Entries tagged with 'Franny's'
Posted by Adam Kuban, October 6, 2008 at 5:45 PM
Photograph from "Boppadopoulos" on Flickr
New York magazine gives a rundown on where to get clam pizza in New York City:
- Franny's: 295 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11217 (b/n Prospect and St. Marks; map); 718-230-0221; frannysbrooklyn.com
- Bussaco: 833 Union Street, Brooklyn NY 11217 (near Seventh Avenue; map); 718-857-8828
- Lombardi's: 32 Spring Street, New York NY 10012 (near Mott Street; map); 212-941-7994; firstpizza.com
- Otto: 1 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10003 (corner of 8th Street; map); 212-995-9559; ottopizzeria.com
- Fornino: 187 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11211 (at North 7th Street; map); 718-384-6004
- South Brooklyn Pizza: 451 Court Street, Brooklyn NY 11231 (near 4th Place; map); 718-852-6018
I can't vouch for all of these. I like Lombardi's clam pie and Franny's (uh-may-zing). I'm not big on Otto's or Fornino's because they do that annoying still-in-the-shell-while-topping-your-pie thing. (That's Otto's pie above.) Based on what I've had at South Brooklyn, I'd skip the clam pie—when I've had it, their regular pie has had a tough, too-crunchy crust.
Posted by Adam Kuban, March 12, 2008 at 3:00 PM
The restaurant blog Eater has a great series called "The Gatekeepers," in which they interview the host or hosts at a given venue. Today they talk to Sarah Gaskins and Nekisia Davis of Franny's:
What's the most outrageous request from a customer you've had to accommodate? SG: We once sat 25 people who were on a New York pizza tour. They showed up in a school bus with a mega-phone. After ordering eight pizzas and taking over the whole restaurant, they moved on to the next stop.
Hmm ... I wonder what pizza tour they're talking about?
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Posted by Adam Kuban, November 19, 2007 at 6:30 PM
From left: A Di Fara half-plain, half-artichoke pie; pizza-makers at Franny's; an Isabella's Oven Margherita D.O.C.; Una Pizza Napoletana's marinara pie.
Last year around this time Slice/Serious Eats contributed to Pim Techamuanvivit's Menu for Hope charity raffle. Our giveaway was a guided pizza tour for four. Well, the winners—Anthony Kinik and Michelle Marek of Montreal food blog An Endless Banquet—finally made us make good on our prize. (It took them almost a year because they live in Montreal and I secretly think they were waiting for the loonie to beat the dollar before making a trip to the U.S.)
Anyway, after much back-and-forth emailing, we settled on a proposed route: Di Fara, Franny's, Adrienne's Pizzabar, Isabella's Oven, Una Pizza Napoletana, Joe's Pizza, Bleecker Street Pizza.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, October 28, 2007 at 10:00 PM
After starting a six-pizzeria pizza crawl at Franny's, travelers board the" Pizza Express."
This afternoon I had the pleasure of riding aboard what I'll call the Scott Wiener Pizza Express.
Scott Wiener is a true pizza lover, one who keeps a pizza journal that's legendary among those who know him, and his love and enthusiasm for the pie is truly infectious. So much so that a little more than 20 people showed up for a tour that would take us from Prospect Heights to deep Brooklyn, up to East Harlem, and back again to Brooklyn (see map, after the jump).
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Posted by Adam Kuban, September 18, 2007 at 3:45 PM
Last week, New York Times food critic Frank Bruni was all about restaurant accessibility vis-à-vis wheelchairs. This week, Bruni shares some emails regarding the piece, including this snip on Franny's:
It’s understandable that cozy little NYC restaurants might not have enough of a turn radius to accommodate wheel chairs, frustrating though it may be. Having had a relative in a wheelchair I can sympathize with your dining companion. But not slicing a pizza for someone who had just undergone neurosurgery on her (writing) hand because “the chef doesn’t do that,” forcing her husband to slice it for her, is unconscionable. I’m talking about your beloved Franny’s . . . My friend, whose hand was encased in a shoebox-sized Styrofoam splint, was denied that simple request. Shame on them! What if she was alone or accompanied by a quadriplegic? Who’d have cut her pie then? Would she have had to take off her shoes and use her feet?
[via Grubstreet]
Posted by Adam Kuban, August 30, 2007 at 11:15 AM
Oh. I forgot to blog about this yesterday. And many of you have probably seen it already, but Frank Bruni, food critic for the New York Times, reviewed Franny's in yesterday's paper. Here are the relevant pizza snips:
Artisanal pizza may be all the rage, but it’s the rare pizzaiolo who spreads dough thin enough and gets a brick oven hot enough to produce the gorgeous blisters like those on Franny’s best pies. And the restaurant’s soppressata has a suppleness that would make Armandino Batali blush.
And
A clam pizza at Franny’s isn’t one of those clumsy pies studded with shells that force you to embark on an odyssey of deconstruction and reconstruction.
