Pasta Night, a “fine-casual” pasta-centric restaurant from James Beard Award-nominated restaurateur, pastry chef and cookbook author Renato Poliafito (who also owns Brooklyn’s daytime café and neighborhood bakery Ciao, Gloria) opened at 575 Vanderbilt Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. Inspired by monthly pasta events held briefly at Ciao, Gloria pre-pandemic, Pasta Night offers a menu of pasta classics with contemporary twists, seasonal appetizers, and a small selection of entrees, a variety of Italian pastries, and desserts (including a rotating gelato selection from Brooklyn-based gelateria Biddrina Gelato). Pasta Night also offers an aperitivo hour, initially offering Italian beers and wines, low ABV cocktails, and mocktails, with additional cocktails to come in the near future, featuring local amaro producers Faccia Brutto. The restaurant also features a small alimentari by the entrance, with imported Italian goods, oils, house-made dry pastas, and more available for purchase. Designed by Studio Parallel, the restaurant is inspired by both the charming, rustic Sicilian countryside and the artwork and energy of 1980s Italy.
Renato Poliafito is a James Beard Award-nominated restaurateur, pastry chef, cookbook author, designer, and entrepreneur based in Brooklyn, NY. After a career in graphic design and advertising, he pivoted his career to food, training as a barista to learn more about the industry, and eventually became interested in opening a bakery and coffee shop. In 2005, Renato opened the Red Hook flagship location of Baked, which kicked off a culinary renaissance in the waterfront neighborhood, resulting in several cookbooks, a line of mixes, granola, bakeware, a location in Tokyo, and multiple James Beard nominations. After more than a decade at Baked, Renato decided to embark on a new project and opened Ciao, Gloria in Prospect Heights in 2019, a daytime café and neighborhood bakery steeped in his Italian-American upbringing and heritage. He is also the author of Dolci!: American Baking with an Italian Accent, his first solo cookbook featuring Italian and “Italian American-ish” cakes, cookies, pies and pastries for any occasion.
Pasta Night co-owner Joseph Catalanotti is an educator by trade with a lifelong penchant for Italian food and hospitality. Joseph met Renato during the pandemic when he was a regular at Ciao, Gloria; the two bonded over their love of Prospect Heights and their shared Sicilian heritage, and decided to open Pasta Night together. Joseph brings both an insatiable passion for food as well as decades of mentorship experience to the Pasta Night team, and manages the team as well as day-to-day operations.
Bringing nearly two decades of culinary expertise to the Pasta Night team, New England native Chef Carly Voltero built her career working in Boston restaurants. Upon moving to New York City in 2019, she joined the opening team at Ciao, Gloria, wherein she married her technical background to Ciao, Gloria’s more casual concept, creating thoughtful composed dishes served in an accessible manner. Her menu at Pasta Night carries these themes, with seasonality inspiring her unique spins on Italian classics, served in a comfortable and casual environment.
Pasta Night’s menu is poised for myriad dining experiences, whether guests want to stop in for an aperitivo interlude with bites or enjoy a complete multi-course meal spanning from antipasti to affogato, with many dishes able to be modified to be gluten-free and vegan-friendly. Aperitivo include an Antipasti Board with a rotating selection of meats, cheeses, dips, and house-made focaccia. Starters include The Goddess Caesar with little gem lettuce served with freshly grated parmesan cheese and Gremolata bread crumbs; and housemade Polpette with marinara, basil and parmesan. Fritti include Arancini with either beef ragu and provola, or taleggio and peperonata; and Calamari with giardiniera and Pasta Night sauce (a salty, creamy, spicy red pepper and saffron-based condiment).
A suite of house-made pastas anchor the Pasta Night menu, emphasizing the versatility of Italian mother sauces. Elevated riffs on classics include a Classic Marinara with spaghetti and parmesan (with the option to add polpette); Carbonara di Stagione with lumachi, pancetta, autumn squash, egg yolk, Parmesan and herbs; and Pesto Genovese with gemelli, broccoli rabe, salsiccia and pecorino. Hearty baked pastas, like the signature Lasagna alla Norma (a coy nod to Pasta alla Norma) layered with eggplant, tomato, scamorza and ricotta, and Gnocchi Sorrentina with marinara, fresh mozzarella, blistered tomatoes, and parmesan round out the offerings.
Augmenting the many pastas are a limited selection of entrees, such as the Chicken Milanese with a salad of arugula, marinated mushrooms and shaved parmesan, and a Branzino special, with a whimsical Italian take on the classic pub dish Fish & Chips – along with other seasonal dishes – coming soon.
The dessert program offers dressed up versions of popular baked goods from Ciao, Gloria, including Bosco Nero, a chocolate cake with diplomat cream and Amarena cherries, and Almond Plum Torte, with the additions of a classic Tiramisu and Biancomangiare, a milk pudding drizzled with honey, among others. Pasta Night has also teamed up with local gelato shop Biddrina Gelato (from the team behind Locanda Vini e Olii) to offer seasonal gelato and sorbetto, many of which can also be spruced up as an Affogato.
At opening, the beverage program will feature Italian wines and beers, low ABV cocktails and mocktails, as well as Italian sodas on tap and an espresso coffee service. In the coming months, a more robust cocktail menu will be available, featuring Italian-inspired cocktails utilizing local amaro producers Faccia Brutto.
Designed by Studio Parallel, the intimate space evokes the coziness of the Sicilian countryside by way of employing earthy tones and highlighting the exposed brick and original wood flooring in the landmark space. Emerald green tiles adorn the bar, echoing the banquettes in the same rich green hue. Pasta Night is a simultaneous homage to the neighborhood’s history (the location was originally an Italian market in the 1940s) and also distinctly modern, with whimsical accents of hot pink dispersed throughout (like the restaurant’s neon sign out front) as well as pops of 1980s Italian pop art. The entire restaurant seats 50, including an outdoor patio that will be enclosed by a pergola for year-round enjoyment.
Pasta Night is open for dinner seven days a week, from 5–10 PM for walk-in service only, with delivery and lunch service to start later in the fall, along with a more robust cocktail menu.
