A recent autumn evening marked the one-year anniversary of Brooklyn Roots in Bay Ridge. The crowded room on 3rd Avenue and 87th Street was full of goodwill, from the happy-go-lucky bartender, to the friendly waitstaff working the floor, to the open kitchen in the back, where the crew prepared the type of Italian food that has generated similar excitement every night since opening.

The Italian eatery has hit the sweet spot of cuisine and community that Chef/Owner Thomas Perone dreamed of throughout his decades-long cooking odyssey in New York. “It’s the only thing I’m good at,” Perone jokes.