Having heard and been curious about the Sicilian eatery Piattini, my friend and I ventured from Manhattan to this unpretentious, yet one of the best Sicilian restaurants, in New York.
Anyone who knows a bit of Sicily’s history marvels at the variety of culinary influences that shaped its cuisine, due to its many conquerors over the centuries and to its rich soil and climate.
The first settlers came from Spain and Portugal. Later, conquerors came from Italy, Turkey, Greece, and from the Arabian Peninsula. The Phoenicians introduced the alphabet to Sicily. The Arabs, who occupied Sicily for 200 years, planted orchards of lemons, oranges, dates, peaches, and apricots. The Arabs also grew sugarcane and eggplant.
Piattini sits at the corner of Fourth Avenue, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Executive chef, known as the gelato master Gino Cammarata, owned the ice cream shop Oro Verde and the Syracosa Restaurant.
