[Daniel]

435 Halsey St
Brooklyn, NY 11233
(718) 574-0010


Wow, is all i have to say... Like Luzzo's Brooklyn... Seriously, my favorite pizza I have had in a long time.. Might have to have a Totonno vs Saraghina battle.. In addition to an amazing Buffalo Pizza, we had some real nice plates of food..

We ordered artichokes with fennel in a butter and lemon sauce. Everything was prepared perfectly.. Miss K did not eat her crust, she was too involved in the fresh mozzarella.. We happily dipped her crust into the lemon butter sauce.. She ate half the pie of pizza.. She proclaimed this to be her favorite pizza ever.

We then ordered the smoked mozzarella with mushrooms.. I am telling you, this dish was mind blowing.. The mozzarella was perfectly smoked, perfectly grilled, and then you had mushrooms cooked in butter. Paired with a glass of wine, amazing.

Wine list sucked, food was very good.. The space is so cool.. An old garage in Bedstuy, garage sale furniture everywhere, plenty of space, tons of character.

sit in the back..

[Daniel]

http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-08-18/res...come-saraghina/

nice

[nuxvomica]

no pictures?

[Daniel]

I know, I know.. I even brought the camera.. But, it was so dark and I was relaxing.. I am pretty sure, I am going back tonight.. I have a plan of attack for photos.. But seriously, the pizza look exactly like luzzo's.

[Daniel]

Yikes, had a pretty bad experience there last night. The place was packed and the kitchen was slammed.. Things came out of the kitchen pretty sloppy.. Smoked mozzarella was rushed out and not grilled well.. Sausage and broccoli rabe.. The rabe was skimpy, lifeless and the portion was a third of what it was on previous visits.. t, all of the portions were cut down last night..

Waiter was not friendly, kind of smug, not attentive.. Guy has no personality all night but, made sure to point out that "risotto is not a pasta but a rice" after I asked him if the risotto and the tagliatelle were the only two pasta dishes.... I felt I didnt need to point out to him that in fact, risotto is not a rice but, it's the name of the finished dish where a rice is present.. And in fact, its a lot closer to say Barley than a white rice. But, seriously, do we need to get into a one upping conversation.. you should probably make your contribution through smiles and by getting me shit instead of trying to run a class..

Pizza remained to be very good..

I won't go back when it's crowded.. Place fell apart under pressure.

[nuxvomica]

Waiter was not friendly, kind of smug, not attentive.. Guy has no personality all night but, made sure to point out that "risotto is not a pasta but a rice" after I asked him if the risotto and the tagliatelle were the only two pasta dishes.... I felt I didnt need to point out to him that in fact, risotto is not a rice but, it's the name of the finished dish where a rice is present.. And in fact, its a lot closer to say Barley than a white rice. But, seriously, do we need to get into a one upping conversation.. you should probably make your contribution through smiles and by getting me shit instead of trying to run a class..

sorry to hear about your experience and sloppy food - precisely why i always avoid weekend nights and prime time in general

[Daniel]

Food was certainly good.. Portions of the non pizza items are just so tiny.. Either portions are tiny, or prices are super expensive.. Either way, a plate of broccoili rabe that small shouldnt be 15 or 18 bucks.. A good broccoli rabe but, just the same..

Took some photos tonight.. Octopus with potatoes. Love the combination of octopus and potatoes. Happy it's on the menu and like that they make this dish, it's just wasnt an exciting version. there is a fine line between subtle flavors and tasteless.. This was on the side of under done..






Broccoli rabe and homemade sausage patties. Broccoli rabe was well done. Most likely boiled in salt water, shocked in salt water, then quickly cooked in garlic infused olive oil.. A standard version, on par. Sausage patties. No real defining flavor. Ground meat flatten on a grill.



Pizza's.







White pie with artichoke and copa. Pizza is good.. The pizza is always good.. We got a few different pies.. This was the only one photographed.



Not photographed was the panna cotta. Perfect in consistency. A nice way to finish..

[Wilfrid]

This is the same people have the old Joselito space on Avenue C? Worth a look, then.

[Sneakeater]

I was not really prepared for Saraghina to be as good as it is. I thought it would be one of those places that the Times hypes in "emerging" neighborhoods in furtherance of its pro-gentrification/development stance. And that people in general like as much or more for the seeming incongruity of its location as for its quality (like just about every ambitious place in Red Hook except for St. John Frizzell's bar).

But Saraghina is really genuinely good. Earthy, "authentic" market-driven Italian.

I wasn't in the mood for pizza. So I had (or intended to have -- see later) an antipasto and a pasta. The putative antipasto, fava bean puree and sauteed dandelion greens, was fresh and delicious. WARNING: they put a LOT of red pepper into this. So don't make the mistake I did: it needs a WHITE wine.

Even better was the pasta, strazzapreti in a deep tomato sauce with pork and beef sausage meat. The saucing was perfect (which is actually pretty hard to get). This is the kind of simple, satisfying food you'd hope for from a place like this, done a bit better than you'd hope.

The decor is charming, a warren of rooms done in basic Brooklyn funk. The crowd is of the diverse type that I so enjoyed in Fort Greene five or ten years ago, but is less apparent there now. I guess that means this is a portent, and this neighborhood will be the next to fall. But it's hard for someone like me not to come off as hypocritical on this subject. (After all, I walked over to eat at this place.) (But to tell you the truth, mainly because David's was closed.) For now, I'll just note that my favorite co-diners were a trio of local kids, ranging from maybe eight to maybe 12, who had pooled what seemed to be the last of their available funds to split two pizzas. They knew the menu pretty well. I was happy for them: I didn't have access to food this good when I was their age.

Complaints: I thought I was ordering an antipasto and a pasta, with a mezzo of wine. What I got were the following at three-minute intervals: the fava/dandelion dish, the wine, the pasta. Maybe they'd give me my wine before or with my food, and spread the food out, if I asked. I'll try next time.

Also, the wine list could be a lot better.

So, the necessary perspective: no, Saraghina isn't in any league approaching Maialino, or even Locanda Verde. It's good for me because it's a very nice 45-minute walk from my apartment. I'm not telling anyone to take a long ride on the C train just to go here. But you could do a lot worse than spending an afternoon walking around the neighborhood (it's not that far from Weeksville, for example) and ending up here.

Anyone eaten at Peaches yet?

[Daniel]

I was not really prepared for Saraghina to be as good as it is.

oH, I have an idea.. Take my freaking word on a place..

[Daniel]

It ain't the way I wanted it! I can handle things! I'm smart! Not like everybody says... like dumb... I'm smart and I want respect!

[Sneakeater]

Your word on your first and third visits, or your second?

[joethefoodie]

It ain't the way I wanted it! I can handle things! I'm smart! Not like everybody says... like dumb... I'm smart and I want respect!

Just don't get in a small fishing boat, Daniel.

[Daniel]

Your word on your first and third visits, or your second?

Uh.. Which ever one fits to make me right..

[Daniel]

A few shots with the iphone at lunch yesterday.. The lighting was so good, i couldnt resist taking a few photos.


I think this was sopressetta




Bufala:




Capacola with artichokes..



Pizza remains to be very good