In the clover
Clover Hill (Brooklyn Heights)
RESTAURANTS • First Word
The Skinny: Tucked away on a residential street in Brooklyn Heights, Clover Hill has been one of New York’s best-kept secrets, lauded for its precise, seasonal tasting menu. The chef behind that menu, Charlie Mitchell, recently decamped to helm Saga near Wall Street, leaving the Brooklyn restaurant’s future up in the air. But last month, Sam Rogers (One White Street, Momofuku Ko) joined as its new executive chef and partner. He’s already charting a new course, shifting Clover Hill from French-inspired fare toward the cuisine of Latin America.
The Vibe: Unchanged, and still quintessentially New York, with its compact dining room looking out onto a charming Brooklyn Heights block. Despite bright rear kitchen lights, the dining room is softly lit, with flickering candles perched along ledges on opposing painted white brick walls. A four-seat dining counter overlooks the diminutive kitchen, while pressed white linens dress the dining room’s tables for two.
The Food: The new menu is lighter, with more assertive flavors and obvious Latin American influences. The 10-course progression ($245 per, down from $305) starts with a duo of bite-sized starters: a delicate tart of diced buttery guanciale and bits of charred poblano pepper, and a Brazilian cuñape, an airy dough puff made from tapioca, filled with Camembert cheese and persimmon.
More small bites lead into a series of elegant seafood dishes — such as timut peppercorn-cured Boston mackerel and charred avocado in a bright green dashi flavored with citrusy huacatay, culantro, and mint — before moving into meat, like a luscious grilled American wagyu tongue over purple and white hominy-polenta. The run of proteins is broken up by a caviar-potato course inspired by the Peruvian and Bolivian dish of papas a la huancaina (boiled potatoes in a creamy sauce). Rogers’s version features a small boiled potato blanketed in a rich yellow sauce made from aji amarillo, evaporated milk, and boiled peanuts, mixed with Amber Kaluga caviar. Dessert is a multi-drop: delicate, tissue-paper-thin apple pastelito pastry stuffed with saffron and rum apple compote, served with whipped dark dulce de leche and black Mission fig and bayleaf ice cream.
The Verdict: One of the city’s most charming dining rooms maintains its allure, fueled by the same attentive service, propelled forward by a fresh culinary spin. –Kat Odell
→ Clover Hill (Brooklyn Heights) • 20 Columbia Pl • Tues-Sat 530-10p • $245 per • Reserve.