At Brooklyn Roots in Bay Ridge, on a wintery Saturday night, the crowded room teemed with conviviality, from the happy-go-lucky bartender, to the friendly waitstaff working the floor, to the open kitchen in back where the crew prepared the type of Italian food that has generated similar excitement every night since opening in October of 2021.

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