Tradition (and Tripe) at Ferdinando's Focacceria

Walking into Ferdinando's is like stepping back in time: the interior is decidedly not on trend. The walls on one side of the restaurant are wood-paneled and covered with clippings spanning the restaurant's hundred-plus years in business. The front of the restaurant is dominated by a massive display case and the floors are tiled in a floral pattern.

Ferdinando's lack of aesthetic ambition is actually quite relaxing: in a neighborhood where everyone from Persons of Interest to Clover Club is aping the retro look, Ferdinando's has it, authentically, in spades.

"I haven't changed much at the restaurant, because that's the way people like it," said Ferdinando's owner, Francesco Buffa.

Buffa has run Ferdinando's since 1975, the third generation of Buffas to do so.

"People like this place because it's still authentic and they come from all over -- Florida, California -- to visit. This is the only authentic Sicilian place in Brooklyn. There's no way to duplicate it."

All this atmosphere and history, of course, wouldn't be worth much if the food at Ferdinando's wasn't to die for. Thankfully, it very much is.

"I've been following the same recipes since I started working in this business," said Buffa. "We make everything from scratch here: we bake our own bread, stuff our own sundried tomatoes, and toast our own breadcrumbs."

Much of the pasta at Ferdinando's is housemade and the rest is imported from Italy.

The care Buffa and his staff puts into his food is immediately noticeable. A simple plate of pasta al forno, penne with meat sauce and ricotta, is marvelously redolent of meat. The linguine con pescatore boasts enough clams, mussels and squid to stuff even the hungriest of seafood enthusiasts. Even the tripe is good; savory and not too chewy.

Though everything we tried on Ferdinando's menu was excellent, the menu's standouts are definitely the Sicilian specialties.

Start with the arancini, a giant fried ball of rice surrounding a filling of meat and peas, and the vastedda, spleen (don't worry, it mostly just tastes like mushrooms) layered with a mountain of fresh ricotta and served as a sandwich. Move on to the savory-sweet pasta con sarde, pasta tossed with sardines, wild fennel, pine nuts, and a mysterious spice blend, and the linguine con seppia, topped with chopped squid and presented in a sauce of the squid's ink. Bonus: though the pastas at Ferdinando's run $16-20, the portions are gigantic, easily enough to share.

It's hard to imagine Ferdinando's existing in another neighborhood. The customer mix of old-timers and newer food-obsessed inhabitants is quintessentially Carroll Gardens, and we're all the luckier for it.