The Mendelsohn family, which opened Boro Park’s first kosher pizza 56 years ago, opened an upscale dairy restaurant, Cucina Modern Kitchen, next door on 18th Avenue. Their gourmet dishes include sourdough pizzas and a fish version of Lebanese Arayes. Full Story, Photos
By COLlive reporter
Photos: Tzvi Levenhartz/COLlive
If you need another reason to stop by 18th Avenue in Boro Park for a delicious bite, the Mendelsohn family has just added a second option.
The family, synonymous with delicious kosher eating and catering, opened an upscale dairy restaurant next door to its long-running pizzeria this week.
Cucina Modern Kitchen offers gourmet sourdough pizzas, beet profiteroles with creamy ricotta cheese filling, four-cheese cigars, and Sabich made with eggs, cheese, eggplant, and homemade hummus.
“My grandmother was a great cook, and all her recipes were homemade from scratch,” said the owner, Heshy Mendelsohn. “We are continuing the tradition by offering our extensive menu of pizza, pastas, salads, and desserts, which are a mix of Mediterranean and Italian flavors, each dish bursting with color and delicious flavor.”
After surviving the Second World War, his grandfather Rabbi Mayer Mendelsohn arrived in the United States from Poland. In 1969, he and his wife Malka opened a small pizza shop in Brooklyn, New York.
The couple lived and raised their family in Crown Heights but opened the first kosher pizza shop in Boro Park. The menu consisted of only pizza, falafel, and French fries. Malka created the recipes from scratch and soon had people come from far and near to taste and experience their food.
In 1975, their son Kalman Mendelsohn came aboard and helped expand the store by adding seating and featuring new items on the menu, such as pastas, fish and other items.
Now, 56 years after the first Mendelsohn’s Pizza opened, the third generation of Mendelsohns is running the business. Heshy Mendelsohn, Kalman’s son, teamed up with Chef Mendy Uzan, who has years of experience in restaurants around the world, from Mexico to New York.
The dishes they offer combine their family’s traditional recipes with a modern vibe. Heshy said the sourdough pizzas are “a complicated feat since you are dealing with a live product.”
They offer salads such as Caesar, Greek Island, Haloumi, and Nicoise. The pasta menu includes penne ala vodka, alfredo cream, classic tomato, and gnocchi. The grilled fish menu includes branzino, sea bass and salmon. They even have their version of the Lebanese Arayes made with grilled cod and salmon in a pita.
The warm and upscale ambiance adds to the experience, with warm wood accents and a beautiful bar along the rear of the restaurant, which offers hot and cold coffees, fresh fruit shakes, mocktails, and shortly will offer beer and alcoholic drinks.
All ingredients, such as pasta, sauces, and dough, are made in-house, and “all the dishes are creative and were created through a long process,” Chef Uzan explains.
“We invite you to experience Cunina Modern Kitchen – we are opening our kitchen to all of you to enjoy our simple, uncomplicated, and delicious Mediterranean flavors,” Heshy Mendelsohn says.
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Cucina Modern Kitchen
4420 18th Ave. Brooklyn NY 11204
Sun – Thur, 12:30pm – 10:30pm
(631) 784-0600
Kashrus: Cholov Yisroel under OU and CRC (Rabbi Binyomin Gruber)
Cucinamodern.com
