Winter warmer
Café Brume (Brooklyn Heights)
RESTAURANTS • FOUND Table
Café Brume, the Alpine-inspired restaurant on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights, opened last spring, but only now that it’s winter has it reached its most irresistible form.
The interior evokes a French Alps ski resort: dark wood beams, flickering taper candles, crisp white tablecloths, and just the right number of checkered accents to suggest tradition without slipping into kitsch.
Owners and neighborhood locals Brendan and Jennifer Spiro clearly understand their audience: Brooklynites who care about hospitality, appreciate thoughtful interiors, and want a dining experience that offers a bit of an escape. The Spiros have entrusted the kitchen to Chef Lucas Harrell (previously of Legacy Records), whose comfort cooking embraces Alpine classics while maintaining the polish expected on Montague Street.
One of Café Brume’s strengths is its wine program, with a list dominated by high-altitude bottles, true to the restaurant’s mountain-bred ethos. Even better, by-the-glass options come in full and half pours. It’s a small but meaningful accommodation that more spots around town would do well to pick up.
The deeply pleasurable food includes a raclette service in which a wheel of cheese arrives at the table, its molten edge scraped over a plate of boiled potatoes, pearl onions, and cornichons. A pinch of fruity Espelette pepper finishes the dish. It’s a theatrical affair, with a result that’s stick-to-your-bones satisfying. Wiener schnitzel, another standout, arrives as a crisp, golden cutlet paired with lemon, anchovy, and lingonberry jam. On a recent visit, we began our meal with tender ricotta pancakes topped with sauerkraut, crème fraîche, and trout roe, along with a chicory salad tossed with Bartlett pear, mimolette, and a citrus vinaigrette. This was followed by the duck pappardelle, toothsome and rich.
What distinguishes Café Brume is its coherence. The design, the menu, the wine program, and the hospitality all work together to create a sense of place that doesn’t read as a theme or a gimmick. Instead, it’s a modern interpretation of Alpine hospitality filtered through the lens of Brooklyn Heights. –Phoebe Fry
→ Café Brume (Brooklyn Heights) • 80 Montague St • Tue-Thu 5-10p, Fri 12-10p, Sat-Sun 11a-10p • Reserve.