“Picture a cuban sandwich on a brioche bun and maybe yucca fries instead of french fries,” Steve Almonte tells Bushwick Daily. He’s describing what he imagines the Cuban-Asian fusion that he and notable chef Ricardo Cardona plan to serve on the menu at Aura Cocina. The restaurant is set to be the centerpiece culinary experience of The Breeze, a 100,000 square-foot ex-pillow warehouse that Hudson Companies dropped about $50 million to develop into a kind of highbrow mall that’s set to fully open in East Williamsburg some time next year. 

So far, there’s just a marketing and media services firm using the space and, on a weekday night, a group of them have the concrete plaza to themselves and their light beers, which they drink to the boom of Tame Impala’s “Let It Happen,” while Almonte goes on about his dreams. 

“Dumplings, rock shrimp, fried rice,” he continues, elucidating the second half of the fused offerings.