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.... More

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... More

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... More

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... More

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,... More

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... More

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... More