slkinsey
-
Posts
11,151 -
Joined
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by slkinsey
-
-
Yea, point taken. I used the Chez Panisse reference to highlight their quasi-evangelical and somewhat politically framed dedication to sustainable agriculture, local suppliers, etc. That is, to a certain extent, part of the Italian aesthetic, but they don't tend to make a point out of it. You won't find a pizzeria menu in Italy listing the names of all their suppliers and making statements about what "Madre Natura" has to say about it all.
-
Franny's
295 Flatbush Avenue (between St. Marks and Prospect Pls.)
718-230-0221
After reading some interesting reviews (New York Metro, Slice, New York Press) and discussion in the NYC Pizza Survey thread, JosephB, bergerka and I made our way to Franny's yesterday evening with great anticipation. We were not disappointed.
I might as well cut to the chase. Franny's pizza is not classic NYC style pizza. Rather it is pizza in the Italian style filtered through the Chez Panisse philosophy that happens to be made in NYC. It is also clearly among the top 2-3 best pizzerie in the City -- and perhaps already the best, depending on one's priorities and preferences. Not bad for a place that's only been open for 8 weeks!
As stated above, Franny's pizze are baked, topped and served in the Italian style rather than the classic "old school" NYC style. They are served as small, somewhat irregularly shaped, individual pizzas not cut into slices but intended to be eaten with a knife and fork (although we had no trouble cutting ours into wedges for the purposes of sharing, and using our hands). Franny's uses a dome shaped, brick covered, wood fired masonry oven custom built for them by a third generation Italian pizza oven builder. The toppings are applied with a spare hand and many of the toppings American pizza eaters have come to expect are not available while many others are that might not be so expected. All very correct from a Neapolitan perspective.
Have I mentioned the crust? I've only been there the one time, but... if they are able to maintain the quality we experienced last night, I have no trouble declaring theirs the overall best crust in the City. It's a light thin crust, slightly sweet, crisp on the bottom yet pliable and capable of being folded, well browned with a touch of char, crunchy and dark at the edges, and with a beautiful wheaty flavor. It's almost like a combination of the best features of Patsy's East Harlem's and Grimaldi's crusts, plus something extra.
Franny's also puts to rest any questions as to whether a wood-fired oven can make enough heat to compete with the coal-fired guys. Not only does Franny's crust have all the desirable features of the classic NYC coal-fired crust at its best, but we all felt there was an subtle smokiness not found in the other pizzerie. This is likely due to a number of reasons... First, the oven is truly massive. It looked as though the walls were a foot thick. Second, the fire was quite large in proportion to the interior of the oven. There was a large pile of coals in the back crowned by several actively burning pieces of wood whose flames licked the curve at the top of the oven with an orange curtain of flame. Third, I am beginning to think that there are certain thermal benefits to the classic dome shaped oven as opposed to the flat-ceilinged rectangular ovens used by the coal guys. I know someone who wrote a book on baking with masonry ovens, and I'll see what he tells me. Fourth, the pizzeria is small, which mitigates heat loss from high volume production. Finally, the pizze are baked in a smaller size, and with fewer toppings. In fact, some of the toppings are not applied to the crust until the pizze are out of the oven.
On to the toppings... what may come as a surprise to many American pizza lovers is that not every pizza features tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. Now that I think of it, of the three pizze we sampled, not one of them included both of these ingredients. Indeed, yesterday's menu listed eleven different pizze, and only 4 of them featured both tomato and mozzarella. Rather, they offer a somewhat eclectic and everchanging offering of seasonal ingredients that manages to be innovative and yet firmly within Italian tradition at the same time. Below is the menu from June 1, which is substantially similar to the one from yesterday.
So... on to our meal. After having a drink at the small bar and chatting with the owner/FOH manager, Franny Stephens, we were shown to a table near the oven by Karen, our attractive and enthusiastic waiter. Behind the counter, we could see owner/chef/pizzaiolo Andrew Feinberg at work.
