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An early pioneer in Brooklyn’s culinary renaissance, New Prospect opened in 1984, when you could still buy a co-op without a six-figure trust fund. On traffic-thick Flatbush Avenue, this cozy café’s menu gave rise to the Slope’s granola reputation; veg options, along with excellent soups and fine desserts, drew phalanxes of Upper West Siders in exile. But the rise of Fifth Avenue and Smith Street has dimmed New Prospect’s luster. Now, the restaurant looks a little timeworn; the warm walls, painted in ripe persimmon and mango, can’t hide the cracked leatherette banquettes and warped Formica-laminate tables. The seasonal menu’s broadened its omnivore appeal, with braised lamb and free-range roasted chicken as well as cheese enchiladas. Soups remain consistently terrific; simply spiced black bean is thick and filling, and corn and shrimp chowder has a welcome chili-cream punch. But entrées like trout with pesto flounder on the plate. Happily, dessert still heartens, with daily fruit crumbles, rich pecan and mud pies, and a key-lime tart that billows with fresh whipped cream. — Helen Zelon

Saturday and Sunday mornings, brunch at New Prospect features home-baked, egg-rich pleasures, like its corn-flecked white-flour biscuits and vanilla-scented French toast.

Black bean soup, $ 4.75; spinach Caesar with fennel, $ 6.50