Fredrik Berselius, Claus Meyer to Run BMW MINI’s Greenpoint Restaurant [UPDATE]

Luxury car company BMW's small car brand MINI has found a hot chef to run the restaurant at its new Greenpoint co-working space — the critically acclaimed, Scandinavian wonder Fredrik Berselius, who just opened his revival of Aska. The chef applied for a liquor license at 29 Norman Ave., according to last month's Brooklyn Community Board 1 agenda. He declined to comment on the project for now. Eater has reached out to BMW and will update with more information. [Updated appended]

Previous reports of the new project, called A/D/O for Amalgamated Drawing Office, say that it will be 23,000-square-feet restaurant, retail design store, and co-working space as an "exploration of new products and services that improve urban life." Unlike Berselius’s $215 tasting menu at Aska, the MINI restaurant has been pitched as an affordable, all-day affair that’s a better version of a coffee shop. It will be right next to public space that offers tables and wi-fi.

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Berselius is known for his inventive Nordic cuisine and initially rose to prominence at Aska in Kinfolk Studios, which earned a Michelin star and two stars from the Times. He closed it more than two years ago to expand the vision, and he just opened the revival in South Williamsburg last week.

It might seem like an odd pick for the hip chef, but it’s been a big year for fine dining restaurateurs to partner with major corporations to build brick-and-mortar projects. Danny Meyer’s catering wing will be operating a restaurant with luxury car dealer Lexus, and earlier this summer, Christina Tosi of Milk Bar and former Per Se GM Anthony Rudolf opened a cereal restaurant with Kellogg’s.

Update: Turns out, Berselius will be working with fellow Scandinavian hotshot Claus Meyer on the project, which is technically a partnership with BMW's small car company MINI.

Fredrik Berselius and Claus Meyer are partnering to open the restaurant, bar and cafe within A/D/O, a space for designers that will open this fall in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. This unique partnership between Berselius, Meyer and A/D/O will create a home for exploration in the New Nordic cooking style as well as a venue for examining how design influences the experience of food.

Stay tuned for a menu and more, to be revealed soon.