Franny's

[herbacidal]

The first time I walked by this place I thought the window said "tranny's".

I'd be eager to try their pizza just because of that.

Tranny's Pizza? That takes guts.

[docsconz]

Now really, how can anyone who loves Neapolitan style pizze be evil?  

Um... sometimes they are.

He was from Romagna. What did he know of Neapolitan pizze?

[slkinsey]

Franny's was reviewed in today's NY Times: Brooklyn Pizza With a Résumé

Franny's belongs to a new wave of pizzerias popping up in Italy and the States, where high quality ingredients, like house-cured meats and farmstead cheeses, elevate humble pies. Ms. Stephens and her husband, Andrew Feinberg — the chef in the Mets cap at the wood-burning brick oven — worked at Savoy in SoHo and spent a year in the Berkshires, making cheese and befriending farmers. Their menu is seasonal, changes daily and proclaims their ingredients' sustainable provenance.

I found it kind of odd that the write up of what is in essence a pizzeria only devoted a quarter of the review to their pizza and doesn't have much illuminating to say about them:

But those pies. When I first visited, they fitted snugly on the plate. They grew with time until they drooped onto the table. Nicely charred bottoms and puffy rims taste faintly of wood smoke and thin centers hold their own against superior toppings.

For traditionalists, house-made, just-gamy-enough pepperoni and gumball-size meatballs, bursting with herbs and spice, arrive with milky mozzarella and dollops of deeply flavored sauce ($14).

In a city where everyone has an opinion about pizza, creative pies cause debates. "It tastes like breakfast," one friend said, biting into barely cooked egg yolk, pancetta, and fontina ($13). I thought the flavors got along beautifully. "What's a pie without cheese?" another said of chilies, olives, and buttery roasted garlic ($11), perfectly calibrated against a cooked-in layer of sauce. The one-two punch of sweet clams and briny capers ($14) was delicious.

This is Dana Bowen's second or third $25 and Under, afaik, and it seems like she's still feeling her way around a bit. It was a positive review, I thought, but didn't really say as much as the New York Magazine review (although NY Magazine had 70% more words to say it in). Interesting that Bowen doesn't like the pasta, though, as other reviews have been very positive.

[slkinsey]

Went to Franny's with some friends last PM, a few of whom might chime in with their impressions. The place continues to impress, and improve. This time I brought along my camera so I could take a few of my trademark terrible-quality amateur phographs and hopefully give those who haven't made the journey an impression of what its like. So...

Franny's is located along a bustling section of Flatbush Avenue, just a few blocks away from the Bergen Street 2/3 station. They have an almost aggressively unassuming storefront, such that no signage whatsoever is displayed when the security gate is down.

Here's a closer look. You can see just at the top there a blank spot where the signage for the previous occupants must have been. Although Franny's is easy to miss (one of our party walked right by it and didn't notice it was there -- and he was looking for it), it certainly doesn't seem to be affecting their business one iota. Indeed, tables were already somewhat scarce by the time we arrived at 6:30, whereas it was mostly empty at this time on our first visit. I chatted with owner/chef/pizzaiolo Andrew Feinberg, and he allowed that they have been getting just about as much business as they can possibly handle. Oh well... they can sleep later, right?

As before, we were greeted by owner/FOH manager Francine Stephens. Although I had only been there once before, she recognized me and we were greeted warmly. How do they do that? This is always such a great touch, and is one of the things that makes me eager to return to places like Franny's and Landmarc. It makes me feel good that we can have an outlet like eGullet to promote places like these that are doing it right.

Here are some pictures of the oven:

The guy with the pen stuck in his hat is Andrew.

This side view gives some sense of the scale of the oven. It's relatively small but, as I think this shows, extremely massive. It was interesting to hang out there for a few minutes and watch them work the oven. It is constantly being maintained, with new wood being added, the fire adjusted, ashes swept out, etc. -- all while a constant stream of pizza moves in, around and out. I also got a few minutes to chat with Andrew before things started getting crazy. Interestingly, one of the first things he asked was whether I'd been to Pizzeria Bianco in Arizona. Neither of us has been to this mecca of American pizza making, but we both feel the call to make a pilgrimage. Luckikly, bergerka's family is in Phoenix and I'l definitely be finding some excuse to go out there for a visit (after the summer!).

As you may imagine, this all takes a fair amount of wood. I wonder how long this lasts?

Okay, on to the food...

