There’s a new reason to head to Bleecker Street. Cafe Charmant NYC opened in the West Village last month, bringing a sun-soaked take on the classic French brasserie to a particularly good corner of downtown Manhattan.
Brodsky, an Eleven Madison Park alum who spent seven years cooking in the Cayman Islands, has taken the bones of a French brasserie and loosened them up considerably. The result is the sort of menu where Steak Frites and Spicy Moules Gratin sit alongside Wild Shrimp Carpaccio, Tuna “Charmant,” King Crab Croque and dishes that pull directly from the chef’s years in the Caribbean.
And if you spent any time at Palm Heights in Grand Cayman, you probably already know Brodsky’s food. During his time there, the hotel evolved into something of a cool-kid Caribbean clubhouse, drawing a fashion, music and creative crowd while quietly serving some of the best food on the island. Brodsky was behind much of it, including the burger at Tillies that developed its own devoted following. IYKYK.
But Cayman gave Brodsky more than a few cult dishes. The island’s mix of Caymanian, Jamaican, Filipino, British and other international influences broadened the way he cooks, something that now turns up in unexpected places at Charmant.
“My time in the Cayman Islands shifted my perspective on food and taught me to look at ingredients and different culinary cultures in new ways,” says Brodsky.
That makes dishes like Crispy Shrimp Polynesian, Curry Duck Pastel and Razor Clam pasta feel less like twists thrown onto a French menu for effect and more like the natural next chapter for a chef who spent years cooking in one of the Caribbean’s most culturally diverse food destinations.
Cafe Charmant is also the latest chapter in a busy stretch for Eugene Remm and his team. Remm, whose New York hospitality career stretches from the city’s 2000s nightlife scene through the launch of Catch and its subsequent expansion, has spent the past couple of years building a new collection of distinctly New York restaurants. The Corner Store arrived in SoHo in 2024, followed by The Eighty Six in the former historic Chumley’s space and the live-fire Mediterranean restaurant Or’esh. Cafe Charmant is the fourth — and this time, Remm deliberately put Brodsky front and center.
“We wanted to give Chef Jake the opportunity to create something with his own point of view,” Remm says, describing Charmant as “a modern take on a simple, elegant European feel that is familiar yet unexpected.”
That point of view extends beyond the kitchen. Rockwell Group designed the restaurant with the French Riviera in mind, using navy and ochre, dark wood, leather upholstery and warm limewashed walls. It nods to the Côte d’Azur without making Bleecker Street feel like it has suddenly acquired a Saint-Tropez theme.
At the bar, Lucas Robinson — also behind the drinks at The Corner Store, The Eighty Six and Or’esh — worked directly with Brodsky and the kitchen to create the cocktail program. The Provençal Dirty Martini, Vanilla Garibaldi and Cucumber Sour sit alongside a wine list from Wine Director Emily Buse.
But the reason to come to Cafe Charmant is ultimately Brodsky’s food. After seven years in Cayman, he’s back in New York with a much bigger culinary vocabulary — and anyone still thinking about that burger now has a new place to find him.
