The chefs behind Confidant are opening a new pizza and wine bar right next door, betting that Brooklyn Heights has an appetite for sourdough pies and natural wine well past midnight. Frenzie, an informal wine-and-pizza cafe from Confidant chefs Brendan Kelley and Daniel Grossman, is set to open at 129 Atlantic Ave near Henry Street, sharing the block with its sister restaurant.
The idea for Frenzie grew directly out of what Kelley and Grossman were seeing at Confidant itself. According to Brooklyn Eagle, the two chefs decided to cater to late-night customers after noticing a steady stream of them filling Confidant well into the evening. That demand reshaped their plans for the storefront next door, which they had originally intended to turn into an all-day cafe.
Those original plans had a name. Per The Strong Buzz, Kelley and Grossman had planned to open an all-day cafe called Lou & Bev's at 129 Atlantic Ave before pivoting to the pizza-and-wine-bar concept after watching Confidant's late-night crowds keep showing up.
What's on the Menu at Frenzie
Frenzie will serve 14-inch sourdough pies alongside seasonal small plates and artisanal wines, as Brooklyn Eagle reports. The Brooklyn Heights Dispatch adds more texture to that menu, noting the pizzas are made with local flour from Brooklyn Granary and include specialty pies like a spicy vodka pie topped with 'nduja and a sesame-crust sausage and peppers pie, paired with small plates such as fritto misto and beef tartare.
The wine list is being curated by Charlie Szur and will lean entirely on natural, biodynamic, and organic bottles from small producers, with every by-the-glass pour capped at $19 or less, the outlet's report notes. After 10 p.m., Frenzie shifts into a late-night “chef's choice” menu of rotating square or round slices paired with drink specials, a format the Dispatch's report says is aimed squarely at neighborhood residents and off-duty hospitality workers.
Frenzie will serve until midnight on weeknights and stay open until 2 a.m. on weekends, according to Brooklyn Eagle.
From Industry City to Two Storefronts on Atlantic Avenue
Confidant's arrival in Brooklyn Heights followed its move from Industry City to Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn Eagle reports. Before that relocation, Confidant had debuted in Industry City in March 2025 as the complex's first full-service restaurant, operating there for eight months before closing that November to make the move, according to the Resy Blog.
Confidant's new home at 127 Atlantic Ave carries its own local history. The storefront previously housed Colonie, a farm-to-table restaurant that had operated there for nearly 15 years before closing on November 30, 2025, amid an expiring lease and rising costs, per The Mirror US. Frenzie's own address next door was previously home to Pips, a coastal Italian wine bar also run by the Colonie team that closed during that same late-2025 landlord transition, according to real estate writer Peter Mancini.
A Personal Touch and a Changing Block
Confidant's interior design folds in family heirlooms from both chefs' grandparents alongside a banquette preserved from Colonie's original build-out, Mancini reports. Before launching Confidant, Kelley and Grossman built their reputations at Brooklyn's Roberta's Pizza, where Kelley served as chef de cuisine and Grossman as executive sous chef; Grossman also cooked at L'Industrie Pizza and Foul Witch, according to coolstuff.nyc.
The side-by-side openings fit into a larger shift along the western stretch of Atlantic Avenue near Henry Street, which Mancini's reporting frames as Brooklyn Heights' most active dining corridor following a string of notable closures in 2025. By taking over two adjacent storefronts once held by Colonie and Pips, Kelley and Grossman have effectively anchored themselves along a commercial strip that sits on the border of Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill.
Hoodline previously covered Confidant's original debut in Industry City back in December 2024, before the restaurant's move to Brooklyn Heights and the opening of its late-night neighbor.
