For the past century, Brooklyn was known as a mecca of red-sauce eateries, a home of old-school Italian-American cuisine. Then farm-to-table happened, with a newfound appreciation of Italian food that is both informal and refined, looking directly to its ancestral home rather than to Italian-American culinary traditions.

Now we can sample the full bloom of that movement. In just the last two years, several chefs have opened acclaimed new Italian restaurants in Brooklyn. We focus on four of them here: Silvia Barban of LaRina, Al Di Meglio of Barano, Missy Robbins of Lilia and Misi, and Anthony Ricco of Leuca. While they each have individual philosophies about food, they all serve what we can define as simple-but-refined Italian fare. They tread the line between “neighborhood” and “destination” restaurant as well, featuring high-end but casual menus.