Aska
“Brooklyn's only two star: $375 of foraged Scandinavian cooking in an 1860s warehouse. Book it for an anniversary with atmosphere.”
About Aska
Under the Williamsburg Bridge, in a restored warehouse of 1860s brick, Fredrik Berselius cooks the most atmospheric tasting menu in New York. The Swedish chef launched Aska in 2012 in a modest Williamsburg space, closed it at its peak, and reopened in 2016 at 47 South 5th Street with a kitchen built around foraging, fire and the produce of upstate New York filtered through his Stockholm childhood. Two Michelin stars followed and have stayed, making Aska Brooklyn's only two star restaurant.
Dinner runs twelve to fourteen courses at $375, with pairings at $250, numbers that rose modestly this year after holding steady for a long stretch. The menu is hyper seasonal and unsentimental: seaweed broths, day boat seafood, foraged greens, game in the cold months, served in a dining room of bare brick, candlelight and Scandinavian spareness. A listing on North America's 50 Best for 2026 confirmed what Brooklyn already knew.
The building gives the evening its architecture. There is a garden for warm months and a cellar bar below the dining room, and the walk in under the bridge at dusk is its own aperitif. Reservations run through OpenTable and prime weekends reward a few weeks of planning. This is the New York tasting menu with the strongest sense of place, and the only one that feels like Brooklyn rather than a Manhattan export.
The Room
Bare 1860s brick, candlelight, dried botanicals and dark wood: a room that earns the word austere and then warms it up. Around thirty covers keeps service personal. The cellar bar pours natural leaning wines before and after dinner, and the garden opens in summer. Dress is smart casual; Williamsburg polish, not Midtown formality.
Why book it, occasion by occasion
The room decides half the evening before a plate lands. Here is where that works in your favour.
For an anniversary that values mood over marble
No dining room in New York does atmosphere like this one: brick, candle flame and the bridge rumbling faintly overhead. An anniversary here trades the grandeur of uptown rooms for something closer to memory making, and the twelve course pacing gives a couple a full evening of it. Book the garden months if you can, and start with a glass in the cellar bar to make the night two chapters.
For a first date you already believe in
This is not a low stakes first date room at $375 a head, and that is the point: book it when you are past hedging. The candlelit warehouse gives conversation instant intimacy, courses arrive frequently enough to keep momentum, and the cellar bar downstairs offers a natural spot to keep the evening going. The walk along the river afterward is the best free dessert in Brooklyn.
For the solo diner who wants atmosphere, not a counter show
Most solo advice sends you to counters facing a brigade. Aska offers the other ideal: a small, quiet room where a single diner with a pairing and fourteen courses is treated as a serious guest, not an odd seat. The staff's course narration fills the space conversation would, and the cellar bar below the dining room makes a fine decompression chamber once the last course lands.
What to order
The menu is fixed and seasonal, so the levers are the season you book, the pairing and how you use the building.
- The full tasting, in cold weather
Berselius cooks his best in the dark months: game, preserved things, broths with real depth. A February booking outperforms a July one for the core menu.
- The garden months for the setting
If atmosphere is the goal, book high summer, arrive early and take the garden aperitif. The building is half the meal either way.
- The $250 pairing
Natural leaning, Nordic when it can be, and matched to broths and ferments that defeat safe wine choices. It earns its price on this menu more than most.
- The cellar bar, before and after
A drink downstairs turns dinner into an evening. It is also the only way to taste the room without the $375 commitment.
Practical
- Address
- 47 South 5th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
- Reservations
- OpenTable · a few weeks for weekends
- Tasting
- Twelve to fourteen courses, $375
- Pairings
- $250, natural leaning
- Dress
- Smart casual, Williamsburg polish
- Rooms
- Dining room, cellar bar, summer garden
- Dietary
- Flag restrictions when booking; game and seafood heavy
- Getting there
- Under the Williamsburg Bridge; Marcy Avenue subway or a short car ride
Questions diners ask
Is Aska worth it?
Yes, if atmosphere ranks high in your calculus. Two Michelin stars, Brooklyn's only such kitchen, and a warehouse room no Manhattan restaurant can imitate justify the $375 ticket for a marker evening. Diners who measure meals purely in luxury product per dollar will find Manhattan tastings that score higher.
How hard is it to book Aska?
Manageable with planning. Tables release on OpenTable and prime Friday and Saturday seatings go first, so two to three weeks of notice is the safe play. Weeknights frequently show availability closer in, and single seats are the easiest of all. Summer garden season raises demand noticeably.
What does dinner at Aska cost?
The tasting is $375 per person and the pairing adds $250. After tax and service a couple with pairings should expect roughly $1,600 all in, and a single diner drinking modestly can hold near $500. The cellar bar offers the room's mood for the price of a glass.
What is the dress code at Aska?
Smart casual with dark colors doing well in a candlelit brick room. No jackets required, and Williamsburg's polish differs from Midtown's: clean lines beat formality. Comfortable shoes help if you take the bridge and riverfront walk that bookends the evening properly.