The Ace Hotel brand is known for bringing cool yet affordable lodging to up-and-coming neighborhoods. The hotels also feature notable chef-driven restaurant concepts, with well-known past and present collaborators including April Bloomfield, Michael Hudman and Andy Ticer, and Marc Vetri. Add Camille Becerra to that list, as the acclaimed NYC chef has joined as Chef-Partner at Ace Hotel Brooklyn and its signature restaurant, As You Are.
The Downtown Brooklyn Ace opened in 2021, and has slowly but surely built a following among visiting creatives as well as locals looking to attend a cultural event, to meet friends in the sprawling living room-like lobby, or to grab a bite. Now, this Ace is upping its buzz factor, bringing in Becerra as of last week to inject her thoughtful, market-driven cooking into As You Are, an attractive window-lined space that’s bright during the day and moody and sophisticated by night.
Appetito was on hand for opening night of Becerra’s exciting new menu, and tried some of the dishes from a wide-ranging list that includes many that lean Italian and Mediterranean. Highlights include a well-breaded, flavorful chicken Milanese served over puffed quinoa and summer succotash; house bucatini, made with lump crab and Calabrian chile; and rigatoni with beef cheek ragu.
Becerra tells Appetito, “The menu at As You Are offers our guests bites of dishes from all over the world, made with ingredients that we're able to source seasonally. Pasta is a perfect example of having a dish happily move from season to season, with components changing based on availability. The summer produce in this area is similar to what one would find in the Mediterranean – lots of herbs and vegetables, especially juicy tomatoes. We also get wonderful fresh fish from local waters."
Besides the enticing new dinner menu, Becerra is heading up the culinary program for the Lobby Bar, in-room dining, and the Ace’s private events in Brooklyn. As You Are is also open for breakfast, lunch, and weekend brunch, and features desserts and pastries from pastry chef and baker Daniel Àlvarez, who heads up the popular Saturday Bread program—which Appeito covered when it launched in April.
For Becerra, a native of Puerto Rico, the new role adds another notable restaurant to a colorful resume that has included Manhattan restaurants Navy and De Maria, where she built a following among in-the-know diners, with thoughtfully prepared and presented dishes, including many vegan and vegetarian options.
At Ace Brooklyn and As You Are, she returns to running a kitchen full-time for the first time in five years, and if her opening menu is any indication, there will be many delicious surprises in store for diners—literally and figuratively. For example, one of the other standout dishes is black bass en croute, which wraps fresh fish in a light pastry shell, with sorrel crème-fraîche as a bright and earthy counterpart. It’s one of several must-try plates at yet another must-try Brooklyn restaurant.
Ace Hotel Brooklyn and As You Are are located at 252 Schermerhorn St., Brooklyn, 11217, (718) 303-3535, asyouarebk.com