Here is the squid appetizer I mentioned above. It's the same, and yet different, which is the cool thing about a place that changes the menu according to what foods are at peak and what the local farmers are able to bring them. Many restaurants would have found a way to continue serving white beans with the squid. But that's not what they're getting in right now, so this time it was squid, scallions, sungold tomatoes, chilis, soft croutons, etc. Just this litte change in one ingredient metamorphosed it from a dish that was largely soft with earthy undertones to one that is a bright, sharp and crunchy -- and yet the same.

Another appetizer that was similar to one we had before was this plate of green beans with pine nuts, mint and lemon. Snap peas are over now, and so it's on to green beans. As with the snap pea dish, when you have ingredients this pristine, there really isn't a whole lot you should do with it. The pine nuts added a nice counterpoint to the brightness of the lemon and mint.

Here's a plate of house-cured sopressata with Marzolino and Sicilian olives. Marzolino is kind of like a sheep milk mozzarella -- really nice. Tthe sopressata didn't taste quite as funky as before, but I had already had some strong flavors in my mouth and it may have obscured some of the flavors.

Now begins an interesting part of the meal. The part I like to call "I really don't like this, but I am going to try it anyway... d'oh! this is really good." This one is a perfect example. Several of us "don't like beets." Nevertheless, we all liked this plate of beets with anchovy and egg very much. There are beets, and there are beets. As I explained, there are a lot of things that one may not like in their usual form, but it's a whole different ballgame when you're getting a peak product that someone just pulled out of the ground (the ground of the Farm at Miller's Crossing in Claverack, New York in this case). The saline anchovies, the bland eggs and the al dente, sweet-but-not-too-sweet beets were a very nice combination.

For me this was a real chalenge. It's eggplant fritto. I hate eggplant. I mean, hate eggplant. Eventually my companions shamed me into taking one for the team and trying one. You know what? It was really, really good. Slender sticks of eggplant with a light crisp coating. Not bitter. Not mushy. Really nice. I will now declare eggplant "good" as long as I can eat Kernan Family Farm eggplant prepared just this way in Franny's.

On to the main event...

Basil pesto and ricotta. They used just the right amount of garlic in this pesto, so it doesn't take over the whole pizza. They used green garlic before (presumably for its mildness). I don't know if it's still green garlic season, whether they use some other mild form of garlic or whether they simply just use less. Anyway, it was nice to have something with pesto where other flavors besides raw garlic could be tasted.

Fresh tomato and ricotta salata. The ricotta is grated onto the pizza when it comes out of the oven, where it melts on the warm crust. Speaking of the crust, check out that caramelization!

Tomato, mozzarella and meatballs. This is the only tomato sauce/mozzarella pizza I've had at Franny's. We liked it a lot. I especially like the way the ingredients are distributed on the crust: some places have both, some have just tomato, some have just mozzarela, some have neither. I also thought it was fun to use whole little meatballs, which sometimes escape and roll around a little, instead of flat slices of large meatballs. That said, I can see how some eaters might be underwhelmed by this pizza. It's not an intensely flavored , herby sauce and great stringy blobs of mozzarella. As with all their pizze, the toppings are relaively understated and clearly subordinate to the primacy of the crust. This is not to say that the other way can't be great too (I love DiFara as much as the next guy). But it is a totally different paradigm, and some people are unable or unwilling to break out of theirs (e.g., Adam Heimlich in his NY Press review).

Quatro formaggio (sic. -- should be "quattro formaggi" -- misspelled Italian is somewhat common on the menu), including mozzarella, ricotta, gorgonzola and parmigiano reggiano). Um... what to say about this. The cheeses are all first rate. The pizza was delightful... and not too rich, which is often a problem with the four cheeses deal. Just the right amount of the moldy stuff, too, which is always my favorite.

This was the unequivocal star of the evening. Clams, chilis and parsley. Whoa. Nothing but fresh clams, shucked onto the crust and cooked in the heat of the oven, then a dusting of chili, a sprinkle of parsley and a drizzle of evoo. If I didn't know otherwise, I would have sworn the clams had been poached in butter. They were that buttery. According to Franny, they also do this with mussles. It just depends on what is looking best at the time. I hope they never take this off the menu, but then again, if they keep it on it will be a constant struggle to order anything else. Maybe that means I'd have to order two?! Oh well, there are worse things in life. This pizza, to me, says everything there is to say about how just a few ingredients, all at their peak and treated simply, can create something extraordinary.

Here's a look at the bottom of the crust. Not exactly a char like they get in the NYC old school places. Char, to me, means just a little bit burnt. The crust at Franny's, on the other hand, I would describe as "intensely and thoroughly caramelized." This trip solidified in my mind that Franny's is the overall best crust in the City. This is not to say that I don't still love and appreciate the NY char at Patsy's and Grimaldi's, etc. But Franny's is, IMO, doing something more profound with their crust.

