Chef Isidori's New Restaurant on Smith

Joseph Arthur Isidori comes from three generations of Italian New York chefs, starting with his grandmother, who worked as a chef in midtown throughout the sixties and seventies.

His father, Arthur Joseph Isidori, was an Italian Bronx chef for 45 years, and owned over a dozen restaurants. When Arthur died last year, son Joe Isidori "decided to reincarnate his restaurant."

Arthur on Smith, due to open this March on the corner of Smith and Sackett Streets, will be a casual neighborhood restaurant serving seasonal American fare "with Italian influences."

"It will be the mystique of my grandmother, the style of my father's cuisine, and my modern day approach," said Isidori. 

For instance, one item on the menu will be a roasted guinea hen saltimbocca, made with a locally raised, organic guinea hen.

"It's a dish from my heritage but I've added my flair to it, and the whole local, sustainable notion."

For some, this may be considered a dish for sophisticated palate, but for Chef Isidori, this is a return back to his heritage. Isidori's career as a chef includes working in cities throughout the country, five years with the Trump Organzation, a 2009 Michelin Star for Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, and StarChef.com's title as the 2009 Rising Star. Isidori is currently the owner of Southfork Kitchen, a restaurant in Bridgehampton that emphasizes sustainable seafood and local produce.

"My father always told me, 'It's not all about being a fine dining chef. It's about providing a great experience with great food that people can enjoy time and time again,' " said Isidori. "When he passed, I realized that what he said was 100 percent true...so instead of turning my back on my heritage, I'm embracing it."

The restaurant will be redecorated to "make it look really updated and funky," he said. "It's not a place for a four hour meal, it's a neighborhood place to come and enjoy."

And why, one might ask, in this neighborhood?

"Being a third generation Italian American, where else to open a modern day Italian restaurant than Carroll Gardens?" said Isidori.

He and his partner have lived in the Red Hook area for the past six years, and their offices are in DUMBO, so they spend a lot of their time in the Carroll Gardens area. 

"We've come to love it," he said. "The clientele here is very supportive and that is refreshing at this day and age."

Isidori hopes to make his new restaurant something that people will return to over and over again, a dining experience that pays homage to his father's comfortable style.

"The restaurant is looking to be very heartfelt and very honest," he said. 'This is a restaurant that everyone is hopefully going to love."