Hello! My name is Nicole Rakhmanova and I’m from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. I plan to major in Biochemistry and Psychology, and I am on the pre-medicine track because I have always wanted to become a physician. My aspirations to pursue medicine stem from being a direct witness to how medicine has changed people’s lives through my personal experiences as well as volunteering in a medical setting. In my free time, I like to swim, read, and explore New York! Even though I’m from New York, there are still so many places I have not seen. Being in college has also made me more motivated to cook and exercise, and I try to do so with the amazing friends I’ve made, largely thanks to Macaulay.
In some distant land with big fluffy barrettes, crooked smiles, and sunshine, long essays and all-nighters were nonexistent. My dad used to pick me up from PS 247 in his black Nissan and drive me to L&B Spumoni Gardens to get a slice of Sicilian square pizza and spumoni.
L&B Spumoni Gardens is a storefront restaurant business which has become a wild success, known by many as an icon of Gravesend, Brooklyn. Ludovico Barbati, who immigrated to the United States from Torella Di Lobardi, Italy in 1917 began selling pizza, spumoni, and ices in 1938. Initially, he sold his products on the streets of Gravesend and Bensonhurst from a horse and wagon. In 1939, he purchased a small place to sell from. In the 1950s, L&B Spumoni Gardens expanded to add a second building to sell its famous Sicilian square pizza. As time went on, a third building was added and it became the dining room. The restaurant has red seating outside, and an indoor dining room. Pizza, spumoni, and ices are sold outdoors. Aside from its staple Sicilian square pizza, L&B’s is known for the L&B Spumoni, which is a mix of vanilla, chocolate, and pistachio. Indoors, traditional Italian cuisine is served. This business has been family-owned for over 60 years.
Aside from being a neighborhood staple, it of course has sentimental value. L&B’s pizza is the best I personally have ever tasted, and every visit brings back positive memories of past visits with my parents and childhood friends. Being that the price of the slices is relatively inexpensive but the pizza is high quality, in middle school my classmates and I would consider a visit there to be a luxury but truly it was a hangout spot. Whenever friends that have gone away for college visit Brooklyn and we decide to meet, the choice of location is almost always L&B Spumoni Gardens.
