Brodi, the new Italian restaurant on Smith Street that opened last month, is the kind of carefully-considered regional Italian cooking that the broader Brooklyn Italian-dining scene had been waiting for without quite knowing it. The restaurant's specific commitments — to the cooking of a defined Italian region rather than to a generic Italian-American framework — are the part of the operation that distinguishes it from the existing options.

The kitchen's sensibility

The kitchen, run by chef Lorenzo Manconi, draws on the cooking of inland Sardinia in ways that are visible across the menu without becoming gimmicky. The ingredients that anchor the menu — specific cheeses, specific cured pork, specific pasta shapes — carry the regional specificity without burying it in unnecessary explanatory text.

The standout dishes

The standout dishes include the malloreddus with a slow-cooked lamb sugo that has the kind of depth that comes only from genuine extended cooking; the seared swordfish with a salmoriglio that the restaurant has, on the strength of two visits, made the way the dish should be made; and a closing dessert of seadas, a fried cheese pastry with honey that is the kind of thing that lands at the right place in a meal.

The wine programme

The wine programme leans on Sardinian and broader southern Italian producers, with prices that are reasonable by current Brooklyn standards. The by-the-glass list rotates more frequently than the bottle list; the rotations have, on both visits, been thoughtful.

The room

The room is small and warm, with the kind of acoustic environment that allows conversation without being uncomfortably quiet. The service is attentive without being intrusive; the staff is well-trained and clearly enjoys the work.

The verdict

Brodi is the kind of new restaurant that the broader Brooklyn dining scene benefits from having. The reservations are now harder to come by than they were when it opened; the difficulty is justified.