We had dessert as well. Perhaps someone else will have something to say about that. I will say, however, that one extra summer bonus at Franny's is dessert out in the garden:

[Moopheus]

For me this was a real chalenge. It's eggplant fritto. I hate eggplant. I mean, hate eggplant. Eventually my companions shamed me into taking one for the team and trying one. You know what? It was really, really good.

I like eggplant. I like fried eggplant. This picture alone makes me pretty sure I want to try this place at some point. Soon.

[slkinsey]

For me this was a real chalenge.  It's eggplant fritto.  I hate eggplant.  I mean, hate eggplant.  Eventually my companions shamed me into taking one for the team and trying one.  You know what?  It was really, really good.

I like eggplant. I like fried eggplant. This picture alone makes me pretty sure I want to try this place at some point. Soon.

You'd better go soon. Because there's no guarantee it's going to be on the menu in a few weeks.

[ronnie_suburban]

Dayum! That food looks tremendous. Fantastic pics. Thanks.

=R=

[bergerka]

Sam said all there was to say about the dinner, so I will say what there is to say about the desserts.

We had:

the pistachio cake with zabaglione gelato and peaches. Stunning. You can imagine how it tasted from the description.

Chocolate sorbet: dark, rich, chocolatey, OBVIOUSLY Valrhona (confirmed by our server), with a very creamy texture, not grainy at all.

and the one that was so good it almost made me cry:

mascarpone ice cream with fresh local raspberries.

K

[docsconz]

Outstanding! I gotta go.

[Pan]

Thanks for the great report, Sam! And stop dissing your photos.

[slkinsey]

Outstanding! I gotta go.

Dude. That's what I'm telling you! Just make sure you let me know the next time you're coming to town.

[JosephB]

Please note for the record that I was NOT there last night. :sad: (bittersweet face)

[slkinsey]

Please note for the record that I was NOT there last night. :sad: (bittersweet face)

I know. I broke our solemn vow. Our next time to Franny's is on me.

[slkinsey]

Franny's made New York Metro's list of the best cheap eats:

To the fussy diners who make a production over Franny's unsliced pizza pies, we say: Get over it. Use a fork and knife if you must. Better yet, tear a piece off with your hands, you big sissies. Just don't let manners stand between you and what might be New York's best pizza since the coal-oven era.

[Moopheus]

We finally found an excuse to get over to try Tranny's, I mean Franny's. There was, sadly, no eggplant fritto. Instead, there was zucchini fritto, which was excellent. Lightly battered and the zucchini was perfectly cooked through, soft and tasty but not mushy. We had the basil pesto & ricotta and the four cheese pizzas, which were just as Sam described. The pesto in particular was excellent, strong fresh basil & cheese flavors. The pizzas aren't overloaded with toppings, but there's still plenty. At the end we felt full but not overstuffed. There were two desserts on the menu, zabaglione with roasted figs, and the chocolate sorbet, both of which were great. In fact, as good as the pizzas were, they were in danger of being overshadowed by the appetizer and dessert.

It was very hot and humid outside, and when we were seated (we didn't have to wait, though it was fairly busy) the waitress brought us a bottle of water right away. Then proceeded to pour us more water whenever our glasses were half full. I started making sure my glass was always full so she wouldn't keep doing that.

The room is a bit noisy, though at least there were no screaming kids. Good hot jazz on the stereo over the bar (always a plus for me), which we were seated in front of.

On the whole, we felt completely satisfied. We'll have to go back when it's not so hot.

[slkinsey]

And the accolades continue to come in...

Franny's was featured in the October edition of Organic Style in their list of 20 Fresh Places To Eat. Organic Style says, "the chefs steering the 20 restaurants on our list are extraordinarily passionate not only about what they serve but also about who provides it and where it comes from." About Franny's they write, "[they] have created a menu that extends far beyond traditional pizzas to snap pea and mint salad, spinach and ricotta gnocchi, and squid with white beans, chilies, and lemon."

Franny's is also featured in this month's New Yorker in the Tables for Two section. Andrea Thompson writes: "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 . . . [the pizzas 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."

[slkinsey]

Franny's is mentioned in a very interesting NY Metro article on the current trend towards Italian-style wood oven "artisinal" pizza in NYC (eG discussion thread here).

A good brick oven and expert technique help, too, and chef Andrew Feinberg has it down. Witness his super-crisp, deeply charred, almost medieval crust, masterfully topped. . .

I'm going there this evening.

