Pacifico's Reopens in Crown Heights as Aita, After Hasty Switch from Brazilian to Italian

Just two weeks after Shanna Pacifico's Brazilian restaurant Pacifico's abruptly shuttered, her former partner Roberto Aita has transformed the restaurant into a second location of his Clinton Hill trattoria Aita, which opens tonight. There's already a critical mass of Italian restaurants in the area — four others within two a two block radius. "I don't think Italian is what this neighborhood wants or needs," Pacifico told Brooklyn Magazine. But, "In all reality, people want to eat Italian...And while his Clinton Hill restaurant, Aita, hasn't gotten very much buzz, it's making money and is paying for itself."

The menu at the new location is different than the one at the original, but the same idea holds. It's instantly clear that this is an Italian trattoria in Brooklyn. Expect farro with roasted vegetables, pan roasted gnocchi, and roasted veal belly.