Cafe Royal and Brooklyn Standard Deli

Greenpoint's Cafe Grumpy has a competitor in this four-month-old (two months, if you count the addition of edibles), maroon-walled Nassau Street cafe, which features Stumptown Coffee. I stopped in today to share a cheese plate with a friend. I was immediately transfixed by the cherry pepper jam that Tanto, one of the chefs, was making, and he let me try a sample, saying, "It's great with cheese." Tanto expounded on the cafe's philosophy of Southern hospitality while I checked out the menu.

The dainty portions served at Cafe Royal would never pass muster in the South, but there's quite a lot to enjoy here; you may just have to order more than you intended. The (slivers of!) Manchego, Fourme D'Ambert and Humboldt Fog in the cheese plate are complimented by lavender honey and fresh berries; herbed quiche from Ceci Cela doesn't stint on the goat cheese, and there's a terrific fingerling potato salad underneath the olive-oil-drizzled frisee and pickled red onions on smoked rainbow trout plate. (Small bites of chilled trout surrounded the salad; I'd been expecting a Roebling Tea Room-style whole grilled trout.) You can order your grilled cheddar sandwich with bacon, avocado or tomato. And I've been told that the biscuits with sausage gravy are something to write home about.

Down the street is the delightful organic/locavore market Brooklyn Standard Deli. Today, there were a few soups, two of which were garlic and broccolini, raw vegan chocolate ice cream, fresh chocolate-chip bread with either banana or pumpkin, and a selection of both vegan and meat sandwiches. I noticed a bag of fingerling potatoes - ah, that potato salad!

Cafe Royal and Brooklyn Standard Deli: 195 and 188 Nassau St., respectively, Brooklyn. (718) 472-2150.