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“Anella's Fresh Start”

We love Brooklyn restaurants for their independent streak - a locavore sensibility, creative ideas, young chefs and a lack of all that hoopla that makes it impossible to get a reservation. But it is New York City, after all, and restaurants all go through chefs and menu changes.

At Anella, the intimate restaurant in Greenpoint which opened in May last year, Joseph Ogrodnek (who's worked at Union Square Café, Alain Ducasse at the Essex House and Gramercy Tavern) took over as the new executive chef last week.

A new menu with a seasonal, contemporary American focus with nods to the Mediterranean also made its debut. With an open kitchen that includes a brick oven for house-made breads and pizzas, you can watch Ogrodnek crafting everything from small plates such as whipped ricotta with sweet carrots and watercress ($7) to homemade papradelle served with pork ragu, grana padano and bitter greens ($14). Fish choices (like a $19 potato-crusted Chatam Cod) and meat entrees (an $18 pork and bean cassoulet) are adorned with vegetables from Greenpoint's very own Rooftop Farms.

Parnters Josh Cohen and Blair Papagni have kept the 50-seat space warm with dark woods, soft lighting and a backyard herb and vegetable garden, which is open for al fresco dining in warmer months. It sounds like everything we love about Brooklyn.

Anella is located at 222 Franklin St. (between Green and Huron Streets) in Greenpoint, Brooklyn; 718-389-8100, http://www.anellabrooklyn.com/.  

- Bao Ong

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