At Cataldo's, It's All in the Family

When Salvatore Cataldo smiles, his boyish sheepishness is equal parts Brooklyn and Sicily. Having spent 35 years in Brooklyn, his story is one of New York: a young Sicilian man emigrated as a teenager to work in his brother’s Italian restaurant, met a girl and settled down.

Now, three decades after coming to America, Cataldo has a restaurant of his own, one that is as quintessentially New York as he is.

“When I came to New York, it was on vacation,” says Cataldo. He smiles. “I never left.”

Salvatore is the owner of Cataldo’s, an Italian restaurant specializing in wood-fired pizza on Vanderbilt Avenue.  Having 35 years of experience working in his brother’s pizza shop, Cataldo knows his trade.

The menu at the restaurant features classic Italian favorites such as eggplant parmesan and chicken piccata (the owner recommends trying the Bolognese sauce), but the real draw is the pizza oven. Made from imported lava stone from Italy, the wood-fired pizza oven makes pies that Cataldo’s turns into gastronomic delights; the pizzas feature everything from Quattro Formaggi ricotta to pickled artichokes. Like the oven, the ingredients and recipes are also imported from Italy; some of Cataldo’s dishes are straight from his mother’s cookbook.

Cataldo’s opened its doors in 2009, before which Salvatore worked at Nino’s, his brother’s pizza shop in Carroll Gardens. It was there that he learned the intimite details of his trade and instilled in him a passion for quality. His decades of experience working closely with Italian food made him confident enough to open his own restaurant.

“I loved working with my brother,” says Cataldo. “But I think it was time for me to do something on my own.” 

It was while he was working that he met Cicilia, a local girl who also had emigrated from Italy. “He saw me one day when I came into the restaurant,” she says, as her husband sits next to her with his sheepish grin. “He pursued me for some time. He wouldn’t stop asking me out until I said yes.” The couple, now married for over 30 years, runs the restaurant together with their two children, Phyllis and Rosolino.

“I can’t imagine doing anything else than this,” says Salvatore of his trade. “It’s what I know.” And his favorite food? He smiles that mischievious smile once more as he grabs his belly. “Can’t you tell? Pasta.”

, 554 Vanderbilt Ave. at Dean Street, 718-857-6700, is open Mon-Sat, 11am - 10pm, Sun, noon - 9pm and offers delivery. It also serves brunch and offers a catering menu.