When Carroll Gardens restaurant Gus’s closed last year, the neighborhood lost a beloved local spot, but now I can reveal what will replace it: Café Wands (215 Union Street, Brooklyn NY), a craft coffee house and all-day-cafe from Justin Wands, an opera singer turned restaurateur who is a partner in Chez Fifi, and was formerly with The NoMad and before that with Chef Thomas Keller.
The idea to explore a coffee concept was initially one of self-interest. “I was living my life and realized there were only like four places I wanted to go, and I thought maybe I could apply some of this “excellence” I learned from Will [Guidara] and Thomas [Keller] to the coffee business,” he said. He went down a rabbit hole, learning about beans and roasters, looking to coffee houses in Vienna, Copenhagen, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Paris for inspiration.
“I spent hundreds of hours learning about coffee, and I see so many parallels with wine: the place it’s grown, the people who roast it, how it is treated, and how it is brewed by the barista. You realize there is so much humanity in every cup.”
He came away with a vision for a concept that elevated not only the coffee experience, but the food, and atmosphere too, with a focus on gracious hospitality, where having coffee is not for speed, but for slowing down. “I want to re-establish the café as a culinary destination where people come to read, talk, and connect,” he said.
Which means he would like you to leave your laptops at home and bring a friend, a date, a book, or just your fine self. “This is not a workspace; it’s a gathering place; familiar, warm, and quietly alive,” said Wands. “I can’t please everyone. We hope people will come and meet a friend and have a conversation. I want people to connect in this place. And when co-working with screens and laptops, that doesn’t happen.”
The coffee is as craft and serious as you’ll find in Brooklyn, or across the city for that matter. Wands’ coffee commitment includes a Coffee Director; Rohith Ram is a trained neuroscientist and former med student who pivoted to devote his life to coffee. He plans to share everything he knows at a reservation-only coffee tasting experience with coffee beans sourced from leading producers around the world, with a focus on quality, traceability, and seasonality.
The coffee program include pour-overs, house blended espresso alongside rotating single-origin espressos. Iced coffee will not be cold brewed but flash-brewed—brewed hot and flash-chilled to service temperature for a bright, fruit-forward cup. Interestingly, his beans are light roast only, which Wands says “expresses the taste of the bean the most, as opposed to expressing the roast flavor,” he said.
Aside from coffee, Ram will make an aromatic “Ro’s Chai,” made in-house from his nine-spice family recipe, and single-cultivar Japanese “ceremonial” matcha. Ram is also making his own Coffee Soda, a perfectly balanced, non-alcoholic, low caffeine soda that’s bright and citrusy, as good as you might expect from a neuroscientist.
Wands chef is Grayson Brower, the former culinary director at Hudson Valley’s Seminary Hill Orchard and Cidery, who will do all the baking in house. She’s planning a roster of seasonal tarts, cakes, and laminated pastries with an evolving menu that will include sandwiches and eventually an evening wine and cocktail situation in the future. For now, expect Buckwheat Choux Buns, slices of Gooey Butter Cake, a Fig “Newton,” a House PB&J (with or without crust), a Goutier (available after 2pm), and breakfast sandwiches of Bacon, Scrambled Eggs, Local Gruyere, and Tomato Jam on homemade brioche or english muffin.
As for the space, it’s being renovated as we speak. Wands is taking it down to the studs, renovating and reviving the room from a dark chophouse to a light-filled third place designed by notable architect Richard Lewis,—Balthazar, Via Carota, Augustine, Xocomoco—a big name for an all-day cafe, and a testament to the desire to create an atmosphere that’s designed for beauty, comfort and connection.
“We want people to come in and stay awhile,” he said. “Miles Davis will be playing, the fireplace will be going, we will have candles burning. We hope it’s a place where you want to stay and where you feel good.”
Café Wands will open Nov 1st at 215 Union Street in Carroll Gardens. Follow along on Instagram for more updates.
Was initially a little bummed to hear we were losing a dinner spot and getting another cafe, but I now have a better appreciation for the vision. Thanks, Andrea.
This is a beautiful space and I'm really looking forward to being able to spend time in there again. Sounds lovely!