The clams have already been liberated and placed on a thick amalgam of clam juice and cream — a doubly clammy whammy. If you ever loved a bivalve, you owe yourself this romance.
You can read the rest of the review at the link above, but really, who cares about the rest of the menu, right?
Posted by DJ Bubbles, October 19, 2006 at 10:05 AM
An interesting item hit the Slice inbox yesterday.
OK guys, put this in your pie and smoke it!
A couple of caveats: The list isn't quite as definitive as it claims to be, as it is missing any critical analysis of Staten Island, Queens, and Bronx joints. When you guys post this on the site (front page, please), perhaps you may want to refer to it as "The Definitive Manhattan and Brooklyn Top 10 List." We've all been to these places enough times to know what's going on and who's coming with their A game and who isn't.
Seltzerboy, as a fellow SU alum, I tried to get in touch with you when I first moved to New York, and I also furnished you with a copy of the Syracuse Pizza Manifesto, another masterwork I coauthored. But to no avail, I never really heard back from you other than a weak Orangeman shout out. We'll take you choads in a pie-off any day of the week! Now, without further ado....
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Posted by Adam Kuban, December 1, 2004 at 1:10 PM
The New York Sun, which "shines for all," sheds some rays on the recent pizzification of Park Slope, a subject we examined not too long ago on Slice. Unfortunately, the Web version of the Sun shines only for those who have online subscriptions to read it. For the rest of you, Slice, like Prometheus stealing fire from the gods, has scanned the article for your elucidation.
The fire analogy is particularly appropriate for this pizza story. That's because Sun writer Paul Lukas examines three wood-fired-oven pizzerias in the neighborhood: La Villa, Franny's, and Peperoncino. We first became aware of Mr. Lukas's work through his 'zine, Beer Frame, and have enjoyed reading his UniWatch column, first on Slate, then on ESPN. We think he did a fine job scoping out the Slope's pie scene.
Here's the part where I'd normally digest what was written in the review, but since I can't copy and paste from the print version and don't feel like taking the time to transcribe it (it's lunchtime and I'm starvin' like Marvin'), you're just going to have to A.) Click on the image above to enlarge it, and B.) Read it in scanned form.
Oh, yours truly is quoted in the story, so check it out.
I just hope I don't get chained to a rock for providing you, dear reader, with this scanned bit of pizza news you no doubt hunger for.
Enjoy.
Posted by Adam Kuban, October 14, 2004 at 1:30 PM
Slice let its subscription to the New Yorker lapse. Between the piles of unread issues and the mountain of empty pizza boxes, the office was getting a bit out of hand. Considering that we couldn't give up pizza, the weekly reader had to go.
Still, with the help of eagle-eye readers, we remain aware of any pizza news that passes in the pages of that legendary magazine. Like this review of Franny's in the Tables for Two column:
A pizzeria may seem like an unlikely place to be schooled in socially responsible consumerism, but the menu at Franny’s offers a quick course in sustainable agriculture: milk (non-homogenized) from Evan’s Farmhouse Creamery upstate, tomatoes from Bill Maxwell’s Farm in New Jersey, pork from Iowa’s organic Niman Ranch. The offerings are ever-changing, according to what appears at the market; recently there were crostini with a smear of garlicky chicken liver or piles of roasted cherry tomatoes, and pumpkin fritters, lightly battered and supremely fresh. The eggplant salad with ricotta achieved a melting creaminess, and wood-roasted octopus curled out of a heap of piquant olive-and-pistachio salsa.
“I’m just here for you, so take your time,” a waitress assured a diner lingering over the menu one early-autumn night. Later, she brought out a sparkling red wine for an undecided guest to taste, saying, “If you don’t like it, I won’t be offended.” The individually sized pizzas are cooked in a brick oven, hand-built by Gennaro Iadicicco, a third-generation oven artisan. When they arrived, flopping over the edges of the plates, the crust was thin and toothsome—as crisp as a cracker on the cheeseless clam-and-chili pizza, soft but still firm under the influence of the quattro formaggi. The chef has improved upon the traditional toppings, offering house-cured meats instead: guanciale, or pork cheek, is a thicker, richer cut of bacon, while pepperoni is easily trumped by the tender bite of fennel salami.
Franny’s, which opened in April, has quickly become a neighborhood favorite. On weekday nights, its closely spaced tables fill with professional couples carrying briefcases and gym bags and Park Slope families training the palates of their young. On the weekend, waiting parties take cocktails to the back garden. Despite the easygoing atmosphere, there’s no escaping the restaurant’s principles (it sells sweatshop-free, eco-friendly T-shirts, and its takeout pizza boxes are made from recycled fibres). And then there’s the aversion to waste. If you leave even a slender wedge of your salami pie, expect a waitress to ask, “You’re sure you don’t want to take that home?”
