Mazelle, Brooklyn

Mazelle's chefs spread a muted Russian influence over multiple meals each day, including lunch, dinner, and weekend brunches. They often kick off meals with plates full of raw oysters, accompanied by mignonette and lemon on ice. Afterwards, they present modern gastropub plates alongside classic Russian recipes, filling bellies with lamb burgers with lime aioli or beef stroganoff. Their brunch menu not only blends breakfast and lunch, but savory and sweet as well, with rosemary and mint pancakes and eggs benedict over glazed beets and orange hollandaise. They wash down their meals with microbrewed beers or craft cocktails featuring house-infused vodkas or Cognac mingled with peach purée and clove dust.

The restaurant's decor showcases the same penchant for reinvention as the menu, combining exposed brick with vintage wood details and the industrial textures of brushed metal. The chandeliers combine the illumination of reflective domes with the diffused glow of raw bulbs, best left uncooked to avoid explosions.