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Understatement is not on the menu at the Greenhouse Café, a festive, many-roomed venue for Bay Ridge weddings, parties and christenings, as well as day-to-day dining. As you enter, a dark wood bar and exposed brick walls give way to floods of light spilling through the patio dining area abutting the back wall. From the gracious high ceilings to the decoratively folded dark green napkins placed just so on each table, every detail bespeaks expansive welcome. The Continental cuisine is exuberant enough to match the atmosphere—fresh bread is accompanied not by a good half cup of softened butter, Caesar salad is lusciously overdressed, and the stuffed chicken breast is replete not only with herbed butter, but also fresh mozzarella and slabs of sautéed portobello mushrooms, then smothered in creamy Bordelaise sauce. While the leisurely pace does little to help the slightly soggy appetizers, the dense Italian cheesecake is a crowning triumph. — Jessica Branch

Sun., noon—3 p.m., three courses and unlimited cocktails, $25

Before Sunset Menu
Mon.—Sat., noon—6 p.m., three courses, $19.95

Prix-Fixe Dinner
Daily, 6 p.m.—close, three courses, $25

Caesar salad, $7; lobster ravioli, $13; stuffed French cut chicken breast, $18; cheesecake, $5.50