Before visiting Brod Kitchen, I was curious how it would be treated by the New York University (NYU) students across the street, having replaced the Campus Eatery at that address. I had my answer as soon as I walked in the door: the tables were filled with young people chatting, working, and devouring the Scandinavian inspired food for which Brod Kitchen is known. Monette de Botton, the co-owner and creative director, agreed that the students appeared to really like the new addition to 4th Street, adding that they are delightfully vocal about the food. “They are approachable, they want to be part of it,” she told me. “They say, ‘More like this!’” And Bröd seems to be very receptive to all critique. As Monette puts it, “We’re not a restaurant. We don’t take ourselves too seriously. We just want to give people a new experience, a new way of eating.“
Because of the difference in clientele between the original Brod on the Upper East Side and here in Greenwich Village, Monette says she is able to try a lot of new things at this location. The students are eager and willing to allow Bröd to experiment on them. Their first new concept was the pizza and flatbreads station. The kitchen has also been offering additional breakfast dishes, since the downtown customers have been mentioning that they would like more hot and fast morning options. “There’s constantly something new in the works,” Monette said, sharing stories from her adventures during the development process.
Along with the college students, Scandinavian ex-pats make up an important part of Brod’s customer base. Monette says the eatery often gets praise for providing food from people’s homelands that are not usually represented in the culinary world of New York. She was pleased to tell me that the Danish population has been requesting ebelskivers (sort of like pancake-doughnuts), and that Bröd is hoping to churn out savory ebelskivers soon. Monette is no stranger to swapping sweet for savory and vice versa. The eatery is known for its smorrebrod, Danish toasts that act as open-faced sandwiches. Not only does the kitchen prepare many traditional flavors such as smoked salmon, roast beef, and roast chicken, but there are also dessert smorrebrod, unheard of in Scandinavia. As Monette proudly announced, “Savory smorrebrod are Danish. Sweet smorrebrod are mine.”
I had the opportunity to try a couple of the dessert smorrebrod, served on slightly sweet biscuits rather than savory toast. One was topped with goat cheese, blueberries and lemon zest (a very Nordic touch, I learned), whereas the other had a light nutella spread and strawberries. Both were delectable. Olivia, a member of the Manhattan Sideways team, tried Monette’s favorite savory smorrebrod, the roast beef with horseradish and gherkins. She understood immediately why Monette preferred it. The bread was crispy around the edges, but soft and fluffy in the center with a perfect balance of toppings.
“I could be here all day and eat,” Monette declared. We did not think it was hyperbole: There are so many types of cuisine offered, from burgers to pastries to salads, that it would be easy to eat three diverse square meals. And the best part about the cuisine is that everything is made fresh using high quality ingredients. That, we learned, is where the Scandinavian influence comes in. “It’s a new way of eating,” Monette said. “You can really taste the flavors.” The Nordic world, she explained, has been practicing techniques like foraging and farm to table long before they caught on in the south and west. Monette hopes to share the Scandinavian food ideal with more neighborhoods by expanding. She hopes to have a Bröd in the suburbs, soon, so that more people can “pick up real food to take home.” Brod has already begun catering different events, including NYU campus functions. While expanding, however, the kitchen is always improving and making sure the food is the best it can be. As Monette asserted, “What we make, we make well.”
