Digression Loops - High Low via Highland Park
Digression Loops attempt to antidote loop fatigue. On those slow, mild days where the breeze has your back and you’ve got some extra miles to burn, this is the alternative to laps around the park. The only governing rule is each run has to reveal something spectacular about the city—usually food; probably carbs.
High Low Beverage Company in Bushwick ups the ante for all-day bars thanks to their Vietnamese-influenced pastries and borough-leading plant-to-patron ratio.
The Digression:
East down Eastern Parkway
Left onto Nostrand
Right onto Fulton
Left onto Jamaica Ave
Left onto Vermont St
Vermont St becomes Jackie Robinson Pkwy which funnels into Highland Park
Keep left around the park until you reach Vermont Pl
Left onto Vermont Pl
Left onto Cypress Ave
Left onto Myrtle
Right onto Wykoff
Don’t be fooled by the “END” sign here! It merely signifies the end of the uphill part.
Trickiest Part: This one gets a bit technical around Highland Park. The intersections around Jamaica Ave are gnarly and you really have to trust that the annoying ascent up Vermont St/Jackie Robinson Parkway will actually lead you into the park (it’s that rare occasion where “Parkway” is literally true).
Best Part: It’s a toss-up between city views from the top of Cypress Ave or the raw, industrial grit of the track-sprawl around Broadway Junction.
The incoherent beauty of old metal.
Bathroom Opportunity: Around the Highland Park parking lot.
Distance: ~7.5 miles
The SPACE:
With a spacious backyard and impeccable color scheme, High Low also boasts the highest plant-to-patron ratio in all of Brooklyn.
This is the kind of place that encourages—almost demands—lingering. But, as that second beer calls and given there are still miles to run, we must beg the question:
The Food:
The menu here reads like the best kind of novel: expansive, diverse, and rich with words I cannot confidently pronounce. Each pastry or well-curated beverage seems singularly determined to set High Low apart from the comforting yet predictable cafe aesthetic that has spread through NY in recent years. Here we find doughnuts baked with pandan cashew cream*, miso/scallion scones served with chili honey, and chocolate/coconut cookies so dense and chewy they require plating and a separate set of cutlery.
The “Coconut Crinkle Cookie”, made with mochi flour and packed with dulce de leche, feels like a Girl Scout Samoa’s fine-dining alter-ego and is likely one of the most indulgent experiences you’ll ever have while wearing running shorts.
Confronted with this impossibility of choices, High Low generously offers a sampler box containing each of their pastries:
The Return:
Any route back to GAP is fine, but using Lafayette exposes you to the G train’s sidewalk grates around Classon Ave which, on occasion, will blast you with critical** cool air.
Distance: ~4 miles
Otherwise, you can take a more zigzag approach, and hope to happen on that inevitable street whose fire hydrant has run amok.
Running side streets give you the best shot at finding hydrants fizzing the wicks of summer.
The Rest:
Total distance: ~11.5 miles
Tag a picture of your best High Low moment with #digressionloops. We may feature it in our next digression.
Past digressions:
*If you or any member of your running troupe has allergies, the employees are very accommodating and you can boldly and confidently indulge in whatever decadence they recommend.
**We’ll call this the “in-season” return route—best taken any time the concrete sizzles.
PPTC is a diverse and supportive team. We want to celebrate the diversity of our club and membership. We welcome and encourage everyone to share their stories with us.
Words/pictures by John Vaghi (he/him)