Claudine's: A Hidden Gem In Plain Sight

The menu at Claudine's reads like a travel brochure. Grazing over the polenta e salsiccia, pepperoni ripieni, gemelli bosciaola and braciole di maiole, it's impossible not to imagine yourself transported to Italian shores, kicking off your shoes under the table and sipping a large glass of red wine.

As it happens, the restaurant is located at 311 Smith Street, smack in the heart of Carroll Gardens and less than a block from the nearest subway. So save all of the money you would have spent on airfare and put it toward a dining-out fund. Because Claudine's is a restaurant you will want to return to again and again.

The rustic, earthy decor—complete with faux-distressed brick walls and hanging vintage farm tools—is unfussy and warm. Warmer still is the greeting you will receive from staff, who treat their customers with all the familiarity of a lifelong friend.

No doubt they have many in the neighborhood.

“What’s sets us apart is our authenticity,” said co-owner Stephanie Mandelli in an interview with the New York Post last month. A native of Carroll Gardens, her restaurant sits in the same storefront where her grandfather once ran a barbershop. And that's not where the family ties end.

At the back of the house, holding court beside the blazing brick oven while his daughter coos from a nearby highchair, co-owner Cesare Mandelli whirls pizza dough until it is as thin as a Blu-Ray disc—then tops it with an array of fresh, flavorful vegetables, herbs and meats. 

Because the crust is so thin, one can easily rationalize eating an entire 12" pie for lunch. Ahem. And if one chose to do such a thing, the Napolitana—briny with capers, unctuous with garlic and funky from anchovies swimming in a not-too-sweet red sauce—is practically guilt free. 

Silvana Pecoraro, Mandelli's aunt and your waitress, certainly won't judge you for it. Though she may suggest that next time you bring a friend, so you two can split the pie and try a salad as well. That isn't a bad idea, either. 

But who is Claudine? "Cesare named the restaurant after his mother," Pecoraro tells us. "We were all suggesting different names, this and that. Meanwhile, the entire time he knew what he wanted to do."

One day close to opening, Mandelli sat down his mother at a table and asked her what she wanted to eat, handing her a menu with her name emblazoned across the front: "She started crying, I started crying," says Pecoraro. "It was all tears."

And if that story isn't sweet enough for you, the Torta di Mele (Italian apple cake) should do the trick.

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Claudine's, 311 Smith Street between President and Union Streets, 718-237-4992