Come for the view, stay for the pizza.
Cecconi’s, an Italian restaurant from the folks behind Soho House, opened this week in DUMBO’s Empire Stores development (55 Water St.) in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Like other restaurants in the chain, which includes locations in Miami and West Hollywood, the eatery offers modern Northern Italian fare in a Venetian-inspired setting (think grand chandeliers, elegant furnishings and black-and-white tiles). But none of the other Cecconi’s can boast a view of the Manhattan Bridge from its terrace.
The restaurant marks the first public venture in NYC for the members-only Soho House, and is the largest of the seven Cecconi’s to date, with 250 seats spread across the barroom, main dining room, private dining room and terrace.
The menu is helmed by Andrea Cavaliere, who oversees all of the Cecconi’s menus, and executive chef Riccardo Bilotta, previously of the Lambs Club and A Voce Columbus Circle, and features Cecconi’s staples such as lobster spaghetti and wood-fired black truffle pizza.
In a borough known for its pies, Cavaliere says Cecconi’s holds up.
“Brooklyn is a pizza power; our pizza is very good,” Cavaliere said. “It’s a thin crust, crispy but light, the toppings are top quality. We are very proud of the flour we use — a natural organic flour from Italy. Even the wood we use is good quality, for flavor.”
The restaurant is open for lunch, cicchetti (Italian tapas) and dinner, with brunch starting this weekend. Highlights there include baked eggs “arrabiata,” cooked in the wood oven, ricotta hotcakes, more pizza and French toast, Cavaliere said.
“Surprisingly, we do French toast,” the Italian chef said. “We do panetonne for the bread.”
To drink, two bars are serving up Italian classics, such as the Negroni and Spritz, as well as house tonics familiar to those who have been to any of one of the Soho House locations.
The restaurant is located on the ground floor of Empire Stores, a project that features a mix of retail and office space. Early next year, a private club from Soho House is slated to open on the top two floors of the development, for the third club in New York City. For that, you’ll need to pony up the yearly membership dues for the rooftop view.
