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The Norm, a restaurant collaboration between Great Performances and Michelin-starred chef Saul Bolton, has opened its doors at the Brooklyn Museum. The menu is a love letter to the cultures and flavors that intersect throughout the borough.
Despite being named “The Norm,” Bolton seeks out ingredients that are anything but. It’s no surprise that vegetables play principal roles since Great Performances, the prolific catering company behind the restaurant, operates Katchkie Farm in Kinderhook, New York. They were hired by the Brooklyn Museum to create a restaurant concept that is seasonal and approachable, so diners can expect dishes like roast chicken braised with mole poblano and turmeric-tinted deviled eggs with grassy fenugreek. Bolton also quietly relies on alternative fats; he uses coconut milk to enhance a verdant spring pea soup, and their decadent sundae features halvah, chocolate and pistachio nondairy ice cream (although the menu makes no mention of it being entirely vegan).
Prominent architect Anda Andrei designed the space, which does not let you forget that you’re dining in an art museum. The main interior wall has pieces from the museum’s permanent collection while the wall on the entrance side of the space appears to be built from storage crates marked “fragile.” The backlit bar is the restaurant’s most striking feature. The drinks menu is creative with options like “La Josefa,” made with mezcal, fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice and cardamom syrup.
For now, the Norm is open from 11 a.m. to 10:15 p.m. on Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays with the intention to increase later hours. Other future plans include an outdoor beer garden with rotating kegs and summer movie nights.
Interested in taking a food-themed tour of the museum? Follow ours.
