If you spent any time in Brooklyn over the last decade, you heard the name. Olmsted restaurant New York wasn't just another spot on Vanderbilt Avenue; it was the spot. People treated a reservation there like a golden ticket. It was the kind of place where you’d sit in a backyard garden, watching the same herbs being snipped for your cocktail that you just saw on the menu.
Honestly, it felt untouchable. But as of August 17, 2025, the lights went out for good.
The closure sent a bit of a shockwave through the Prospect Heights food scene. How does a restaurant with a two-star New York Times review, a Michelin Bib Gourmand, and a permanent spot on "Best Of" lists just... stop? It’s a complicated mix of burnout, "dead weight" debt from the pandemic, and a chef who decided his own sanity was worth more than a signature carrot crepe.
The Rise of a Prospect Heights Giant
When Greg Baxtrom opened Olmsted in 2016, he was basically the culinary version of a first-round draft pick. He’d worked at the heavy hitters: Alinea, Per Se, and Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Usually, when a guy with that resume opens a place, it’s a $300 tasting menu in Manhattan where you have to wear a blazer.
Instead, he went to Brooklyn.
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He teamed up with Ian Rothman—a horticulturalist, not just a "guy who likes plants"—to build something that felt like a neighborhood joint but tasted like fine dining. They named it after Frederick Law Olmsted, the genius who designed Prospect Park right down the street. It was personal. It was local. And for a long time, it was perfect.
What Made the Menu So Weirdly Good?
The food wasn't trying to be "fusion" in that annoying, forced way. It was just smart. Baxtrom had this knack for taking a vegetable you’d usually ignore and making it the star of the show.
- The Carrot Crepe: This was the dish. If you didn't order the carrot crepe with little neck clams and sunflower, did you even go to Olmsted?
- Kohlrabi Pastrami: A total head-flip for anyone who grew up eating Jewish deli food. It was smoky, peppery, and entirely vegetarian.
- The Garden: This wasn't just a patio. There were quails. There was a bathtub with crawfish. It was a literal ecosystem that provided ingredients for the kitchen.
You’d be sitting there, sipping a cocktail infused with lavender grown three feet from your chair, and for a second, you’d forget you were in the middle of a massive city. That was the magic of Olmsted restaurant New York. It provided a breather.
Why the Garden Went Dark
The announcement came via Instagram, which is how everything dies these days. Baxtrom was pretty candid about it. He didn't just blame "rising rents" (though NYC real estate is a beast). He talked about his sobriety. He talked about his mental health.
Basically, he realized that maintaining the "Olmsted standard" was killing him.
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After the success of the main flagship, Baxtrom expanded. He opened Maison Yaki (which later became Petite Patate) and Patti Ann’s. But by late 2024 and early 2025, those ventures started to feel like "dead weight." Managing a mini-empire is a different beast than running one tight kitchen. When those satellite spots closed, the writing was on the wall for the original.
The Pandemic Hangover
We don't talk enough about how much "ghost debt" these famous spots are still carrying. Even a restaurant that looks packed every night is often just service-level surviving. Baxtrom admitted that the financial burden of keeping everything afloat—combined with a failed attempt to find a new investor to save the space—meant it was time to fold the hand.
Is Greg Baxtrom Done?
Not even close. While Olmsted restaurant New York is a memory, the chef is still active. He’s got Five Acres in Rockefeller Center, which is a massive operation. Plus, his first cookbook, Nothing Matters But Delicious, is set to drop in April 2026.
It’s a pivot. A lot of people in the industry are doing it right now. They're moving away from the "neighborhood darling" model that requires 100% of your soul and moving toward projects that have more corporate backing or a better work-life balance.
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What to Do if You Miss the Olmsted Vibe
If you’re mourning the loss of those garden-to-table vibes, you aren't totally out of luck in Brooklyn. The "Olmsted effect" influenced a whole generation of chefs.
- Check out the cookbook: When Nothing Matters But Delicious hits shelves in 2026, you can finally figure out how they got those carrot crepes so thin.
- Visit Five Acres: It’s a different energy—Manhattan is always going to feel a bit more "produced"—but the vegetable-forward DNA is still there.
- Explore Vanderbilt Avenue: Prospect Heights is still a top-tier food neighborhood. Spots like Oxalis (and its more casual sister, Place des Fêtes) carry that same torch of high-end technique in a "come as you are" setting.
The closure of Olmsted restaurant New York marks the end of an era for Brooklyn dining. It was a place that proved you could serve world-class food without the white tablecloths or the pretension. It’ll be missed, but honestly? It’s better to see a chef walk away on his own terms than to see a great restaurant slowly fade into a mediocre version of itself.
If you're looking to recreate a bit of that Olmsted magic at home while waiting for the cookbook, start by sourcing your produce from the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket on Saturdays. It’s where Baxtrom and his team spent a huge chunk of their revenue, and it remains the heartbeat of the neighborhood's food culture. Supporting those local farmers is the best way to keep the spirit of "farm-to-Brooklyn" alive.