Can an All-Day Cafe Actually Be Exciting? This One Is.

When Oxalis, a celebrated destination restaurant in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, closed its doors a year ago to reinvent itself as an all-day cafe, the locals had questions. How would the chef Nico Russell retool his innovative, hyper-seasonal tasting menu — built on foraged herbs, mushrooms and fruits — into casual dining? Would he stay true to his original vision, or would he go the well-trod route of Caesar salads and fries? Would there be a burger?

The pandemic had already shaken things up. During lockdown, Oxalis pivoted from serving a citywide following (fans journeyed across the boroughs for Mr. Russell’s miso-cured scallops and fig-leaf yogurt tarts) to feeding its neighbors as Oxalis Pantry, selling groceries, sandwiches and homemade jams.

The community turned out. Instead of coming in a few times a year for birthdays and date nights, locals queued up daily for the coveted burritos and carefully constructed jambon beurre baguettes.

Oxalis Pantry eventually closed and the restaurant reopened, but the pantry’s success convinced Mr. Russell and his partners, Piper Kristensen and Steve Wong, that what the neighborhood wanted most was not a special-occasion, Saturday-night-date restaurant, but a more accessible place to drop by on a Wednesday, maybe with the kids in tow. And the average hump day, like the average child, requires more flexible feeding.

So the partners rewrote the menu and hung a new sign. Last May, Cafe Mado was born.

It’s as if the whole place has been thoughtfully redesigned for Wednesdays. The airy, window-filled dining room is vivacious, but not party-loud, with noise-diffusing plants here and there, including a violet-leafed oxalis on the terrazzo bar as a nod to the past.