Brooklyn's OLDEST Italian Restaurant, Explained (Feat. Danielle Caminiti)

If ravioli was a professional athlete, these would be disqualified as being on steroids. Did you hear that the chicken parm was invented here? Is that true? That's a true. It's a true. Look at that cheese pull. How sick is that? Excuse me. Yeah. Where can you find the best Italian food in Brooklyn? The best Italian food in Brooklyn? It's a loaded question. You mean like old school Italian? Old school Italian. Like old, old school Italian? Old, old school Italian. Follow me, I got the perfect spot. Let's go to Vamonti's. Hell yeah. Have you been here before? This place is a living relic of a bygone era. Follow me. It's been open 125 years. It's a time capsule. So I'm Danielle. My handle is having covered in the kitchen. And we are at a classic red sauce establishment, but not just any red sauce establishment. It's one of the oldest Italian restaurants in New York City. A lot of politicians and actors, actresses, celebrities have frequented here. Like Joe DiMaggio, Frank Sinatra has been here. A number of different television and movie scenes were filmed in Vamonti's. The pay phones that we just walked past were in the Sopranos episode with Valentina. It was an episode in the Sopranos where someone actually gets killed, taken out. That was back there. And it's like Cheers, where everybody knows your name. You know the waiters, they know you. It's classic dishes. It's the staples. It's the old school, old world dishes that I grew up with against the backdrop of a historic, iconic restaurant that hasn't changed in 125 years. So one of their classic dishes that I love is the eggplant rollatini. Grazie. And the mussels marinara. You can't go wrong with either of these options. They are old school and they are phenomenal. And red sauce joint always has to have an element of red sauce. So an eggplant rollatini is what its name implies. It's rolled eggplant with ricotta and mozzarella inside. And of course, marinara sauce on the outside. This is one of my favorite appetizers at Vamonti's. It's one that's stood the test of time. Oh, we got a birthday here. I'm gonna turn around and wish them luck. I digress. Eggplant rollatini. Cheers. That is just so good. They never miss. They never miss with the eggplant rollatini. The mussels are just phenomenal. If you can just get a closeup of them, they're always so fresh and they're always so delicious. Just take a look at how plump and delicious these mussels are. Delicious. Naturally, we have to uncover the bread because with mussels comes dipping sauce. And if you didn't dip, it didn't happen. This is what's known as a sponge job. This is definitely a sponge job. Normally I watch carbs, but here I actually just watch carbs go into my mouth. Always hits the spot, always. A lot of people go for the white sauce on the mussels. I always go for the red sauce because if you're a red sauce joint, you wanna make sure that the red sauce is good. That holds true on the seafood, that holds true on the vegetables, that holds true on the pasta. I can never get sick of red sauce. Like, I have red sauce going through my veins. I'm Southern Italian, so it is what it is. Oh, wow. Thank you so much. Cheese, a little red pepper. Okay, so if ravioli was a professional athlete, these would be disqualified as being on steroids. It's teeming with, like, molten ricotta. Let me just cut it open for you. They make these in-house. How sick is that? Look at that cheese pull. So, so good. The diet starts tomorrow, you know? When you go to Bomonti's, you can't be on a diet. Angora, the linguine vongole. This is one of my favorites. This is a Lenten classic because on Fridays during Lent, we never, never had meat. And I love the linguine with clam sauce, white style, as opposed to the red. Just my preference. So we're gonna just scoop a little of this. What's the best way to serve pasta? So I don't really get involved with the spoon. A lot of people get involved with the spoon. I don't, I just go fork to plate. Look at the size of the clams that they give you. These are no, like, chopped, canned clams. These are fresh. These are the real deal. This is how I twirl. Fork to plate, that's it. No spoon, just fork to plate. That is so good. So fresh. So I was always team linguine over team spaghetti. I like the bitiness of it. I like when it's very, very al dente, almost to the point that people would say it's maybe a little raw, but I'd rather that than a pasta being soft. If it's soft, I won't eat it. It has to be al dente, al dente. And this is, this is perfect. The way they did this, perfect. Delicious. Bon appetit. Thank you. Hey, how are you? How you doing? Good to see you. How's everything? What are you doing in my neighborhood? I'm eating. What do you think I'm doing? Countdown to the feast, right? Oh, last year was great. This year's gonna be even better. So, if you don't know, the OLMC feast on Julio's Sunday in here, it's bananas, right? They're here with the napkins in the air, chairs flying, everything, the band comes in. It's wild. It's really something to see. Well, they all come back for the feast. Yes. So, they wanna come back