The restaurateur and Queens native Mario Carbone grew up enamored with the atmosphere of old-school Italian American restaurants. From crisp white tablecloths to plates overflowing with red sauce, romantic paintings of Italian cities, and waiters rushing table to table clad in tuxedos while Frank Sinatra standards played in the background, Carbone was fascinated: “I thought it was magic.”
When he decided to open his own restaurant, he wanted to replicate that atmosphere, a place where generations could mark milestones together or escape from their daily lives. It was a decade ago this spring that his restaurant Carbone opened its doors and since then, the New York City eatery has become one of the toughest reservations in the world.
