While a pizzeria has stood at 159-49 Cross Bay Boulevard for over 10 years, there was nothing like Baby Luna, which opened about four months ago under its new owner, Giuseppe Borruso.
“I focused on the purity of a region - Sicily - when cooking each portion, while paying attention to every detail of the meal,” said Borruso. Instead of creating another Italian-American restaurant, Howard Beach resident Borruso focused more on bringing Italian and Sicilian flavors back to food many of us eat on a regular basis.
“I’ve been a chef most of my life,” Borruso, who also teaches at the College of Culinary Arts at Johnson and Wales University in Florida, explained. He felt that now was the best time to realize the dream of owning his own restaurant, one with a more authentic menu than most “pizza joints.”
While the pizza, made with fresh mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce, is delicious, the rest of the menu is the real reason to visit. By day, the restaurant is divided into two sections, the “pizzeria” side and the “dining” side, with white tablecloths and bottled Italian water on the table. During the evening, the entire restaurant is converted for dinner guests. There is also seating available outside the restaurant, located on Cross Bay Boulevard.
We were served with a basket of bread and cheese bread, an eggplant and olive appetizer spread and a couscous salad with mint soon after being seated. Both the eggplant and couscous were great cold choices that left us ready to tackle the main course. The eggplant was a great choice for spread instead of regular butter, and the couscous salad, unique to this Italian/Sicilian restaurant offered an excellent mix of flavors.
The menu holds so many choices; it was almost too difficult to pick a meal. Apart from the regular pizza, pasta and chicken picks, there are soups, veal, sausage, paninis, stuffed pies and seafood.
The shrimp scampi, in a garlic, butter and white wine sauce was light, not oily, and tasted great with lemon. The chicken Paesano, a grilled chicken breast saut/ed with peas, sun dried tomatoes, peppers and mushrooms in a marinara sauce, was a succulent mix of chicken and vegetables that doesn’t leave one with a stuffed feeling afterward.
Everything was balanced in the baked ziti and it had no oily flavor. The sauce tasted just right and complemented the cheese.
The house salad of fresh mozzarella, black olives, onions, tomato, and roasted red pepper with a balsamic vinegar dressing was a fine match to the meal.
Desserts are baked fresh daily, and the cheesecake and the tiramisu are two can’t miss choices. There are also cannoli and gelato, espresso and cappuccino available.
Daily specials include saut/ed wild king salmon on Mondays, panelle on Tuesdays, pasta con sarde on Wednesdays, Pasta con forno on Thursdays, stuffed peppers on Fridays, boiled polipo on Saturdays and veal spidini alla Siciliana on Sundays.
Baby Luna also features live entertainment twice a month, usually on Saturday nights. One of the past acts, an accordion player and singer who serenaded diners outside drew a large crowd. “There were maybe 100 people outside,” on Cross Bay Boulevard Borruso said, smiling. “They were dancing on the sidewalk.”
Baby Luna Ristorante and Pizzeria
159-49 Cross Bay Boulevard
Howard Beach, NY 11414
718-659-9000
Hours: Open 7 days, Monday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., noon to 11 p.m. on Sundays.
Credit Cards: All major credit cards accepted.
Parking: Parking lot adjacent to restaurant, street parking on Cross Bay Boulevard and down side streets. Valet parking on Friday and Saturday nights.
Public Transportation: Q 21 or Q 41 Bus.
Specials: Restaurant is available for parties and catering for all occasions.
Free delivery with a $10 minimum.
