New American Cuisine In Williamsburg | Brooklyn, NY

Oklahoma barbecue this. Midwestern cheese curd that.

If the frenzy surrounding new Brooklyn restaurants is to be believed, Americana has colonized Williamsburg with a heavy fist curled around a can of Bud.

We beg to differ. Here, two new B-Burg restaurants unafraid to serve deliriously ambitious–and delicious–food.

Isa (This restaurant is now operating under a different concept and chef): Poor, misunderstood Isa. The space designed by Taavo Somer is head-spinningly psychedelic, and Ignacio Mattos's food is an assertive blend of wild rusticity and fancy techniques. Much of the big-name press has found it confounding–their loss. Our meal was a Molotov cocktail of uncommon inspiration. One highlight: flax and rye crumbs buttressed against beef tartare ($15) silky with smoked-hay oil. Crazed dreams followed our meal. When's the last time a restaurant had that effect on you? 348 Wythe St. (at Fourth St.), Brooklyn; 347-689-3594 or isa.gg

Gwynnett St.: Justin Hilbert blindsides diners with a mini loaf of whiskey soda bread ($5). So Irish, so homey. The courses that follow at this easygoing spot are infinitely more complicated yet equally satisfying. A garden plot's worth of bitter greens ($12) are strewn around a soft-poached egg yolk and pine-nut purée. Hot potato foam ($11) is studded with oxtail and prunes. A poached rib-eye ($30), topped with pickled bone marrow and parsley parts, was the best in recent memory. 312 Graham Ave. (at Anslie St.), Brooklyn; 347-889-7002 or gwynnettst.com