With all the vagaries restaurants endure,
it’s no surprise that their lifespans are often brief. So when
an establishment is going strong after four decades, it’s a triumph.
That’s the story of Michael’s, a family-run restaurant that has
stood on the corner of Avenue R and Nostrand Avenue in Sheepshead
Bay since 1964.
That was the year Michael Cacace, an immigrant from Bari, Italy,
opened the first Michael’s, a single-oven pizza parlor that seated
three. Forty-one years and 10 renovations later, Michael’s dining
room serves 130, sports a newly refurbished bar, a catering hall
on the premises that holds 300 and a huge bakery across the street.
Fred Cacace, Michael’s son, owns the restaurant; Fred’s brother,
John, is the chef along with Giovanni Pesce. It’s Fred, dressed
in a dark suit, who greets customers, many of whom have been
regulars since he was a boy.
Diners come for the huge, Old World Italian dishes that Fred
says have "evolved over time. We have all sorts of fish
and seasonal produce that we couldn’t get years ago." And
they return for the singular ambiance.
In the huge, glossy-paneled dining room, big round tables covered
in linen are placed far apart. Floor-length mirrors on the far
wall extend the visuals. Generous bouquets are placed about the
room as well as simple arrangements of fresh flowers at each
table. Waiters wear tuxedos with bowties and cummerbunds. Every
evening a piano player perched on a platform near the bar plays
popular songs and some jazz numbers.
My description makes the restaurant sound formal and terribly
unhip. But it’s the opposite. Michael’s certainly isn’t trendy
the way some Smith Street bistros are, yet it has an edge. The
diners dress casually, with many in jeans. In this setting, it’s
easy to imagine Ol’ Blue Eyes holding court at one table, while
across the room, musicians from a local rock band chow down on
veal chops primavera.
Once you’re seated, a big basket arrives with fresh focaccia
and Italian bread. It’s enough to feed 10. Be warned: most of
the single serving dishes at Michael’s would pass as family-style
platters in other establishments.
That’s true for the hot seafood antipasto, a hit-or-miss affair
that looks like a deep-sea version of Noah’s Ark. In the center
of the ark are the tentacles of a grilled octopus splayed like
dancing girls in purple tights. Around the tentacles are two
fat, perfectly cooked shrimp in a light, garlicky scampi sauce,
two slightly dry baked clams and two fabulous baked oysters in
a lemony, garlic topping. Little pairs of tender mussels in a
bland tomato topping and buttery soft squid cut into crisply
breaded large squares complete the arrangement. Two diners could
easily share the dish.
On Sunday, the restaurant offers a traditional Italian "Sunday
dinner." Our waiter, Enzo, explained how the dish is made.
"[An Italian] mother takes a big pot of homemade tomato
sauce and puts the sausage in, the meatballs, the braciola and
the spare ribs and cooks it for a long time. It’s very good."
Indeed it is. The meat flavors the slow-simmering sauce with
a rich, earthy taste, while the tomato and herb flavorings penetrate
the meat. It’s ladled over a hefty serving of al dente "cavatappi
(corkscrew pasta)." The braciola’s beef (rolled beef stuffed
with garlic and celery) became tender after its long cooking;
the delicious sausage was heavily laced with anise; and the spare
rib had a sweet, tomato delicacy. The only disappointment was
the dense, heavy meatball. Where’s Rocco’s mama when you need
her?
Serving branzino (a small sea bass) filleted is the way to go
with this bony fish. Michael’s meaty fillets are cooked in a
light wine sauce and scattered with a few sweet slices of slowly
cooked garlic. It’s delectable. Ditto for the creamy-centered,
crisp-crusted little risotto cake that absorbed the fish’s sauce.
Desserts include a pillowy soft, supersized tiramisu – faintly
flavored with coffee – that was about as good as this dessert
gets, and a hot chocolate cake that’s really a thin chocolate
souffle in a creme brulee dish. The cake was almost black, suggesting
a rich chocolate flavor but was surprisingly pallid. Cannolis,
cookies and eclairs come from Michael’s pastry shop across the
street.
It would be easy to dismiss Michael’s as one of those institutions
that rely on schtick – like piano players and tuxedoed waiters
– to draw a crowd. And, yes, the live music and fancy uniforms
are still in place. But so is the good food, the come-as-you-are
ambiance and that something intangible in the air that is uniquely
Michael’s – that’s just so Brooklyn. And you wouldn’t want to
miss the Sunday dinner and the sweet waiters who have lovingly
described each dish on the menu so many times that, if the chef
were to suddenly quit, they could throw off their tuxedo jackets
and cook it themselves.
Michael’s (2929 Avenue R at Nostrand
Avenue in Sheepshead Bay) accepts American Express, Carte Blanche,
Diners’ Club, Discover, MasterCard and Visa. Entrees: $17-$36.
The restaurant serves lunch and dinner, Tuesday through Sunday.
Closed Mondays. A parking lot is adjacent to the restaurant.
For more information, call (718) 998-7851.