We decided to share three appetizers and three pizze. For the appetizers we had squid with white beans, chilis and lemon; house cured sopressata with parmigiano-reggiano and Sicilian olives; and sugar snap peas with parmigiano-reggiano, and aged balsamico. These were all simple and perfect in their own way. The sugar snap peas were served raw (briefly blanched/refreshed, no doubt) in a pile, lightly dressed with evoo and balsamico and covered with shaved cheese. What could be better? Sugar snap peas are in season right now, and theirs were pristene. Why not just let them be what they are? The house cured sopressata was wonderful, with that slight funky undertone that says, "the good bacteria grew in this one." We chatted with Franny about this particular flavor on one of her many passes by our table and she remarked that they were very happy when they started seeing that flavor coming out of their curing room. The squid appetizer is wonderful. Tender, meaty, room-temperature rings of squid, tiny bunches of tentacles, huge white beans, soft croutons, evoo, lemon and just enough chili to make it interesting. All of these dishes are strong manifestations of what I admire most in the Italian culinary aesthetic: take a limited number of seasonal ingredients at their peak, combine them in a simple yet interesting fashion and get out of the way so they can shine on their own.
For pizza, we had one with house-cured pancetta, fontina and egg; one with mushrooms, herbs and mascarpone; and one with spicy cauliflower, tomato and pecorino romano. All were outstanding and graced with just the right amount of toppings so that nothing interfered with the full potential and expression of the crust. The pancetta/egg pizza featured fat chunks of pancetta, just a little cheese and a single egg fried right on the crust by the heat from the oven floor. When we divided the pizza into thirds, the perfectly cooked egg yolk ran out onto the crust. I hope a McDonald's executive never visits Franny's, or we'll see "breakfast pizza" all across America in short order. The mushroom pizza also impressed, with a rich foundation of cheese and thin-sliced but deeply-flavored mushrooms. The last one especially interested me, because I never would have thought to top a pizza with cauliflower. Well, it was fantastic. The pizza is baked in the oven with only a thin layer of tomato sauce, and the spicy cauliflower and slivers of red onion are added after it comes out of the oven (this is fairly common in Italy depending on the topping ingredient). For us, this pizza really worked. The cauliflower had just enough spice to make it interesting, and the contrast of the room-temperature cauliflower against the hot, crackling crust was superb.
So, that does it for our meal. No pictures this time, but we'll be back again and again and again. One of the sad facts of eGullet is that I am constantly discovering places I love that I wish were in my neighborhood. If I lived in Park Slope/Prospect Heights, I'd go there at least once a week. I have no doubt that they will continue to get even better. I have said before that I think the three factors that lead to great pizza are 1. the skill, continuity and dedication of the pizzaiolo (they have that one nailed in Andreg Feinberg, owner and formerly of Savoy); 2. the quality of the ingredients (yes again -- see below); and 3. the oven (yes again!). Based on this formula, they seem to have all the pieces in place.
The final thing that is worthy of mention about Franny's is their philosophy. You may recall from above that I described Franny's as "Italian style filtered through the Chez Panisse philosophy." This philosophy is manifested not only in their use of fresh, seasonal, (mostly) organic ingredients, but also in their dedication to local farmers and sustainable agriculture. Read more of their thoughts on this subject here. Below is the back of the menu:
-
Much like Audrey's champagne riff on a Mojito, you could try a champagne riff on a Sazerac, which consists of rye (or sometimes bourbon) with Peychaud's bitters, a dash of absinthe-substitute (e.g., Pernod, Ricard, etc.) and a lemon twist.
Does it get more classic New Orleans than the Sazerac?
-
If you love duck and dislike lamb - why have the tasting menu with the lamb? Go for the duck.
Most places I have ever been that do tasting menus ask if there are any serious food dislikes, allergies or other restrictions at the table. If I didn't like lamb, I would tell the waiter I didn't like lamb. And I would expect to get no lamb. Similarly, if I was really wanting duck, I would tell the waiter, "I love duck and would love it if I could have some duck tonight." That said, your point is well made that if you want a big does of duck you're better off with a traditionally-structured meal featuring a duck course.
Hmmm... perhaps we should split off a separate thread on tasting menus versus traditionally structured meals? It seems that there is much to discuss here beyond the context of Per Se.
