Ferdinando’s Focacceria to reopen under new name, ownership

Ferdinando’s Focacceria will reopen with a new name and concept that pays homage to the 121-year-old Sicilian restaurant in Carroll Gardens that closed abruptly last month.

“I look forward to honoring the legacy of Ferdinando’s Focacceria and expanding the restaurant group we are building here in Carroll Gardens,” Sal Lamboglia, whose restaurant group is taking over the space, said in a statement.

Lamboglia is the chef and owner of popular Brooklyn restaurants Café Spaghetti, Swoony’s and Sal Tang’s.

“To me, to protect Ferdinando’s, I figured he was the best bet,” said Francesco “Frank” Buffa, who was born in Sicily and took over the restaurant from his wife’s father in 1975. “He knows what he’s doing. I trust the guy, he’s clean-cut, he’s got a family.”

Lamboglia, who was previously the chef at Andrew Carmellini‘s Bar Primi, opened Café Spaghetti across the street from Ferdinando’s Focacceria in May 2022. It quickly became a neighborhood staple for reasonably priced Italian comfort food, earning two stars from the New York Times later that year.

Lamboglia opened a second restaurant, Swoony’s, around the corner in 2023, and Sal Tang’s, a Cantonese restaurant in collaboration with Nom Wah Tea Parlor CEO Wilson Tang, in December.

Buffa said he was happy with the outcome. He understood that Lamboglia would keep the interior largely the same, and introduce some “new items for these young people” on the menu. Buffa also offered his services if Lamboglia should want them.

“I said, Sal, when you open it up, if you see the people still have the old mentality, they want some Ferdinando’s dish or whatever, I’m here, you can call me.”

Buffa closed the restaurant abruptly last month when he decided it was time to retire, and said he fielded calls from multiple parties interested in keeping Ferdinando’s alive.

“I got people who wanna put in money, but then I gotta be there,” Buffa said. “It don’t make no sense. If I wanna retire, I wanna retire. I don’t need your money.”

This story has been updated with comment from Frank Buffa.