Openings

First Look at Alex Raij’s Brooklyn Coffee Shop Tekoá

If you order the poached eggs, they come with this
If you order the poached eggs, they come with this “train station sandwich” of Spanish ham and vanilla butter on ficelle. Photo: Liz Clayman

“I love coffee shops, but I don’t love coffee culture,” says Alex Raij. “I like the gathering. I like the people you run into. I think coffee culture is shrouded in this professionalism that just makes it less joyful to me.” 

That’s the trend-bucking thinking behind Tekoá, an all-day-café remake of the former Cobble Hill hangout Ted & Honey from Raij and her husband and co-chef, Eder Montero.
 And from the sound of it, there is a lot to be joyful about.

For starters, there is the breakfast menu, served each day until 4:30 p.m. — a fairly drool-inducing assemblage of house-baked pastries like sticky-date-and-walnut honey buns, and all manner of egg dishes, from poached with grits and XO sauce to an egg-in-the-hole, said hole having been dug out of a griddled spinach pie from Damascus bakery on Atlantic Avenue.

And then there’s lunch: soups, salads, and sandwiches like a “Mom’s grilled cheese” (tetilla cheese, anchovy, piquillo pepper, and marjoram) and a “kid’s” version (American cheese and tomato), which makes it abundantly clear that Raij and Montero, owners of the restaurant La Vara a few doors down as well as parents themselves, know their stroller-rolling audience.
 Dinner and a cocktail menu are in the works, too. As for the coffee, in case you were wondering, it’s from Irving Farm Coffee Roasters, and the $2.50 price includes a free refill.

Strollers welcome.
Strollers welcome. Photo: Liz Clayman
Coffee cake with almonds and currants.
Coffee cake with almonds and currants. Photo: Liz Clayman
The peanut-butter cookies are a nod to Ted & Honey, the café's predecessor (and beloved neighborhood cookie dealer).
The peanut-butter cookies are a nod to Ted & Honey, the café’s predecessor (and beloved neighborhood cookie dealer). Photo: Liz Clayman
This Valencian brioche is known as a
This Valencian brioche is known as a Photo: Liz Clayman
Egg-in-a-hole, with a spinach pie instead of toast.
Egg-in-a-hole, with a spinach pie instead of toast. Photo: Liz Clayman
Broccoli-rabe-and-manouri-cheese sandwich.
Broccoli-rabe-and-manouri-cheese sandwich. Photo: Liz Clayman
Cocoa-and-cinnamon-crusted brioche.
Cocoa-and-cinnamon-crusted brioche. Photo: Liz Clayman
Fried-egg-and-lamb-sausage sandwich.
Fried-egg-and-lamb-sausage sandwich. Photo: Liz Clayman
Butternut-squash soup with poblano-chile crema.
Butternut-squash soup with poblano-chile crema. Photo: Liz Clayman
Roasted-beet salad.
Roasted-beet salad. Photo: Liz Clayman
Baby gem salad with avocado, bacon, and blue cheese.
Baby gem salad with avocado, bacon, and blue cheese. Photo: Liz Clayman
Porchetta-spiced-pork-shoulder sandwich with salsa verde.
Porchetta-spiced-pork-shoulder sandwich with salsa verde. Photo: Liz Clayman
Raij wants her customers to treat the space like their own office.
Raij wants her customers to treat the space like their own office. Photo: Liz Clayman
The coffee bar.
The coffee bar. Photo: Liz Clayman

Tekoá; 264 Clinton St., at Verandah Pl., Cobble Hill; 347-987-3710

Alex Raij Opens Her New Coffee Shop