-
As for toppings, how does house-smoked pancetta from Niman Ranch pork, with ramps and fontina sound to you?!
Like something I'd be very skeptical of. I love mushrooms, but I've never thought much of ferns.
Ramps aren't ferns. Fiddleheads are ferns. Ramps I would tend to describe as a mild single clove of garlic with a stem coming out of it to which is attached a blade-like green leaf similar in flavor to leek greens. See some pictures of ramps here.
-
Very interesting and illuminating post, Robert! Besides touching on similar ground as Fat Guy's comments regarding the effects experienced when eating a larger piece of meat, you pointed out something that's been in the back of my mind for some time now: Most people who have visited one of Keller's restaurants report that at least one or two dishes were in the range of "just okay" to "not all that good." This is perhaps somewhat inevitable in the context of a megamulticourse tasting menu. In contrast, one most often hears of, say, ADNY, that every course among the much smaller number of courses approached perfection. Given the opportunity to eat at only one of NYC's tip-top restaurants, I am not sure I wouldn't choose ADNY over Per Se. It strikes me as very interesting that fooderati are clamoring nonstop for Per Se while something incredibly significant is happening at ADNY with the arrival of Delouvrier as chef de cuisine.
-
Dude. If you don't go, then who will come back and report to us about how they are doing without Jason Neroni? You have to go.
-
Interestingly, he seems to take serious issue with the fact that it's a pizzeria more on the Italian model than the NY model.
YOU'D THINK IF a pizza joint got the crust right, the rest would fall into place. That's not the case—at least not so far—with Franny's, a new brick-oven restaurant on Flatbush Ave. Near the 7th Ave. stop, technically in Prospect Heights, the place tilts, culturally, too far in the direction of the hippie-snooty capital of White Brooklyn: the Park Slope Food Co-Op. This is someone's flighty Upper East Side aunt's idea of what Brooklyn pizza should be.* * *
Franny's needs to acknowledge that New Yorkers' special love for pizza manifests at the intersection of simple and familiar. Major concessions to convention are necessary. Especially in Brooklyn.
When neither the pork pie nor the mushroom pie has tomato sauce (the latter has triple-cream mascarpone, though), the crust that arguably surpasses that of mighty Grimaldi's is cooling its heels in the minors. The crusts can't even go head-to-head, really, because one competitor stubbornly refuses to take the shape of Pizza When It Is Eaten. Unsliced Franny's can only be consumed in reverse—it's as awkward as eating an ice cream cone from the bottom. For Christ's sake, Franny's, your pies are four slices big. Slice the goddamn pizzas.
The restaurant needs a modest infusion of Bensonhurst. . .
I'll have to see what I think when I go there, but from what I have read this isn't anyone's idea of "what Brooklyn pizza should be." It does, on the other hand, sound exactly like my idea of what modestly upscale trattoria/pizzeria in Italy pizza should be.
It's hard for me to take a reviewer's opinion seriously with respect to informing my chices when he doesn't like ramps, fontina or pancetta on a pizza.
-
How big are the bones that you use for the stock? I have seen some veal bones that would be like a wrench if I tried to put them in a grinder.
I usually get the butcher to run 'em through the band saw a time or two if they're big bones. I also have a very powerful home grinder.
-
The Old Cuban (a champagne mojito)(Old=Anejo / Cuban=Origins)
3/4 oz. Fresh Lime Juice
1 oz. Simple syrup (1 to 1)
6-8 mint leaves
2 good dashes Angostura
1 1/2 oz. Bacardi 8 Year
2 - 3 oz. Good quality champagne
Garnish: mint flecks (you can also add a sugar-rolled vanilla bean for a more festive presentation)
Measure lime juice, simple syrup, and mint into a mixing glass. Muddle well.
Add bitters, rum, and ice. Shake well and strain into a chilled martini glass.
Top with champagne
Made this one last PM, and it was well recieved by all. Nice drink.
-
Could definitely happen. Will be interesting to give it a try and see. Again, many people would tell you that cooking a chicken stock with the bones for 12 hours will give you a "bone taint" as well, but my experience is that it isn't true.
