Do you ever just
want to sit back, relax and sink into a heaping pile of pillows
as you read your favorite book and sip a ginger honey shake?
Perhaps you just wish to indulge your health-conscious taste
buds with the homemade goodness of an organic sandwich.
Whether you’re thirsty, hungry, starting your day or winding
down – or just need someone to talk to – Pillow Cafe and Lounge
has something for everyone.
As its name suggests, Pillow Cafe and Lounge, which opened on
Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene in March, is very cushy, with pillows
and little ottomans scattered all over the place. Although the
pillow-covered window seat looks particularly inviting, the lounge
also offers a bar with four stools (with padding of course) and
four tables with cushioned chairs.
Co-owners Biola Odunewu and Robin Richardson provide their customers
with a bookshelf stocked with titles ranging from classics to
contemporary. The book lending operates on an honor system –
they trust that you’ll return what you take home.
The atmosphere inside the cafe, with walls painted red, brown
and beige, is reminiscent of a warm fall afternoon. The furniture
and the decor adorning the smallish interior are all in the same
earth tones – matching the shades of autumn leaves.
The choice of colors is for pragmatic reasons as much as for
mood.
"We wanted something warm and inviting but also durable,"
said Odunewu. Durability is key, since many Pillow Cafe regulars
include families with young children.
"I come here most mornings because they let Leo make a mess
of the place," joked Fernando Musiq, holding his 9-month-old
son.
All the specialty sandwiches, salads and drinks are made inside
the lounge, behind the cafe’s wood-framed bar, by the owners.
"We’re not chefs, but we love to make food," Richardson
said. Having been on a health-food kick for the past 12 years,
Richardson and Odunewu decided to open a lounge where they could
create meals they would normally eat at home.
Continuously customizing the selection of food to their customers’
desires, Pillow Cafe has abandoned its standard menu. Currently,
the most requested item, the signature goat cheese and sun-dried
tomato sandwich, served with homemade pesto on sourdough bread,
is rivaled in popularity by their avocado salad with fresh spinach
leaves and goat cheese.
Although the choice of food offered, ranging from a peanut butter
and jelly sandwich with banana to a smoked salmon salad, changes
from month to month, one thing is constant: everything is made
from organic ingredients.
Thirsty or not, diners should experience the magic of Pillow
Cafe’s ginger honey shake (small $4.50; large $5.50), a concoction
of low-fat yogurt, mango nectar, ginger and honey. If you’re
not a ginger-lover, you will be.
Pillow Cafe and Lounge (372 Myrtle Ave. at Adelphi Street in
Fort Greene) accepts cash only. Entrees: $3.95-$7.50. The restaurant
is open daily (Monday through Friday, from 7:30 am to 8 pm; Saturdays
and Sundays, from 8 am to 7 pm). For more information, call (718)
246-2711.
PILLOW CAFE WAKES UP MYRTLE AVE.