We're not surprised the New Yorker liked Franny's. It's been highly rated by almost every publication in town, including Slice. And we're glad to see that dandy Eustace Tilley take off his gloves and get his hands dirty with pizza grease.
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 3, 2004 at 11:44 PM
An interesting item recenly appeared in New York magazine calling Franny's the best pizza in New York:
What, exactly, is New York pizza? That's a charged question in a town where pizza partisans—and that means everyone—love nothing more than arguing the merits of this crust, that cheese, or a sauce that's seen livelier days. And there's no easy answer. The sad truth, although it mostly goes unsaid, is that New York pizza isn't what it used to be. The great dynastic names live on, some deservedly, some not, in the coal-fired collective memory, generating long, nostalgic lines and self-perpetuating word-of-mouth, even as inconsistency and clandestine changes in ownership leave an increasingly bad taste in the connoisseur's mouth.
Which is why, instead of just canonizing the old, we should gleefully welcome the estimable new. New York pizza has historically meant John's, Patsy's, Totonno's, and Lombardi's, and soon, we boldly decree, it will come to mean Franny's, a newfangled Park Slope pizzeria [technically, Franny's is in Prospect Heights -- Slice ed.] where, even in its earliest days, the Underground Gourmet has glimpsed pizza greatness. It came on our third visit, when the crust, which early on was a tad dry, a bit brittle, and almost too thin, had settled into a tender, pliable, yet snappy groove, and the high-grade toppings coalesced. It was delicious, resilient, and light, Neapolitan in its simplicity and balance, and it came as a surprise: At Franny's, a pizza isn't just a pizza--it's a political statement, the vehicle for expressing a worldview shared by husband-and-wife owners Andrew Feinberg and Francine Stephens, veterans of Savoy and as committed to the Chez Panissean tenets of local, sustainable agriculture as they are to the venerable tradition of artisanal pizza-making.
Hey, we're all for praising new pizza joints, too. But damn if New York magazine isn't beatifying them faster than Pope John Paul II names saints. While we enjoyed Franny's when we went, we think it's a little premature to start naming it the best pizza in the city. Clearly the owners are dedicated to their art and are using some of the finest ingredients available. They've made their bones at Savoy. They cure their own meats on premises. And they've brought good pizza to the Park Slope area (thank you!). But they've only been open since April 13. Let's not get carried away.
###[Thanks to
Jen for hipping us to this item.]
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 29, 2004 at 4:41 PM
In today's edition of amNY, Josh Lichtman reviews Franny's, the new wine bar–pizzeria on Flatbush Avenue. Because of amNY's limited online presence, I can't link you to it, but here's a PDF of the page the review appears on. Some highlights:
With a long vibrant dining room, soft lighting and good jazz, Franny's is an ideal spot to unwind. Along with Manhattan style—more Madison Avenue than Flatbush Avenue—Franny's also has Manhattan prices....The main attraction is the individual pizza ($9-$14), cooked in an Italian wood-burning oven. While I love the fresh toppings, the crust is too soft and lacks the flavor and charred texture one expects from a brick oven. Crust aside, though, the pizzas are quite enjoyable....
The margarita pizzas are also a stellar choice; the tangy sauce made from sweet imported tomatoes is a good match for fresh mozzarella from the Lioni Latticini Mozzarella Co. in New Jersey.
But service is not quite ready for the big leagues. On a recent visit, my dining companion and I sat through a three-hour comedy of errors and waited more than an hour for food because our waitress forgot our order. She then proceeded to serve us the wrong food and we ended up eating separately. Adding insult to injury, the staff comped the bill $2.
While the service has some kinks to work out, the seasonal ingredient-driven menus refreshingly simple, utilizing quality ingredients and interesting flavors, which is the essence of Italian cooking.
We think Mr. Lichtman's review is accurate. Franny's is on the right track but does have some kinks to work out. (And we'd like a crisper crust!)
Slice on Franny's.
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 14, 2004 at 8:21 AM
A Preliminary Assessment
Clockwise from bottom left: A tomato, mozzarella, and fennel-sausage pie ($14); a tomato-and-mozzarella pie ($10); Franny's window signage; our friend "N" digs in. (These photos look like ass because the lighting was dim and I didn't want to arouse suspicion with flash photography.)
Last night was opening night at Franny's, the latest entity participating in the rapid gentrification of Flatbush Avenue from Saint Mark's Place to Sterling Place. While I have no opinion on the oft-touchy subject of affluent renewal-and-replacement, I do have a mad interest in pizza and so wasn't that upset to see a wood burning–oven shop open in a space once occupied by a rundown pet store that had offered a dolphin-themed 25-cent kiddie ride out front.
After rushing home from work, this pizza blogger met up with a fellow pizza enthusiast, and we eagerly braved the April showers to sample Franny's fare. We arrived to find a dining room ripe with the smell of fresh construction, one that was bustling with customers but which still had a few tables available (good, because we were worried about having to wait in the rain).
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