A stroll down 7th Avenue in Park Slope reveals plenty of cafés, wine bars and Asian restaurants, but the newest spot on the strip brings it all together.
HOM Cafe & Wine is a Southeast Asian cafe by day and a wine bar by night, co-owned by Aaron Hung. Located at 72 7th Ave., the cafe and wine bar offers all-day dim sum, a global wine list with over 20 options, and specialty coffee from Partners Coffee.
The new space that opened in July is an ode to the co-owners' Chinese, Thai and Indonesian heritage. The word "hom" means fragrant in Thai, a word that Hung says perfectly describes both coffee and wine.
The intimate space seats around 20-25 people and has an open seating rule, so patrons can seat themselves. Hung said the partners wanted their patrons to feel as if they were stepping into a friend's house to grab a glass of wine and home-cooked food.
The concept came through a casual conversation between Hung and his two friends. While they would frequent many restaurants around Brooklyn, they never felt like any of the restaurants had all that they wanted —coffee, wine and dim sum. They would have to trek to Chinatown in Manhattan or Brooklyn to get exactly what they wanted.
“I think it was more about introducing something that we maybe take for granted because it's so accessible to us on a day-to-day, week-to-week [basis],” Hung told BK Reader. “[We] tried to bring that accessibility out a little farther than your normal neighborhoods.”
Hung, isn’t new to the restaurant business. He has worked as a server, a restaurant manager and a restaurant consultant before opening his own spot.
Hung said he chose to open the business in Park Slope as an ode to when he was delivering food in the area over 20 years ago. He hopes his new business will become a neighborhood staple like many of the restaurants in the area.
Although wine isn’t typically associated with Asian cuisine, the owners found a gap in the market to provide some variety. They hope to eventually do wine and dim sum pairings to help connoisseurs receive the full experience.
“It's a dance between bringing wine that's brand specific, and also listening to what the neighborhood wants and what wine enthusiasts want overall,” he said.
So far, Hung said many of his morning patrons have come back at night when the restaurant transitions into a wine bar.
HOM Cafe & Wine, ay 72 7th Ave., is open seven days a week. The cafe is open from 7:00am to 4:00pm Monday through Friday and from 8:30am to 4:00pm on the weekend. The wine bar is open from 5:00pm to 10:00pm on Monday – Thursday and Sunday, and open from 5:00pm to 11:00pm on Friday and Saturday.
