Cafe Mado
A sentence I didn’t expect to be writing: My favorite new opening of 2024 is an all-day cafe
I’m not sure who we have to thank – Aussies, Californians, or more likely some combination of the two – but the sunny little concept known as the ‘all-day cafe’ has made a sweeping takeover of New York City.
You know the places, you know the spaces. Bright, breezy, bohemian cafes, often with cheeky branding and pastel color schemes. Where the service is cheerful, and the clientele is conventionally attractive. Featuring menus loaded with health-conscious, vegetable-forward items that seamlessly shift from brunch to dinner as the day turns to night.
It’s a fascinating category. All-day cafes have been around New York for a while (Ruby’s, for example, has been touting Australian culture since 2002), but their overwhelming and widespread popularity is fairly new. The prominence of these cafes represents more than just a gravitation toward their food (which in most cases, is just alright) – it’s a cultural shift in how we dine.
The demand for elevated casual dining has reached its all-time high, and generally speaking, I’m a fan of the movement. It’s been a perfect storm – whack reservation culture, the desire to get the hell out of our apartments during the daytime, and the rising cost of going out for proper dinners. The all-day cafe serves as an informal solution to all of the above. It’s a place where you can drop by anytime, unannounced, and stay for hours without being rushed when the next party arrives. They offer spaces that look and feel like a nice restaurant but with the approachability of a chill cafe.
Like most popular concepts, the execution ranges wildly. At its best, an all-day cafe can effectively become your “third place,” a tasteful extension of your living room. June’s All-Day in Austin, TX is a great example: It’s a restaurant that’s equally enticing when it's naturally lit at 11am or moodily dim at 7pm. The food and beverage offerings are captivating, the space is beautiful, and the service is personable. At its worst, it’s a kitschy, more expensive Panera, (and probably without the cinnamon crunch bagel), where the food lacks flavor, and the ambiance falls flat. Unfortunately, the rush to meet demand and open more all-day cafes has resulted in a lot of the latter.
This isn’t a holier-than-thou situation where I’m claiming to be better than avo toast and flat whites (I’m not). I’m just noting that the market is, perhaps, a touch oversaturated. To the point where most all-day cafe openings are met with a yawn rather than a genuine thrill or interest.
Last year, news broke that the acclaimed Brooklyn fine-dining destination, Oxalis, was taking a hiatus while they transitioned to a new home. Their existing Prospect Heights space was going to transform into a new all-day cafe. Oxalis falls under the Redwood umbrella along with Place des Fêtes and Laurel Bakery – collectively three of the best concepts in Brooklyn – and I hold these spots in incredibly high regard. Excitement for a new Redwood restaurant paired with my past hit-or-miss all-day cafe experiences netted out to cautious optimism for the impending opening.
Here we are a year later, and Cafe Mado, yes, an all-day cafe, might be Redwood’s best spot yet. It’s my favorite opening of 2024 to date, city-wide, all categories considered.
Mado is very very different than the copy-paste, salmon quinoa bowl-slinging Melbourne-style cafes in Lower Manhattan. Even though it carries the all-day cafe designation, they’ve turned up the dial further than I knew it could go – to the point where it feels like it’s redefining what an all-day cafe can be.
In the morning, they serve fresh-baked bread and pastries (from Laurel) along with very good coffee (from Parlor). As the day progresses, the menu opens up to highly seasonal plates and sandwiches — fresh produce and bright flavors. All-day cafes often opt for simple and familiar cooking, but Cafe Mado went for ambitious, and creative. The offering doesn’t fit in a specific genre, but it does have a coastal European (French + Italian) feel to it.
The facade fits the coastal, breezy theme – a rich, turquoisey eden green set against worn white tiles, paired with an overhang of lush plants and flora. It’s a humble yet captivating entrance that would be easy to cruise past if you’re on the east side of Washington Ave, but would surely invite interest if you caught a glimpse from the west side of the street.
Walking through the front door delivers the immediate feeling of sophisticated leisure. It’s a respite from the chaos of the street – a polished operation without extreme hustle or an overwhelming buzz. Directly to the left is an open kitchen where the line cooks offer a quiet nod to welcome you in. Moving through the space takes you past the blonde-wood coffee bar and a few cozy counter-seats.
