![]() Then what? You either double-dip, which is a policy endorsed by no one except George Costanza and the Underground Gourmet’s six-year-old nephew, or you joylessly munch the rest of your raw and undipped carrot like a melancholy rabbit. With crudités, you take a vegetable, let’s say it’s a carrot, and you dip it into whatever dip it comes with. The genius of this dish, a cheeky take on crudités, is that it’s about ten times better than what you usually get out of a bowl or a plate of raw veggies. The wordplay, the knife skills, the vegetable focus - all display Fuller’s previous work in kitchens like Per Se, Momofuku Ko, and Nix. Of the nine dishes on the dinner menu, veggie “nachos” might be the most emblematic. All we can say about that is haute cuisine’s loss is the café world’s gain. Still, when asked, the chef will cheerfully admit that although she appreciates the theater of the format, she’s never had a fine-dining meal she’s actually liked. You wouldn’t know it by looking at the comfort-food menu chirpily handwritten in five or six different shades of ink, but Fuller has as impressive a fine-dining résumé as any you’re likely to come across. There’s yellow wallpaper with a cherry-blossom motif on one side and a forest-themed tapestry on the other, and a mix of soul, rhythm and blues, and classic rock playing at a volume loud enough to induce a sigh of nostalgia but low enough not to drown out conversation. It does have its chef-owner’s charm and drive and a small staff that radiates warmth throughout the wide, shallow dining room, which is furnished simply with a bar, a slatted-wood banquette, and a row of metal stools lining a ledge where curtained windows look out onto Court Street. The restaurant has no “concept” (as Fuller’s husband, a food and beverage consultant, keeps pointing out to her), no “visual identity,” no logo, only the most discreet of exterior signage, and, at press time, no website. But it’s such an anomaly in the category it doesn’t even call itself one. daily, Madcap is as all-day as cafés come. Considering that its doors are open from 8 a.m. It is in this refreshing and somewhat antiquated spirit that Heather Fuller opened Madcap Cafe several weeks ago on a Carroll Gardens corner that loudly and somewhat confusingly advertises in one great cluster the presence of every adjoining business (a Pilates studio, a gym, a dentist’s office, a real-estate agency, the Scotto funeral home) in addition to her own. Customers tended to become very attached to these places of business and the people who worked there and use them as their home away from home, rather than today’s office away from office. These places were known to serve coffee in the morning, alcohol later on, and food whenever thirst or appetite demanded, but they didn’t make a production out of it. There was a time, not so long ago, before the “all-day café” and its carefully honed, millennial-friendly brand identity dwarfed the dining scene, when establishments like coffee shops, luncheonettes, and diners dotted the land. ![]() daily.Madcap Cafe’s veggie “nachos” are essentially crudités, but about ten times better and more efficient. Swing on by to take a peek for yourself: Madcap Cafe is open from 8 a.m.–11 p.m. The guy next to me had the biscuits and gravy that also looked amazing." said, "I stopped by for brunch and had the bacon, egg, and cheese flatbread that was delicious. Thick-cut bacon, perfect eggs and fluffy flatbread make a truly incredible $8 sandwich. The bacon, egg and cheese is an all star. I am now very pumped to have this spot down the street from me. Greg M., who was among the first Yelpers to review the new spot on May 11, said, "Had the day off and figured I'd give this place a shot. With a 4.5-star rating out of three reviews on Yelp so far, Madcap Cafe has already made a good impression. "It its chef-owner’s charm and drive, and a small staff that radiates warmth throughout the wide, shallow dining room, which is furnished simply with a bar, a slatted-wood banquette, and a row of metal stools lining a ledge where curtained windows look out onto Court Street," notes Grub Street. Service runs from breakfast through dinner, with coffee, tea, cocktails and mimosas on offer. Owned and operated by former fine-dining chef Heather Fuller (Momofuku Ko, Per Se), this "all-day cafe" features Fuller's favorite snacks and meals, from veggie "nacho" crudites to pork and chive potstickers to mac and cheese. in Carroll Gardens, the newcomer is called Madcap Cafe. A new cafe has opened its doors in the neighborhood.
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