As for little pieces of bone... I'm not talking about grinding these things down into sand. I'd use the coarse plate on the grinder. Regardless, since I clarify my stocks with egg whites, I'm not concerned about sediment, etc.
-
I don't think you'd want to use the smoked pork bones unless you wanted a smokey-flavored stock. There's no reason not to make a pork stock, though, or to throw some pork bones into your beef stock. I'm not sure I'd put them into white chicken stock, however, because it might intrude upon the chicken flavor. I also like to start with raw bones rather than reusing cooked ones, although I suppose it makes less difference if the cooked bones are tossed in there as a supplement.
I almost always chuck a couple of pig's feet into my beef stocks.
-
I am going to run all the meat, bones and vegetables through my industrial-strength meat grinder.
Personally I think that doing this might backfire. I think it will cause too many impurities to be released and you'll have to skim it nonstop. Even if you don't mind about the clarity of the stock all that scum will negatively affect the flavor.
I don't know about this "impurities" thing. The scum that rises to the top of the stock is largely composed of proteins, etc. that coagulate in the early stages. Personally, I find that I rarely if ever have issues with the formation of excessive scum -- perhaps because I use very gentle temperatures.
I would also suggest that the very same mechanisms by which you think excess "scum forming agents" might be released would also release more flavor and more gelatin. The entire idea behind grinding the ingredients is that the surface area of the "dry" ingredients is significantly increased when they are ground up. Since the surface is where reactions happen and where flavors, gelatin and, yes, scum-forming agents are released into the liquid, increasing the surface area should have the effect of increasing the rapidity and thoroughness of such effects.
Most "impurities" are released right at the beginning of the stock making process when the liquid comes up to temperature and a scum forms. This is when most of the skimming is done, with only very occasional skimming required thereafter. Grinding the dry ingredients might very well have the effect of releasing all the scum-forming agents more or less all at the same time as a result of the increased surface area. This would tend to suggest that less scum would be formed in the later stages, rather than more.
It is, of course, possible that certain undesirable chemicals might be liberated into the liquid as a result of the grinding which would not be present if the ingredients were kept whole. For example, maybe there is something inside chicken bones that we don't really want in our stock. I doubt this will turn out to be the case, but you never know. Only one way to find out. There are a lot of things people say about making stocks (e.g., if you cook your chicken stock for 12 hours it will be bitter and cloudy) that turns out to be entirely untrue. So who knows? It'll be an experiment.
-
Interesting, I have several pieces of antique Griswold and Wagner cast iron that I inherited. If anything, I would say that it's somewhat heavier than new cast iron one finds today.
Keep in mind that you do not want light cast iron. The heavier the better! Due to cast iron's thermal properties (very high heat capacity/relatively poor heat conduction) it is important to have a very thick layer of metal. Thinner/ligher cast iron will definitely have hot spots.
-
As far as analogies, I think a better one is theater. The director organizes the show and has it perform to his or her vision. A good director with a talented staff and actors can have the show running well with or without the director's presence.
An even better analogy would be opera direction. The Metropolitan Opera, for example, has a production of La bohème "directed by Franco Zeffirelli." They present this production just about every year, and have been doing so since the premiere of this production over 20 years ago.
Now, what does this mean when they say "production: Franco Zeffirelli?" Does it mean that he shows up at the Met every season to direct every new cast? Of course not. That task is left to the staff assistant directors who direct the new casts from notes. Many times, the staging will begin to diverge from the original over time. Sometimes, if there is an important cast or a series of noteworthy performances, Zeffirelli might come back and work with the cast. In general, the "director" conceives the staging, trains the staff assistant directors and that's that. Anyone who goes to La bohème at the Met expecting to see singers who have recieved personal direction in their roles from Franco Zeffirelli because his name is in the program doesn't understand how opera works at this level.
Similarly, Keller conceives the dishes at Per Se, he hires and trains the staff in the execution of his dishes, he hires and trains the chef de cuisine in his culinary and management philosophies to oversee the kitchen, and he returns to the kitchen on a regular basis to oversee and tweak same. One who eats the "oysters and pearls" at Per Se during a time when Keller happens to be in California is still getting "Keller's cuisine" -- and to a much fuller extent that one get's "Zeffirelli's bohème staging" at the Met. Indeed, if Per Se's chef de cuisine Jonathan Benno comes up with a dish for Per Se all on his own, I'd still call that "Keller's cuisine" because Benno's job is to conceive and execute dishes according to Keller's philosophies.
