‘Unlike the Red Sauceries of my Childhood, the Food at my Local Is Extraordinary’
Noodle Pudding in Brooklyn has been feeding the neighborhood for over 25 years
Welcome to I Fucking Love This Restaurant, a column focused on favorites from around the country that have been around awhile.
Open for almost 25 years in the same location at 38 Henry Street, Brooklyn’s Noodle Pudding isn’t an old-school local like the ones we went to when I was a kid. My family did steak for special occasions, but for those please-don’t-make-us-eat-Grandma-Bertha’s-cooking-again nights, we were all about destination Brooklyn Italian restaurants: Nino’s on Union Street in Carroll Gardens, Tomasso’s on 86th in Bay Ridge, Bamonte’s on Withers in Williamsburg, and Queen Restaurant on Court Street near Atlantic in the South Heights.
The food was never the thing at these places; it was the vibe. Think Louis Prima or Dino singing, hazy and soft fauxmantic lighting that became even more appealing once we were old enough to drink too much. Loud, verbalized appreciation when you walked in. Names remembered or faked. Cheeks kissed, shoulders grasped, children allowed or asked after, preferred cocktails remembered. Lobster, pork roasts, Sunday gravy.
