I was born and raised in Bensonhurst. My South Brooklyn stomping grounds also included Dyker Heights, Bay Ridge and beyond. Food was a huge part of our community and the focus of much of my attention. I started working in restaurants at age 14 as a dishwasher and worked my way up to the line at the famous Garguilo’s in Coney Island. From there, I went to the Institute of Culinary Education. As a professional chef, I had my own catering company, ran the kitchen of a Manhattan steakhouse, operated kiosks at Citifield and Barclay’s Center, and did some time in fine dining. My dream, all along, was to have my own place in the part of Brooklyn I never left.

I opened Brooklyn Roots in Sunset Park during the pandemic and soon found my dream location on 3rd Avenue in Bay Ridge between 86th and 87th streets. It’s not a joke to say we’ve been busy every night ever since. The neighborhood is incredibly supportive, and we also get people from different parts of Brooklyn, other boroughs, and even from out of state. There’s now people who come straight from the airport. Of course, there was the one guy who came straight from prison, but that’s another story …

You know who doesn’t come? Reviewers from New York publications. The only press we’ve received is from Andrew Cotto, writing in both this paper, the Brooklyn Eagle, and his own magazine, Appetito. Yeah, Andrew’s a local, but he discovered Brooklyn Roots before moving to Bay Ridge. (I like to joke that we are the reason he moved here.) Andrew aside, where’s everybody else? Where are the food critics from the gazillion publications in this town? They’ve had to have heard of us. They must know about our elevated, old school Italian food that brings people in from out of state and straight from prison.

This lack of attention is even more obvious in our new place, The Corner. We opened early this autumn just down the block from Roots, on 86th St. and 3rd Ave. It’s a gorgeous space, full of light with an open kitchen and a Chef’s table. The menu is nothing if not dynamic as I designed it as a tribute to the distinct flavors of South Brooklyn, with an emphasis on French cuisine and technique. There’s influence from every ethnic corner of South Brooklyn, except Italian. You want pasta? Go to Roots.

The Corner is inventive fine dining in an elegant yet casual atmosphere. We are doing very well with the neighborhood and word of mouth is spreading, just like it did with Roots. But I have to again ask: where are the food writers? Isn’t a new, sparkling fine dining restaurant on the corner of a major intersection in Bay Ridge a story? Isn’t it of interest to readers that a chef known for Italian food has gone in a different, adventurous direction? I dunno …

I do know that I’m not alone in this feeling of irrelevance in South Brooklyn. There’s a lot of really good restaurants out here but very little press. Bay Ridge is not Siberia. The R train takes you right here. So, come on food writers: include South Brooklyn in your coverage. We don’t bite; we cook, and we do it very well. You can find me at The Corner.