Ridge Nightlife and Dining: Ode to the Cupcake

As a Brooklynite, there are few things that impress or surpriseme anymore about the places I grew up. I have marveled at the viewof sunset on the Narrows and am now rarely surprised when natureproduces the multitudinous colors which make up the sky on an earlysummer evening.

I have lived here long enough to know that the Family Store onThird Avenue produces some of the best original Middle Easterntreats this side of the world. The distinctly unique Brooklynaccent does not make me bat an eye, as I am guilty of carrying onthe brogue, myself.

Yet nothing prepared me for the taste bud-tingling adventure Iwould

experience while on the quest for the perfect Ridge night. As partof a new project, I have been charged with the rather mouthwateringjob of sampling even more of what the Ridge has to offer and mightI add, this job comes at the perfect time.

For the past week, I have been eating and sipping my way along thethoroughfares of the Ridge, dining al fresco and dancing the nightaway on some of our most sparkling new dance floors. In the midstof these rather glam nights of research, I slowed down to samplean establishment I had previously avoided, in favor ofwaist-watching.

My assumption that Little Cupcake Bakeshop was just another sweettooth indulgence was hardly doing justice to the whimsicaloriginality of the Third Avenue spot.

One afternoon with a couple of easily-convinced companions, I dinedat an outdoor table of the dessert destination. There we sipped oncappuccinos, which renewed our faith in the foamy, caffeinatedtreat, and munched on cupcakes that made our eyes tear withnostalgia for simpler times. The incredible artistry and attentionto detail of these cakes is not something that can be yawned awayby my been there, done that attitude.

While the menu is packed with endlessly exciting flavors of cake(to

name a few — the Chocolate Cloud, Cookie Dough, Southern RedVelvet, Nutella Swirl and Peanut Butter and Jelly), this is onlyhalf the appeal.

The brightly decorated shop, complete with the ever-present icecream stand out front, is the kind of place you saw inold-fashioned movie towns. At any time of the day, the place ispacked with Ridgeites slowing down with something to ooh and aahover, from any number of mini cheesecake flavors to anever-evolving menu of fruit pies.

In my pursuit for the perfect afternoon snack, I fell in lovewith

Little Cupcake, a place that makes us, with one bite, feel likekids again. Even if you are one who normally ignores the call ofyour sweet tooth, it is worth a trip, as a treat for a long day atwork or a pick-me-up after surviving the day’s commute.

Little Cupcake is located at 9102 Third Avenue. For moreinformation,

visit www.littlecupcakebakeshop.com. Don’t miss it!