Pass the “macaroni and gravy” — Carroll Gardens is beefing up its famous Italian flavor.
In less than a year, three new Italian food joints have popped up within two blocks of each other along Smith Street in the former mob-family-enclave turned trendy Brooklyn hood.
The opening of Claudine’s, Arthur on Smith and Ciro’s leave the Smith Street strip with eight restaurants dishing out homemade pastas, specialty pizzas and other Italian eats within a mere six blocks of each other, from Third Place to DeGraw Street.
“We’re getting more of the new, younger, health-conscious Carroll Gardens crowd by offering a menu with a modern flair and cooking with organic vegetables and other high-end products,” said Joseph Isidori, a third-generation chef who opened regularly-packed Arthur on Smith in memory of his late father.
The Bronx native said he “did research” and specifically chose Carroll Gardens “because its strong Italian roots stretch back” over a century to when the area was known as “South Brooklyn” and both Italian and Irish immigrants moved there to be close to work at the Red Hook docks.
Maria Pagano, president of the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association, said the recent rise in Italian restaurants is ironic coming as the number of Italian-Americans living there continues to dwindle.
“This shows a real shift in culture,” Pagano said. “Italian-American families traditionally don’t go out for dinner every night, but many of these new restaurants serve lunch and dinner all week. “
Unlike households headed by members of the “Five Families” or exclusive male Italian “social” clubs who still eat at home as a family, many of the neighborhood’s younger couples both work, so they go out to eat regularly, residents say.
Carroll Gardens has another 16 Italian restaurants, pizzerias, delis and bakeries along Court Street and another three on Henry Street. And there are dozens of others just blocks from its borders, including legends like 109-year-old Ferdinando’s Focacceria and 107-year-old Monte’s Venetian Room.
But Stephanie Mandelli, co-owner of Claudine’s, and other newcomers say they aren’t worried about competing with old-school eateries.
“What’s sets us apart is our authenticity,” said Mandelli, who moved back to her native Carroll Gardens to serve meals out of the same storefront where her grandfather once ran a popular barbershop up until 1975.
“Our place is Italian as they come. When you come in, you feel like you’re sitting in a living room in Northern Italy.”
Seeing the neighborhood was shifting tastes, Marco Chirico, whose family has run Marco Polo Ristorante on Court Street since 1983, last year renovated the joint that’s long been popular with judges, pols and “made guys” — even updating its menu to attract a new breed of health-conscious customers.
He also opened the trendy Enoteca next door in 2009, which, like many of the new competing eateries, offers an extensive beer and wine bar while also popping out gourmet pizza and panini from a wood-burning oven.
“The new restaurants [like Enoteca] are now smaller, more intimate, and offer smaller portions because more people are watching their nutrition,” he said.
But while Chirico thinks the hood is strong enough to support so many Italian eateries, Pagano, has doubts.
“It just seems like there’s so many for all of them to do well,” said Pagano. “And there’s also so many other choices than Italian in the neighborhood.”