I started Pasta Louise after moving back to Brooklyn from an 11 year stint in Oakland. I lost my sister, Lenore, to cancer, and my family and I moved back to NY to be closer to her daughters, Jasmine and Scarlet, and my parents.
I owned a mac + cheese restaurant back in Oakland, and sold it before moving to Brooklyn. I knew I wanted to open a restaurant out here… but my intention was never to open a restaurant in the middle of a pandemic. Pasta Louise was slated to open April 2020, until the world went upside down, COVID hit, and construction halted.
I then started selling pasta from my stoop because there were none on the shelves in grocery stores. Before I knew it, I had an email list a mile long and I was selling out in minutes. Turned out, besides wanting fresh pasta, people really wanted the sense of community during this dark, isolating time.
Pasta Louise finally opened in July 2020. It’s a community restaurant where you can gather to eat fresh pasta, sip a glass of wine, hang out with friends, have some homemade soft serve. You can pick up a coffee on the way to work, and a pasta kit on your way home. Sit down with us at any of our outdoor tables… we even have fans and shelter from the rain!
We make everything from scratch… sauces, bread, desserts, and of course, pasta. We’re not your typical Italian restaurant. Our food is bright and simple, a mix of Oakland and Brooklyn, just like our outdoor flower installations.
