It’s always a good day when a well thought-out kosher restaurant debuts in New York. On today’s lineup is Castell’s, a new high-end kosher dairy Italian restaurant that just opened at 222 Avenue U in Gravesend, Brooklyn.
Inside the 3,800-square-foot space, diners will get to delight in pizze prepared inside wood fired ovens, salads of all sorts, homemade pasta dishes, different types of fish and the sorts of appetizers that pepper all Italian restaurants that open in New York (arancini! Garlic bread!).
Although the eatery’s official website does not yet feature a menu, a mere peruse through social media posts makes it clear that the owners are betting big on three things, in addition to the pretty good looking food: properly made cocktails (which, if you know anything about kosher restaurants, is a rarity), Instagram-worthy desserts (whether they taste as good as they look is yet to be seen) and the actual space and decor. About the latter: at least in photos, Castell’s layout—including white tablecloths and a fancy bar buildout—looks even more high-end than the food on offer… which is good, considering the fact that kosher Italian food is generally solid.
A note about the name: in Catalan, a Romance language spoken in certain parts of Italy (mainly, in Sardegna), “castell” means “castle.”
Clearly, the owners are going for a vibe. Whether folks will flock to the space and be satisfied is yet to be determined, but Castell’s certainly gets bonus points for properly trying.
