While the restaurant currently serves only brunch, lunch, and dinner, for those still on a frequent feeding schedule, a little café and retail shop in the front of the space opens at 8:00 a.m., offering strong Vittoria coffee and a retail space brimming with eco-friendly toys and organic, all-natural, and dye-free pastries and baked goods. “It’s important what you put in your body and where the ingredients came from, and it’s especially important when you are making those decisions for another person,” says Biel of the concept. “I wanted to be able to go to a place that I could trust in terms of where they sourced their produce down to the chemicals they used to clean the tables.” Au Fudge is therefore also the Environmental Media Association’s first Green Seal restaurant with a Best Practices Award across the categories of food; waste management; water and energy efficiency; chemical and pollution reduction; and sustainable construction, materials, and furnishings.

“It’s been amazing to come full circle,” says Biel of the restaurant, which officially opens March 4. “Finally a place where you can go—regardless of being single, married, or having a family in tow—and everyone will have fun here.”

au fudge Photo: Justin Coit

So what’s Jessica’s favorite thing on the menu? The cheekily named First Base Cocktail. Here’s how to make it yourself.

1.5 oz. of your favorite vodka

0.75 oz. lemon juice

0.25 oz. fresh ginger syrup and 0.25 oz. demerara sugar syrup

1 oz. muddled strawberries

1 oz. sparkling white wine

1 sprig lemon thyme to garnish

Mix the vodka, lemon juice, syrups, and strawberries in a cocktail shaker. Pour into a chilled glass with the sparkling wine and garnish with lemon thyme.)