Get Pizza! Get Whacked?

Photo via Pardon Me For Asking

Do you like eating Italian food in a joint steeped in nostalgia and a history of mob ties? If so, you're in luck, paisan.

Monte's Venetian Room, an Italian restaurant at 451 Carroll Street -- a mere waft from the Gowanus Canal -- has just reopened. The famed eatery, which closed under questionable circumstances back in 2008, is so old that when it first opened, America's favorite rough rider, Teddy Roosevelt, was in the White House, and cholera was still a real possibility. That was in 1906, guys. 1906! THAT'S OLDSAUCE.

When the joint first opened, it was called "Angelo's Restaurant." In the 1930's, Angelo visited Venice and when he came back to the States, he slapped a huge mural of Venice up on the wall and the place was renamed "Monte's Venetian Room." For years, Monte's became both a well-kept secret & a legendary hangout; a neighborhood restaurant beloved by the Rat Pack, the mob & the mob members of the Rat Pack. Sammy Davis played a surprise show there. During Prohibition, they were all "fuck that." Ever seen the 1991 film Men of Respect? Yeah, me neither but in it, Park Slope badass John Turturro totally shoots a mob boss in Monte's, clearing the way for him to take control of mafia shizz.

The old Monte's was historic. The best way to really get a feel for what it stood for is to watch this fifteen-minute 2007 interview on sorta-insane Brooklynite Barry Z’s show where he sits down with Tony Monte. In it, Barry gets the 411 on Monte's history, food & clientele (although for SOME reason, other than Capone, Tony goes mum on the mobsters). One of my favorite parts:

Barry Z: What's this area called here?
Tony Monte: We call it "South Brooklyn." People for some reason for real estate purposes they call it "Carroll Gardens." They call it "Lower Park Slope." They call it "Gowanus Heights" now. That's a new name.
Barry Z: Isn't this "Red Hook?"
Tony Monte: No...It ain't "Red Hook."

Tony must be positively FUMING over what's in store for the Superfund-designated, soon-to-be Whole Foods-infused area where his family's restaurant became legendary. Long live Gowanus.

Monte's has reopened in the same locale under new owners Dominick Castelvetre and his wife, Tina Esposito. Dominick apparently worked at Monte's as a kid; a situation I assume was a Brooklyn version of A Bronx Tale. With that in mind, taking over and reopening Monte's is probably pretty awesome for him.

What's new about the new Monte's? The kitchen features a new wood-burning pizza oven shipped over from Naples. All the members of the Rat Pack are dead. A good portion of the décor has changed. There's no longer a Venice mural. Instead of mobsters visiting, you get shitheads like Mayor Bloomberg visiting. Incidentally, according to the NY Daily News, Bloomberg ordered "fresh pasta with spicy marinara sauce, pine nuts and sausage" when he stopped by. According to all accounts, he did not fatally choke on any portion of his dinner.

I was going to head to Monte's this past weekend to check the place out but I'm now afraid that I may have written something in this article that will get me whacked the minute I step within fifteen feet of the place...so, you should head down there and let me know what you think instead.

Unless you want to get whacked as well, you probably shouldn't mention that FIPS sent you.

Read way more from Shawn at eatdrinksnack.com.