The time has arrived for that versatile orange vegetable, the pumpkin, to make it’s way onto specials boards, drink menus, and doorsteps throughout the borough and beyond. It’s culinary uses extend way beyond pie and quick bread to soups, stews, salads, brunch menus, and even ice cream! In NYC, we are lucky enough to have access to beautiful heirloom varieties at specialty markets and greenmarkets, but we are even luckier to have so many adventurous chefs, restauranteurs, and mixologists  utilizing and celebrating this glorious vegetable.  Here are some adventurous pumpkin specialties to check out in Brooklyn throughout this fall. 

Tillie’s | 248 Dekalb Avenue, Fort Greene
Tillie’s, a Fort Greene staple for organic coffee, chill music, and local artwork, is also a great place for seasonal goodies. This fall they have pumpkin cheesecake, vegan pumpkin muffins on weekends, vegan pumpkin whoopie pies, and their seasonal house specialty, pumpkin tea cake with lots of walnuts (just $3.25 for a nice big slice!)! If that isn’t enough sweet and spicy pumpkin goodness for you, then add pumpkin syrup to any coffee drink to really round out your pumpkin-y experience.

Nita Nita | 146 Wythe Avenue, Williamsburg
This fun northside Williamsburg spot features a myriad of seasonal cocktails to accompany their tapas-style menu. “The Pumpkin Patch “cocktail is the drink to get and the perfect accompaniment to your seasonal small plates and decadent dessert. It is a sweet and spicy concoction consisting of Goslings dark rum, pumpkin puree, lemon + ginger turbinado syrup topped with Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale. Try one for $11. (Photo via Nita Nita)

The Drink |  228 Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint
For pumpkin that really packs a punch, stop in at this eclectic and casual hipster spot in East Williamsburg for their pumpkin punch called The Headless Horseman.  Although it’s a nice spiced cold punch, it will still warm you right up. It is comprised of pink peppercorn infused weller bourbon, fresh pumpkin juice, grade B maple syrup, vanilla black tea, chicory tea, and fresh lemon and grapefruit juices. It is $5 by the glass and $43 for a bowl which has 10 servings. 

Linger Café and Lounge | 533 Atlantic Avenue, Boerum Hill
With their reputation for creative seasonal dishes, it is no surprise that Linger Café and Lounge is offering a hearty and savory stuffed roasted pumpkin on their tapas menu. For $6, you get roasted pumpkin stuffed with crusty bread chunks, cream, herbs, and gorgonzola cheese. After that decadent pumpkin dish, treat yourself to a slice of their house recipe pumpkin cheesecake with fresh whipped cream and a touch of lime zest for $5.  The richness usually found in cheesecake is balanced nicely with use of fresh roasted pumpkin and they also add a bit of cardamom and a few other interesting spices to heighten the pumpkin. Don’t miss it!  (Photo: via Linger Cafe)

Betty Bakery | 448 Atlantic Avenue, Boerum Hill
Leave it to Betty Bakery and all their delicious tasty, frosted sweets,  rich hot chocolate, and modern approaches to classic baking to go nuts with pumpkin this time of year. Around Thanksgiving, they will be doing a very festive sculpted pumpkin cake ("Centerpiece Pumpkin Cake"). It's pumpkin spice cake with honey buttercream filling and marzipan icing, decorated with hand-sculpted sugar leaves and berries. These will become available for pre-order closer to Thanksgiving and will be available in the shop for walk-in and pick-up. They also currently have pumpkin pie and pumpkin-raisin teabread.

Van Leeuwen | 81 Bergen Street, Boerum Hill and 632 Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint
The popular artisan ice cream maker, Van Leeuwen has gotton autumnal with their pumpkie pie ice cream. Not overly sweet and just the right amount of spice, this frozen fall treat is made from fresh pumpkin, local cream and eggs, and sweetened with sugarcane. This is definitely an ice cream for kids and adults alike. (Photo: via Van Leeuwen)

Homemade Brooklyn | 293 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook
For New American comfort food in Red Hook, make sure to see what unexpected twists Homemade is putting on their menu. We highly recommend the pumpkin waffles with pecan cardamom sauce for brunch $9.75 and if you still need more, for dessert, their pumpkin cheesecake with gingersnap crust is spicy and good. $6.00

Radish | 158 Bedford Avenue, Williamsburg
Prefer to pick up your pumpkin dish and enjoy it in the comfort of your apartment? Then hit up Radish for a lovingly created selection of prepared foods, soups, and baked goods, fully utilizing seasonal ingredients with a gourmet sensibility. Be sure to try their locally-sourced roasted pumpkin with kale chiffonade, goat cheese and toasted pumpkin seeds. It is tossed with sherry vinaigrette and orange zest. Nothing speaks fall louder that the beautiful orange color of this dish. $5 for a small and $9 for a large.

Waffle and Wolf | 413 Graham Avenue, Williamsburg
A relative newcomer to the scene, Waffle and Wolf serves sweet and savory waffles with toppings, spreads, and fillings and serves them up like tacos. A classic idea with a unique presentation makes this spot the perfect place to find some seasonal and thoughtfully prepared pumpkin delicacies. Try their sweet spiced pumpkin spread on a coconut waffle with whipped cream. Or where the Mediterranean meets Brooklyn in the fall with their savory slow-roasted pumpkin with cucumber, arugula, feta, “wolf sauce” (tahini and molasses!), and pistachios? Stop in later this week, too, when the candied pumpkin seeds becomes available. Now those are the perfect fall waffles to wolf down and let’s face it, eating waffles with your hands is fun!

Dough | 305 Franklin Avenue, Bedford-Stuyvesant
And, of course, Dough. How could we write about interesting uses of an ingredients without hoping that this exotic and artful doughnut shop will make a doughnut in the same theme. Lucky for Brooklyn, this dream will soon come to fruition. Dough is working on the perfect pumpkin spice doughnut right now as you read this! The recipe will be perfected with delicious results to show in the next week or so. Our patience in waiting will be worth it because for $2 you will get a delectable soft pumpkin spice doughnut and with pumpkin seeds on top no less.