The back room – a gorgeous, naturally lit greenhouse space – is where most of the seated dining happens, and that’s a great thing. Glass blocks, a skylight that casts the perfect glow – it’s a space that reminds me of an airy Los Angeles restaurant courtyard, like Gjusta in Venice Beach. The room feels luxurious, with high-quality finishes, sturdy surfaces, and plush seating. From morning to mid-afternoon, it’s a space for lounging and lingering over nicely pulled espresso. Come lunchtime, service ramps up and more substantial food starts to land on tables.
Before I get you all riled up about food, I want to emphasize the highly seasonal nature of this menu. What’s great today could very well be gone tomorrow. That’s how Mado is doing it, and you won’t find me complaining. Don’t set your heart on anything – every experience is going to be unique, and every ingredient is going to be fresh.
The structure of the menu, however, is unlikely to change. The top section is bread-forward – sandwiches and adjacent. It’s followed by market vegetables, and a few larger feature dishes to close. The listed items often just name a core ingredient, offering near zero insight into how something will arrive and taste. But your server will excitedly guide you toward a proper order by delivering an absurd amount of detail about every ingredient – down to the farms and foragers. My advice: If you’re into this kinda stuff, listen intently and enjoy the ride. If not, sidestep this process and just let the server take control of the order.
Starting up top: Mortadella is hot right now. The Tony features a pile of black peppercorn mortadella, caciocavallo cheese, and dijonaise on a chewy seeded roll — and as you’d imagine, it hits. Pan Bagnat is a briny, oily tuna sandwich on pillowy bread, layered with salty anchovies and jammy eggs. It’s delicious – but rich, salty, and not ideal if you’re planning to makeout with anyone in the ~72 hours that follow.
The best dishes on the menu come from the next two sections. Le Caesar is perfectly dressed, crisp, and crunchy. Topped with toasted yeast, caramelized parmesan, and fresh horseradish – I’m calling it the best Caesar in Brooklyn with moderate confidence. Bean dip is another big winner – impossibly silky, and a bit smoky with an added flash of sweet peppers and onions. Served with perfectly toasted Laurel sourdough to wipe. In a world with a lot of damn good dips, this one stands out.
Juicy summer melon has lime granita hiding beneath it and habanada peppers adding to the flavor profile – and it’s a sneaky banger. The presentation is reminiscent of something you’d find in an elegant, fine-dining tasting menu setting, but the familiar, fresh flavor doesn’t require an overly sophisticated palate to enjoy. The grouper sandwich is a more straightforward kind of delicious – not overcomplicated, just juicy, flaky fried fish on a buttery bun with a glistening sheen.
My first visit to Place des Fêtes was my introduction to the masterful and memorable hospitality that Redwood restaurants offer – their cooking is stellar, beverages excellent, but they do hospitality best. It’s no different at Cafe Mado – the service is decidedly warm, welcoming, and thoughtful. Sharply dressed in matching neutral chore coats, every server I’ve encountered is professional but genuine. I didn’t expect the level of formality of service that Mado delivers, but it was a welcome benefit and suits the concept well.
When faced with the question “Can I get you anything else?” the gut response is typically a quick "Just the check, please.” But if there’s a time and place to order something else… this is it. Cortado, or better yet, an espresso tonic from the coffee bar. A seasonal tart or pastry from Laurel. Hell, even an afternoon digestif. Lean into the leisure, keep that shit going.
Cafe Mado’s opening has flown a bit under the radar – it’s not overly hyped, reservations are obtainable, and walk-ins are welcome. I attribute this partially to its location – nestled on a block featuring hole-in-the-wall Jamaican lunch counters, a cell phone repair shop, and a shady-looking personal injury law firm. But mostly because there are too many uninspired all-day cafes out there right now. The category needed some juice, and Mado is providing it.
Whether it’s a morning coffee, a full meal, or anything in between — I always walk out of Cafe Mado inspired. Inspired by the attention to detail, the quality ingredients, and the charismatic hospitality. How we dine will continue to change, but why we dine will always be the same — to feel good. Cafe Mado makes me feel great.
This was a restaurant write-up from Mr. Flood’s Party. Subscribe for free and get Flood’s delivered every week.