to Bomonti's too. Always. Good food, you get to see everyone in the neighborhood. We celebrate, you know. Food and entertainment, all in one. All right, I'll see you soon. If you need a reservation, call me. I will, I will. Take care. Always good to see Monsignor Jamie. He's a permanent fixture in Bomonti's and he is basically entertainment of the Il Julio feast. It's always a crazy time, it's always a good time. So, we'll be here. So, we're getting chicken parm and we're getting the pork chop with the cherry peppers. So, Bomonti's is said to have invented the chicken parm. I know, it's controversial, but if you ever find yourself on Italian American Jeopardy and you are faced with the question, who invented chicken parm for 1,000, you can proudly say Bomonti's in Williamsburg. Oh, here we go. Excuse me, I have the chicken parmesan and the pork chop. The legendary chicken parm. So, Raymond, did you hear that the chicken parm was invented here? This was our thing. It was? Is that true? Yes, it's true. It's the truth. Wow. Chicken parm is always one of those things that I never have in a gyro. I always have it as a standalone. This is the hallmark of a red sauce joint, the parms. If you screw up the parm, you really shouldn't be a classic red sauce joint. That just hits every single time. They never do anything that's off-color, off-key. It's just always perfect. It's always good. What makes the perfect chicken parm? The sauce has to be good. Without the sauce being good, this whole thing falls apart. The fresh mozzarella is always tasty, but it doesn't melt right. So this is not fresh mozzarella. This is regular, low-moisture mozzarella. And, of course, a crispy, golden brown, and delicious cutlet is the foundation of a chicken parm. So when you got all that, you got the perfect trifecta. So next up is my favorite, pork chop with hot cherry peppers. So we're gonna dig right in. Look at that. You could smell what I'm smelling. It's very, very vinegary. I judge a place based on the pork chop and cherry peppers. If they have it, it's a plus. And if they have it and they do it right, it's an A plus. Look, pork, the other white meat. This is definitely on my short list for death row meals. That hits the spot. Spicy, good. They do it perfectly here because they don't drown it in a gravy. Some of the places put it in such a heavy sauce. It's just with garlic. It's very light. It's very vinegary. Always love this dish. I always make this dish, and I always order it out. Almost to the point where my friends are like, all right, enough with the pork chop and the cherry peppers. There are other things on the menu, but I like it. I like what I like. Oh, my goodness. Thank you. Oh, my God. Thank you. Their Italian cheesecake is legendary. Like, this is my favorite thing in the whole world. I crave this. This is literally my favorite dessert. And they make this in-house. Like, this is no Bindi or that they subcontract out or they get delivered. They make this. I love this. It's not too sweet. This is my favorite. My favorite of all time. And now we're trying the berry tart. They also make this one. And it's phenomenal. I'm not even lying. That is so ridiculous. We're gonna have a little espresso now. Little on his head. Never hurt anybody. Puts hair on the chest, you know? Cheers. Pinky up. Perfect. Hi, how are you? Laura, how are you? Nice to see you. How's everything? Everything is delicious. Everything is great. Did you enjoy everything? Of course, as usual. So, Laura is one of the owner's daughters. So, Anthony's daughter. It's Laura, Nicole, and Lisa. Yeah. Three daughters, right? My dad, he was in the restaurant his whole life. He was in the kitchen cooking years ago. My grandparents were in the kitchen before him. So, it just, you know, all our recipes went down from generation to generation, so. So, it's four generations now. Yes. Wow. And hopefully our children will be the fifth, but they're still young yet, so. It's like home. It's like home cooking. Do you remember the Sopranos being filmed here? So, what table were they at? When they came in with the girlfriends, they were in a corner table here, and then James Gandolfini actually sat down with me and my dad, like in between scenes, and he sat with us and talked with us. It was a very nice experience. Aw, that's so nice. He was a great man. And where was the guy whacked? In the middle, right underneath where the chandelier was. Over there. Don't change a thing. No, never. No QR codes. Never, never. We don't want QR codes. Keep the laminated menus. We would never change. No, you can't. It's just, it's perfect the way it is. So, ever since I remember, I always was a foodie, and I know a thing or two about a thing or two about food, but Monti's, it just is a taste of home to me. So, if you guys are ever in Brooklyn, go to Withers Street, go to Bomonti's. You definitely won't regret it. And if you wanna know how to make some of those dishes at home, some of those classic Italian dishes, I have a cookbook. Its name is From Portland to Puccino, and you'll find some home cooking there, some good old-fashioned Italian red sauce recipes, and you definitely won't be sorry. Salute.