There’s a new restaurant in Brooklyn called Barano. For those of you familiar with Brooklyn, it’s in Williamsburg. Now that Williamsburg has become fashionable and trendy, there’s no end to the new adventures you can find there… Barano is one of them…

Atmosphere: Barano is a medium-small restaurant. I’ve been to much smaller and certainly much bigger. Dimly lit at night, Italian tiles, modestly appointed… one floor, one bar, two main seating areas – front and back – and most importantly – The Chef’s counter…

We sat at the Chef’s counter. Yes, we were a bit skeptical at first because it’s literally the counter where the servers pick up the food – directly across from where the food is being prepared and the Chef – Albert Di Meglio – is standing there putting the finishing touches on every dish before passing it on to the servers.

Turns out it was the absolute best place to sit. We got personalized service from Chef Al and from the partner on duty that night, Johnny.

Food: This is real Italian. Not Americanized Italian or assembly line Italian – Real Italian… The menu is exotic – I went with a friend who’s a much more adventurous eater than I… Be forewarned all you meat and potatoes eaters out there…

So I had the meatballs – LOL. This was a full meal. The consistency of the meatballs is so dense… they’re just a big ball of solid meat. Right up my alley. Fresh tomato sauce, finished off with herb ricotta… Perfect.

I was with a seafood eater and she had the Octopus and we shared some pasta. I’m told the Octopus was good, but, you know me, if it’s not meat, I’m not eating it. Hand made pasta – Ricotta Cavatelli. Chef even threw in a couple extra meatballs for us… another shout-out for the meatballs…

Service: A+. The service sealed the deal. As previously mentioned, we were skeptical in the beginning… We were the only people at the Chef’s counter… It’s in the back of the restaurant and everything looked like something I was not eating.

But Chef Al was so gracious and put me at ease. Both he and Johnny were very friendly and accommodating, even taking the time to have conversation with us while attending to the entire restaurant. We definitely felt like we got personalized service…

Best kept secret: We got in before the Chef’s counter becomes the hottest seat in the house…

The final word: Barano gets an A-. It’s always so nice when you enter a situation with doubts, but, let it play out only to find yourself completely satisfied with the final outcome. This was our night at Barano.

Make a trip over to Barano. And now that you know what to expect, you’re experience can only be an A+… Chef Al will be there and make sure to ask for Johnny…