It took three generations of the Grimaldi
family to bring Jimmy’s Italian restaurant to Bay Ridge.
In 1932, Sal Grimaldi opened Jimmy’s (named for his son) in Brooklyn
Heights. Jimmy took over in 1953, and then handed the reins to
his son Ralph. Ralph oversaw the restaurant from 1973 until 1987
when he sold it and decamped to Manhattan to open several eateries.
In August, chef Ralph opened Jimmy’s in Bay Ridge. Ralph’s predecessors
would be pleased that few changes have been made to the original
Jimmy’s formula: serve hearty Southern Italian cooking in a "continental"
setting and pay attention to details. A perk exclusive to Jimmy’s
is a box of reading glasses brought to the table for patrons
who forget theirs at home.
The decor is a throwback to a more genteel time when "continental"
dining was reserved for special occasions and diners expected
to be pampered. Here, the decor matches the attentive and friendly
service. The long room is painted a complexion-flattering peach
with gold sconces lining the walls, and burgundy linens covering
the tables.
On a Sunday evening the room is quiet with casually dressed couples
of all ages sharing pasta and sipping glasses of wine.
If there’s a leitmotif to Jimmy’s, it’s abundance. Big is in
here. The platters of meat made us gasp; bowls of pasta are sink-sized
and overflowing. The breadbasket has four or five warm Italian
breads: crusty whole wheat; a chewy, seeded twist; a simple semolina
loaf; and a chewy focaccia topped with tangy tomato sauce.
With the bread came the inevitable saucer of olive oil and a
sublime dish of caponata. Plum tomatoes cooked down to a rich
paste bind the eggplant with chunks of soft mushrooms, sweet
onions and saline slices of green olives. The eggplant in Grimaldi’s
caponata is tender without being mushy and not at all oily. The
stew is slightly sweet, slightly tart and rich. A little bit
spooned atop the bread was the first signal that the meal would
offer more than I expected.
The same could be said for a platter of grilled red peppers.
Laid around the plate like a ruby-colored chrysanthemum, the
peppers were served cold with a circle of anchovies in the center.
Around the plate’s edge were gigantic green olives, wrinkled
black olives that tasted of brine and mild, reddish brown olives
with an herbal note. Extra virgin olive oil was generously drizzled
over all. After grilling, the peppers took on a smoky flavor
that was heightened by the salty anchovies.
Few old-style Italian restaurants omit this dish from their menu,
but Jimmy’s version, with its sweet peppers and meaty, salty
anchovies is a fine rendition.
Nothing on Jimmy’s pasta roundup will strike you as exotic. Most
of the pastas are Italian comfort staples like mixed seafood
in marinara sauce; a penne with ricotta, fresh tomato and basil;
angel hair primavera; and linguine with red or white clam sauce.
When it’s prepared well, linguine with white clam sauce can soothe
the soul. So often though, it’s awash in oil and the clams are
rubbery. Grimaldi’s al dente linguine sat in a light broth, heady
with tender clams and delicately enhanced with garlic. Clams
on the half shell ringed a mound of chopped clams and garlic
cloves that were roasted until brown, sweet and butter-soft.
Eating this pasta, then dipping the bread into the broth, I felt
content.
There were a couple of disappointments in Grimaldi’s copious
meat ragu with ziti, a special served family-style on Sunday
evenings. The meatball, a mix of beef, pork and veal was lightly
garlicky but too dense, and the robust flavors of beef brasciole
(a long slice of beef rolled around prosciutto, Parmesan cheese
and pine nuts) were lost in the rich tomato sauce. Included in
this meat orgy, was a crisp, garlic-laden sausage seasoned with
fennel that snapped when it was cut, and a thick slice of moist
pork with a delicious rim of fat.
Eight sea scallops, each the diameter of a small saucer, made
up one order of Cape Santa scallops. Seared until brittle on
the exterior, sweet and moist inside, they needed only a spoonful
of the light, simple white wine, garlic and lemon sauce to soar.
Jimmy’s desserts follow the same tried-and-true path as the rest
of the menu. House-made tiramisu is popular at Jimmy’s as are
the cheesecakes. The apple caramel cheesecake isn’t a traditional
cheesecake as much as a tart of sauteed apple slices suspended
in fluffy custard with a cookie-like crust. It’s surprisingly
sophisticated – if not overly sweet, with more fruit than filling
– and, with a cup of rich coffee, an understated way of finishing
a super-sized dinner.
There are few dishes on Jimmy’s menu that you haven’t enjoyed
many times before. What you’ll order at Jimmy’s, however, like
the caponata with its subtle sweet and sour flavors and the aromatic
linguine with white clam sauce, will be everything you’d wished
for.
Jimmy’s (7204 Third Ave. at 72nd Street
in Bay Ridge) accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diner’s
Club and Discover. Entrees: $15-$36. Family-style platters $45-$55.
Jimmy’s is open for dinner seven nights a week. For reservations,
call (718) 567-8300.
