Ferdinando’s Foccacieria isn’t a bread shop. It also isn’t one of those classic Italian-American red-sauce restaurants. Opened in 1904, Ferdinando’s Foccacieria makes real Sicilian food and, though a relic from over 100 years ago, still makes it really well.
We began with antipasti, as you do. This platter has pickled cauliflower and peppers, cold fried eggplants, the Sicilian classic sweet-and-sour (agrodolce) mixed-vegetable antipasto of caponata, and, surprise star of the whole evening, sun-dried tomatoes stuffed with herbs and garlic. These were extraordinarily flavorful and tasted remarkably like a Sicilian pesto.
Panelle are a classic Sicilian street food made of fried chickpea dough. They are extremely difficult to make at home (in my unfortunate experience) and so I was glad to be able to have them here. They are wonderfully textured: crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and very light. We got another classic Sicilian street food as well: arancini, fried rice balls. These were enormous and soaked in tomato sauce, so they lost their crispiness but were still extremely flavorful.
I also insisted on getting the linguine al nero di seppie, linguine with squid ink. The squid ink sauce was very rich and flavorful; I just wish the pasta had been fresh.
Ferdinando’s Foccacieria
151 Union St
Brooklyn, NY 11231