This week, New York Times proposed that ‘“Brooklyn” is now a byword for cool from Paris to Sweden to the Middle East’. No longer simply the biggest of New York’s five boroughs or the oldest Beckham child, Brooklyn is a state-o-mind synonymous with hipster ticks that have crept into many a postcode.

Has your town been bitten by the Brooklyn bug? Spot any of the following and the chances are, yes…

Beards, everywhere: no self-respecting man in Brooklyn goes clean-shaven, and we’re talking full-on Brian Blesseds here, so if you notice more guys round your way with over a week of stubble, it’s not just because they’ve gotten lazy. 

​

The town bike has multiplied: you’ll get laughed out of Brooklyn if you start waving your subway pass around, everyone rides a bike, duh (a ‘fixie’ to be particular). Switching four wheels for two can only be a good thing (exercise! environment!) if this trend has spread.

Image via Streetpeeper

Feeling jammy: glasses, schmasses. Why not drink your gin and hibiscus cocktail from a jam jar? Seen drinks served in them near you yet?

Image via The Talking Kitchen

Artisanal fayre: Mast Brothers Chocolate in Brooklyn wind-sail their beans from the Caribbean before resting the subsequently made chocolate for 30 days, and many Brooklyn eateries favour to fashion their food the long way around. Have you noticed timescales on the menu in your local? You can guess where that idea came from.

Check mate: Brooklyn loves plaid more than Seattle did in the early ‘90s. And you wondered why there’s been so much of it on the catwalk lately…

No reservations: London is already a fully-fledged follower of the fashion to queue for a table because only squares would do a thing like book one. Hope to God your town doesn’t join in. 

Cuckoo for kale: New Yorkers love the curly green stuff and they’ll go bananas (but let’s not talk about bananas, what with their carbon footprint) if you start throwing it around with quinoa, kohl rabi, and a yellow-beet slaw dressed with rapeseed oil and aged balsamic.  Seen those on a menu near you lately?

Let’s talk dirty: however, too much whole food leaves a Williamsburger hankering for a burger. A burger made with aged beef on a locally baked brioche bun that is, or how about a caramel lobster grilled cheese or some free range, home-churned buttermilk fried chicken? Look out KFC Kettering, your days are numbered.