Caselnova

Some places in Red Hook get to be neighborhood joints by virtue of their isolation. Dean Caselnova's letting the honest trattoria fare do the negotiating at his eponymous new 45-seater, which is also the name of a restaurant his grandfather and uncles ran in Long Island a generation yore. Caselnova, a former finance guy, started cooking professionally in 2006 after culinary school and training in Italy (Bologna and the Amalfi Coast), all of which informs his pan-Italian menu. House specialties are classics like tagliatelle with traditional bolognese sauce, manicotti (his mother's recipe), and, slightly less classic, a shell steak with Chianti demi-glaze. Sunday dinners bring family-style "Sunday sauce" (aka gravy) on fusilli, meatballs and sausages, homemade ricotta, biscotti, and a cup of joe for 17 bones. It's BYO juice until the liquor license clears.

See more: Carroll Gardens restaurants, Red Hook restaurants, Italian restaurants