A local bar and cafe in Brooklyn recently celebrated one year in business at its new location in Fort Greene.
baba cool, located at 33 Lafayette Ave., didn’t always call this current location home. When the restaurant first started in 2014, it was not too far from where it is now, just in a smaller space.
Gabriella Mann, owner of baba cool, quickly fell in love with the neighborhood and worked to make baba cool a Fort Greene staple.
“We kind of created a really nice community within Fort Greene during that 10-year period. We made it through COVID and kind of grew during that time, just because I stayed open the entire time. We started feeding the hospitals and that was like a whole community effort,” said Mann.
A year ago, baba cool moved into its current space on Lafayette Avenue, boasting an indoor and outdoor space for expanded seating, particularly as the weather gets warmer out. The outdoor dining area is also completely covered, in case a rare summer shower blows through and providing shade to diners.
The original baba cool started off serving classic cafe options, such as avocado toast, breakfast sandwiches, specialty coffees and the like. As the customer base continued to grow and with the restaurant being near cultural institutions like Barclays Center and BAM, Mann wanted to expand the concept to include a nighttime menu.
“Fort Greene was changing, and over the years, I’ve made a lot of friends, and I see a lot of the same faces still to this day, and it’s been nice to kind of expand the original concept into something that’s open at night and lends itself to like all the different arts and cultural things happening around us,” said Mann.
In addition to the space’s morning menu for the early birds, the menu offerings expanded to include a lineup fit for an evening crowd. Mann partnered with lead bartender Michael Seward to create a selection of unique cocktails, including options such as the Cowboy Poser (a rum-based beet cocktail), the Baba Martini, and A Very Good Cocktail (featuring vodka, aveze, tarragon, anise, lime, bitters and bubbles). The bar also features a Revolving Pour, which is the bartender’s choice alcohol and bubbles, as well as a menu of wine, beer and mocktails.
The night food menu features options such as Brussels Sprouts, Baba Fries served with manchego, scallions and cayenne mayo, Crispy Chicken, Whipped Ricotta with fennel seed, bee pollen, honey and toast, and shrimp toast. A particularly popular dish is the Drunken Gabi, which serves rice noodles served along broccolini and cabbage in a green goddess dressing.
“We still wanted to keep it casual and not fussy and still play with the idea of what we do during the day, which is just simple, really delicious, approachable food. Nothing too crazy, something I think that people just come back for and can eat every day,” said Mann.
Since the reopening, Mann says that the new space has been well-received by their customer base, as they can now sit and chill out.
“We moved a little farther south, but we definitely still see some of the same faces and I think people are just like thrilled that they have actually a little space to hang out and sit in and have coffee or wine, whereas in our old 300-square-foot space, it was always cramped and people couldn’t find a seat, and people are ending up taking things to go, even though they wanted to stay. Now people can actually sit, stay, and enjoy,” said Mann.
For more information, visit babacoolbk.com.
