boiled, had a heavy quality, leaving less room for what would follow.

Though the second-act spicy pork sliders, one with bacon and coleslaw, the other with a bacon relish, were solid, they could not outshine the openers. The perfect, threadlike tobacco onion rings and the fried pickles with spicy aioli were awfully tasty. Listen to me carefully: for dessert, do not miss the Brooklyn Blackout Cake from Two Little Red Hens Bakery. Dark and moist, its smooth and sweet frosting sublimely and symbiotically interacted with its accompanying clotted cream. Due to internal space constraints, one slice was enough for the two of us.

Our second visit, for which we arrived well-prepared with a mid-week, early reservation, began with the Borough spreads & dips. These included a smoky eggplant spread, a Lebanese “yogurt cheese” called lebneh, and the Greek fish-roe spread, taramosalata, all served with warm bread and zatar, a blend of spices. One of my anti-baba ganoush companions enjoyed the eggplant, while the tangy lebneh and salty taramosalata balanced the trio. The Manhattan clam flatbread with tomato sauce, parsley, and garlic paled in comparison to its porcine-dairy brother from the previous meal. Reasonably good, the frisee salad with dried salami's allegedly poached egg had a nearly hardboiled yolk. The arugula salad with fried goat cheese was a hit, as was the lovely cold corn soup with crabmeat and avocado. For my main course, I had the light and flavorful Rigatoni Norcina, made with sweet Italian sausage, mushrooms, spring peas, and Toussaint cheese. For dessert, we tried to resist the pull of the Brooklyn Blackout Cake, but were once again putty in its chocolaty hands.