I've always had a soft spot for DUMBO - it's the one neighborhood where if money and convenience were not an issue I would live here in a heartbeat. Allison was able to get us tickets to see A Streetcar Named Desire at St. Ann's Warehouse (if you haven't seen it - GO! It's really a sight to be been), so we had an pre-theater dinner at Atrium which was a 5 min walk from the theater.
My first impression of the restaurant was that it was really stunning. It has this open space, airey feel to it and then add on the gorgeous lush living wall, it's really a nice oasis from the hustle and bustle of the city. The menu is your typical Brooklyn local, sustainable, and seasonal line-up of American dishes. I opted for the beef tartare ($18) to start and the small lobster rigatoni ($18) as my main. The beef tartare was hand cut and served with pickled shallots, capers and a quail egg. It was a really solid dish made even better by the incredibly addicting bread that it came with. It was warm, soft and worth breaking your carb restriction if you have one. I would have liked a pinch more salt or seasoning like horseradish to the tartare, but overall it was a really nicely done dish. The rigatoni was a perfect size if you're not super hungry. It came with tomato, basil and breadcrumbs. There wasn't a ton of lobster in it (surprise surprise) and again, it could have used a pinch more salt of flavor to it - I mean, we're not in Italy anymore, so your pasta better be spot on if you're going to go light on the sauce but it hit the spot with what I wanted at that moment.
We were in a bit of a rush but they had an blueberry and apple crumble ($8) on the menu and both Allison and I are big fans of crumbles, so we had to get it even though we had like 20 minutes before the show started. The waiter knew our situation and assured us that we would make the show. While I know it's not his fault when food doesn't come out on time, we literally got it with less than 10 minutes to show time, so we were inhaling the dish and couldn't really enjoy it. From what I do remember of it, it could have used more crusty crumble on top (maybe more brown sugar and cinnamon?) as it was a bit too moist and not enough crunch to it - it's possible that they rushed it out and didn't give it time to set properly.
Overall, it is a beautiful space to have dinner or brunch as it's right by the park and water and they really take advantage of the open space. My one big gripe with DUMBO is the lack of really fantastic restaurants in that neighborhood that isn't pizza but Atrium is a very solid choice for the area especially if you're going to St. Ann's but they could amp up their service, especially when they know there's a show going on nearby. Total bill: $46/pp with tax and tip
Photo Credit: Yelp
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