Yellow Magnolia Cafe Opens At Brooklyn Botanic Garden

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — A new restaurant, Yellow Magnolia Cafe, opened this week inside the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, featuring a leafy menu and stunning views of the garden itself.

Admission to the garden is required to access the cafe, which is named "for the collection of distinctive yellow-flowered magnolias introduced by Brooklyn Botanic Garden," an announcement for the restaurant says.

Patch spoke by phone with chef and restauranteur Rob Newton by phone Thursday. Our conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and concision.

How have the first few days of business been?

"It’s been really good. We’ve been probably a little busier than I thought we would be. And it’s been really smooth. Our first day was incredibly busy, and then we had a little bit of rain yesterday, which slowed things down. But it’s been pretty organized, pretty well-received. It’s going pretty great, all in all."

Tell us a little bit about the menu.

"From the first moment I got involved I just really felt like, being in a garden setting, it just needed to be clean and light and lots of vegetables. Our first incarnation of the menu a couple years ago was really heavy on vegetarian and vegan and we did some of that early on, and we still have vegan of course, but we just found it was a little too limited for the diversity of the guests that we get here. So we broadened things out a little bit so that it caters to a wider array of guests, which is the right thing to do, because a lot of people come here.

"There’s still a way to get the message across that it’s very plant-forward, vegetarian friendly, but still have a burger and soups. We’re doing chicken and dumplings, which is a dish I did with Seersucker a long time ago. There’s a way to have both. And really a need for both, to be honest."

You said, 'A couple of years ago' — so you’ve been working on this awhile.

"I’ve been involved probably three years, I would guess. We were delayed an entire season because of construction issues. We should have opened last year, truth be told."

What’s the vibe like inside? What’s the feel when you walk in and sit down?

"Light, airy. When you walk in, there’s big beautiful flowers. Probably 75 percent of the ceiling of the dining room is solid glass that looks out into the garden, and there’s beautiful lights that hang down. We have retractable blinds, and if it’s too sunny we can close it off. There’s no table cloths, just natural wood tables, black chairs. It’s really clean and modern.

"And when you look outside, you see the beautiful lotus ponds and flowers. It’s really, really nice and it’s a really good time of year to open too because of the cherry blossoms, tulips and all of the trees outside. It’s pretty special."

So you are really working with the garden theme here in every aspect.

"Visually, yeah. But we’re not growing our own herbs or anything like that. Limited amount of stuff that they grow that we can use from time to time. But we don’t have our own little farm. There’s talk of that, we’re all into that, but it just takes a lot of coordination and is not there yet. Maybe in the future, though."

So what do you see this place becoming as it opens up and becomes a stable in the area?

"I feel an immense amount of respect for the botanic garden because it’s been in operation for over 100 years. It’s a wonderful place. You don’t even feel like you’re in New York when you’re here. So it’s a big deal when you compare it to how long the garden has waited to have a restaurant of this caliber. And I believe that this is the restaurant the garden deserves."

All photos by Daniel Krieger, courtesy Yellow Magnolia Cafe