-
It's that time of year again! The next time I go to the Union Square Green Market, I'm coming home with radishes and making some sandwiches!
-
Gougeres made with velveeta = les poufs fromagent
-
Hmm. Interesting. Well, everyone can't like everything.
Okay, you shamed me into trying it again, and it was much better this time.
hee hee hee!I think the problem the first time I tried it was that I used Meyer lemon juice, which is not nearly as acidic as regular lemon juice. Also, I must have overpoured the cacao, because the chocolate was more prevalent in the first attempt.Right. That might have been it. This is a drink where I think you really need the acid kick of regular lemon juice to obscure the white creme de cacao until the finish. At least when I make them, the chocolate flavor is only substantially present in the finish. I wonder, also, if there may be differences in the strength of flavor between different brands of white creme de cacao. I think I have Laird's, just because that happened to be what the store had when I went out to buy some. Perhaps this is a milder brand than yours?
I've been drinking something very similar but with Velvet Falernum instead of the cacao, and I like that so much better that I doubt I'll switch.Sounds tasty. There are a lot of interesting drinks that could be made on a similar formula.
Another drink I've had that I didn't think would work (also from Gary Regan's newest booK) are "squirrel sours." These are drinks made with a base liquor, citrus juice and creme de noyeau or some other nut-flavored liqueur. I made one with gin, Frangelico and lemon juice that turned out to be really good. Again, I wouldn't have thought that hazelnut would go with either gin or lemon... but there it is.
-
I highly recommend the two-stage under-sink water filter here with the ceramic sediment filter and GAC ("granulated activated charcoal") filter.
NYC already has excellent water, and this baby gives me what is better than any bottled water money can buy right out of the tap. If I were living somewhere with water that is substantially more chlorinated than NYC water, I'd consider something like this a necessity. The 0.5 micron ceramic filter means that nothing that isn't dissolved in the water (including copepods) is going to make it into your glass. The GAC filter takes care of the dissolved stuff.
-
Orthodox Jews in New York have become concerned that the city's drinking water may not be kosher because it contains tiny crustaceans known as copepods.
The organisms, which measure about a millimeter long, pose no threat to human health, according to the city Department of Environmental Protection. But Orthodox teaching bars the eating of crustaceans — aquatic animals with skeletons outside their bodies, including shrimp, crab and lobsters.
Also reported in the International Herald Tribune.
Hmm... I have a 0.5 micron "sediment filter" leading to a large GAC filter under my kitchen sink. Does this mean that my tap water is still kosher?
-
The only report I have seen on the site thus far was from someone who bought a larger C1 piece (saute pan, I think), warped it on the first use and got her money back.
-
Sam, I'd be worried that you'll get a lot of muck through that method, but I'll be interested to hear the results.
I always clarify my stocks, so I am not particularly concerned about muck. That said, my experience has been that a cloudy stock is usually the result of too much heat (i.e., too much agitation of the water) rather than having the ingredients in small pieces.
-
Just don't let the folks at Bartender Magazine know about this... :->
The site says:
In the Summer of 2004, we will launch our new site, US Bartender.com!This is the start of a new group, organization, and/or club that is open to:
ALL U.S. BARTENDERS
Mixologists, master mixologists, bar chefs, or cocktailians need not apply. (Emphasis mine)
Well, okay then. Why would anyone be interested in this? Why don't they call it "beer-and-a-shot, we're proud to use sour mix monthly"?
I see that you are dismissed as someone who "hosts websites." Whatever.
-
For the artichokes, either carciofi fritti (bite sized pieces of artichoke -- either halved babies or guartered larger ones -- battered and fried) or carciofi alla Giudea (large artichokes de-choked, flattened out and deep fried in evoo) would work well.
Franny's
in New York: Dining
Posted
Great picture of the oven here, and I should point out that they were doing a brisk business with a short line outside when we left.