Smør
Restaurant · Clinton Hill ·
Scandinavian cafe & bakery with open-face sandwiches, meatballs, pastries
Scandinavian cafe & bakery with open-face sandwiches, meatballs, pastries
"In Clinton Hill, Smør’s second outpost is larger, though just as minimalist as the East Village original. But it’s not just a scaled-up, full-service version of the Danish bakery. Like any truly great neighborhood restaurant, this place is super versatile, with a completely different mood at different times of the day. You could visit for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and feel like you were going to three separate restaurants, with consistently excellent food and service each time. photo credit: Paul Quitoriano In the morning, Smør is a useful spot for picking up some cardamom buns, or eating smørrebrød on dense Danish rye under a skylight. In the evening, by candlelight, it’s equally enjoyable for a reasonably priced date night, with the surround-sound murmur of both flirtatious couples and toddler babble. The loosely Scandinavian dishes you'll eat sound straightforward and have relatively few ingredients. But even things like “Beans In Broth” or “Leafy Greens” are delicious, with every component working overtime: like malt rye chips that add big crunch to the tuna tartare, or the whipped butter that adds both salt and tang to a Smør's delightful Morning Plate. Food Rundown Morning Plate A server described the Morning Plate to us as “girl breakfast,” which prompted the man behind us to order it right away. You should too. It’s an ideal sweet and savory spread for picking and snacking, with a soft-boiled egg in a cup, jam, cheese, and bread (opt for the sourdough over the rye). photo credit: Molly Fitzpatrick Danish Pancakes These crepes have a satisfying bounce. The whipped cream is pleasantly light, with visible flecks of vanilla bean, but the component we’re still thinking about is the lovely, floral housemade blueberry jam. photo credit: Molly Fitzpatrick Tuna & Stracciatella A stellar tuna tartare, with silky diced fish and creamy stracciatella—a pairing with instant on-plate chemistry. photo credit: Paul Quitoriano Crispy Shrimp Sandwich This dish momentarily sends the brain to New Orleans, before it catches a return flight to Copenhagen. The shrimp is crispy as advertised, but the best part is the fantastically herby tartar sauce. Sesame Schnitzel A great piece of chicken, with a deep golden fry and a hefty helping of flaky salt. The sesame seeds in the breading lend it an unexpected dimension of crunchiness. Danish Dog A very good hot dog, with cheerful yellow remoulade and a blizzard of blizzard of crispy onions." - Molly Fitzpatrick
"Smør got its start in the East Village, but its second location in Clinton Hill is larger and has table service—perfect for a leisurely weekday morning in Brooklyn. Come alone, meet a friend, or bring your toddler to eat cardamom buns and egg sandwiches under a skylight in the minimalist room that could very well be a Scandinavian candle store. At 10am, they start serving lunch, too, which is good news because then you can also try the crispy shrimp sandwich with extra-herby tartar sauce." - bryan kim, willa moore, neha talreja, molly fitzpatrick, sonal shah, will hartman
"Smør, a Scandinavian all-day cafe, first opened in the East Village. Now, five years later, the team has opened a much larger space that’s a bakery by day, a full-service restaurant (serving beer and wine with really solid happy hour deals) at night. At dinner, standouts include the schnitzel and sausage with apple chutney, as well as their Danish-style hot dogs — all of which make for hearty options as temperatures drop. Have a nightcap next door at Hartley’s afterward, and then return in the morning to Smør for their signature cardamom buns and coffee." - Emma Orlow
"I experienced the full-service Brooklyn version of Smør, where daytime offerings include a bakery counter with cardamom buns, egg sandwiches, pickled-herring open-faced sandwiches, and Danish pancakes, while evenings turn into a restaurant and wine bar serving shrimp salad on sourdough, sesame-crusted schnitzel, hot dogs with curry ketchup, and rice pudding for dessert." - Emma Orlow
"Opened in 2019 by Sebastian Perez and Sebastian Bangsgaard in the East Village, Smør began as a catering gig and then a tiny, under-500-square-foot order-at-the-counter cafe built from a $40,000 loan and Ikea furniture; when COVID hit the owners expanded with an adjoining bakery so they could bake in-house, iterating through many cardamom versions under head baker Rowan Gill (a Bien Cuit alum). Five years later they’ve launched a larger, full-service restaurant and wine bar in Clinton Hill with a fully all-electric kitchen, skylight and courtyard, and a minimalist, Scandinavian-leaning design that evokes Copenhagen canteens. By day there’s a to-go bakery counter with cardamom buns, bread loaves and pastries and a daytime menu of egg sandwiches, pickled herring smørrebrød, Danish pancakes with lemon zest and a snowpea carrot salad with rye crunch; by night it operates as a reservation-able restaurant and wine bar serving fluke crudo, a Norwegian shrimp salad with roe and lemon on sourdough, sesame-crusted schnitzel, sausage with apple chutney and rice pudding for dessert, plus Danish-style hot dogs with curry ketchup or remoulade and Danish sodas (elderflower, lingonberry) among the non-alcoholic options. The menu and concept explicitly reflect the founders’ Danish upbringing while also nodding to their Portuguese, Spanish and Brazilian roots, aiming for a casual, non-pretentious Copenhagen-style all-day spot where people can linger." - Emma Orlow
