The best italian restaurant anywhere

Let me get this out of the way: The best italian restaurant I've ever been to, anywhere, is in Brooklyn, New York. It's called La Piazzetta, it's been around since 2002, and its food is unparalleled. Owned and operated by immigrants from Naples, it specializes in southern Italian cuisine (for the uninitiated that means red sauce; northern Italians barely use tomatoes), and it's blown away the competition in the neighborhood.

Which is amazing, because this is an old Napolitan neighborhood that I live in. There have been the best italian restaurant arguments around here for more than a hundred years, and a couple of the places around here have been around that long themselves. But they all pale in comparison to La Piazzetta, which really is the best italian restaurant.

What makes it so good? It's a combination of factors, revolving primarily around the freshness of the ingredients and the preparation. They believe, at La Piazzetta, in using as many local ingredients as is possible, from the buffala (which is made down the street from the restaurant from the milk of cows raised on Long Island) to the pasta itself, which is handmade on the premises, almost everything is fresh and local.

This applies to the fish as well, which is bought every day from the local New York City fish markets and comes to your table practically still swimming. It's a culinary experience that's unbeatable.

Here's a review of La P from Yelp.com:

I love this restaurant. Not only have I had the best gnocchi ever at this place (literally like perfect clouds of pasta) but everything else is fantastic as well. The service is efficient, friendly, and unobtrusive. The space itself is large yet cozy and the atmosphere is casual but certainly not bare-bones or institutional. I've enjoyed everything I've eaten here, and the prices are incredibly reasonable. This is the sort of neighborhood restaurant that does much more than is necessary to simply keep afloat. It makes me wish I lived around this stretch of Graham Ave. just so I could drop by here for a great meal any night of the week.

High praise, and even that doesn't do it justice (though I love the gnocchi as "perfect clouds of pasta" turn of phrase). Make sure, if you're ever in New York, to do yourself a favor and check out La Piazzetta. It's an experience that you shouldn't miss.