The crimson sauce will hold flowing at Ferdinando’s.
Ferdinando’s Focacceria in Carroll Gardens will reopen below a brand new proprietor — a well-recognized face within the neighborhood meals scene — after the 121-year-old Sicilian restaurant abruptly closed its doorways final month, The Put up has realized.
Proprietor Frank Buffa chosen Sal Lamboglia, who helms Brooklyn spots Cafe Spaghetti, Swoony’s and Sal Tang’s, to take over the old-school eatery on Union Road, a rep for Lamboglia mentioned. The lease was signed late final week.
“To me, it’s an honor to be handed the keys to a Brooklyn establishment like Ferdinando’s,” Lamboglia mentioned in a press release shared with The Put up.
“As everybody is aware of all of my eating places are in shut proximity,” he added. “I stay up for honoring the legacy of Ferdinando’s Focacceria and increasing the restaurant group we’re constructing right here in Carroll Gardens.”
The information comes after a number of consumers pitched themselves for the placement — together with a Brooklyn pizzeria proprietor and a Michelin-rated chef, in line with Buffa.
“I believe he’s in a position to proceed Ferdinando’s with a brand new type,” Buffa advised The Put up, confirming that Lamboglia will hold the eatery’s identify.
“I like his concepts. It’s a contemporary type,” Buffa added. “He’ll put a signature drink [on the menu] and make it for the brand new era, but in addition possibly he’ll hold some outdated Sicilian recipes.”
The longtime Ferdinando’s proprietor mentioned he’s even supplied to share his recipes with Lamboglia, together with these for his well-known panelle sandwiches.
Buffa contends “lots of issues inside will look 99% the identical” when the placement reopens in a couple of months, together with the decades-old pictures on the partitions. Upgrades will embody fixing the kitchen and yard backyard.
“He’s the one man in a position to do it … I went over with many individuals to evaluate [their business plan] and it’s not a matter of [who paid more] cash,” Buffa mentioned.
Ferdinando’s quietly closed its doorways in February as a consequence of Buffa’s well being points and lasting monetary impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which completely shifted prospects’ eating habits to consuming out much less, he mentioned.
The Sicilian joint was identified for its classics like rice balls and panelles and drawing well-known clientele similar to Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese — the latter of whom used Ferdinando’s for a scene in 2006’s “The Departed,” which nabbed greatest image and greatest director Oscars the next 12 months.
Buffa, who emigrated to New York Metropolis in 1971 and took over Ferdinando’s from his spouse’s household after her father died in 1975, “by no means took a sick day” within the 5 many years since, he mentioned.
“Ferdinando’s is beloved by everyone in Brooklyn,” Manhattan resident Andrew DiMaria, whose father owns a constructing on the identical block, advised The Put up.
“On any given day, you may stroll by and see Frank within the window, making the well-known panelle particular, greeting everyone strolling by.”
Ferdinando’s altering of the guard is “a pleasant match.”
“He’s a well-known man, and I like how he did it with Cafe Spaghetti.
“He’ll proceed [Ferdinando’s] in his means.”