[slkinsey]

Andrew Feinberg, pizzaiolo, chef and co-owner of Franny's, is featured in the latest series of The Chef in the NY Times' Food Section. This should be an good series, and I'll be interested to see if they discuss any of his pizza making thoughts and techniques. Francine Stephens, his wife and partner, is also a talented mixologist in her own right, and it would be a lot of fun if they ran a little something about her creations. We'll have to wait and see. . .

Today's article is actually about one of the chef's other talents: pasta. Specifically, Meyer lemon-ricotta ravioli.

"Look at the color," Mr. Feinberg said, fondly eyeing the smooth, marigold-hued ball of dough he had kneaded. It was the same shade as the lemons piled in a bowl on the dining table. "The fresh pasta I ate in Italy looked like this. A lot of fresh pasta recipes use whole eggs. This is all yolk, which gives it that color and makes it really rich."

The richness, he said, plays well against the simplicity of the filling, just fresh ricotta, Parmesan and the raison d'être of the dish, freshly grated Meyer lemon zest.

"You could use regular lemons," Mr. Feinberg admitted when pressed, "or a combination of lemon and orange zest. But Meyer lemons are special. They've got a great perfume, which adds a lot to the dish."

Earlier in the article, Francine remarks that they had originally offered pasta on the menu at Franny's but ended up taking it off because they decided it was too much pressure for the kitchen to do pasta to their standards in addition to the pizza once they started getting busy. Although it's a shame we have to miss out on their excellent pasta offerings, I wish more restauranteurs made decisions like this.

[wannabechef]

Went to Franny's last night for the second time. The first time I wasn't overly impressed (that was right after they opened) so I wanted to give it another shot. I was in a group of 3 on a Friday night and we aren't big spenders (this matters further down my post).

Started out with an appetizer of wood-fire roasted cauliflower with fresh breadcrumbs. Have to say I was blown away by this. I'm a huge cauliflower fan and this is one of the best dishes I've had with this veggie. It was basically a thick slice of a head of cauliflower roasted. On top were fresh, garlicy breadcrumbs, raw high quality olive oil, and freshly grated reggiano (I saw them grating it on top of the dish in the back). It blew my mind.

Then each of us got our own pizza. First some general words about the pizza: It rocks. The crusts were extremely thin and the thick edges were almost "fluffy" in a way. Each had a perfect amount of sauce which only added to the mix and was not overt in any way. The cheese they use is obviously high quality (you have a choice of regular fresh mozz. or buffalo). I wish they'd just use a slightly bit more cheese though. When it melts you can barely even see its there. Each pie is squirted with raw olive oil, fresh reggiano, and sometimes parsley when it comes out of the oven.

The wife got one with chilies, olives and garlic. The original rendition didn't have any cheese on it, but we requested it. Her pie had huge slices of fresh garlic spread all over, and a healthy sprinkling of calamata olives. She loved it. My friend got the plain tomato-buffalo mozzerella pie and loved it. I got the garlic sausage one. The sausage wasn't exactly what I expected but it was really incredible.

So that's the food part. Now, that being said, I have two things to complain about with this restaurant. First are the prices. I know there are other threads arguing about how you have to pay for the top notch ingredients, etc and I agree its true. But the bill adds up VERY fast in this place, and left us slightly startled. All we had was what I described above - 3 personal pizzas, 1 appetizer, plus 1 glass of wine (for me only). With tip, it came to almost $80.

The other thing I want to complain about is the sometimes snobby attitude of the place. They really try hard to sell items to you. When we only ordered one appetizer we got a dirty look. When only I ordered a drink, the woman snatched the other 2 glasses away so fast to make a statment. Our waitress came to the table to pour my glass. She showed me the bottle, etc. There was only enough wine left in the bottle for one glass of wine (maybe a DROP more). She started to pour my glass and then left that one DROP in the bottle. It wasn't even enough for another 1/5 glass. Come on! Couldn't she just top it off?? My wine glass was still barely half full and she couldn't just give me the rest of what was in the bottle. I thought that was very chincy and it bothered me. I muttered something under my breath but she didn't hear. Oh well.

These things all happened before our pizzas even came - and when they did come, it sort of absolved them a bit. But still....

The restaurant just seems a bit full of themselves. They read the specials to you as if you are sitting in Alain Ducasse. I prefer the more "humble" and warm attitude. I wonder if this place was always like this or if success has gotten to their heads. Or maybe they deserve to have this attitude? Despite my negative comments, I think I will be back - because the pizza is that good.

~WBC

Edited March 12, 2005 by wannabechef (log)

[Daniel]

Went to Franny's last night for a second dinner.. We showed up around 10 pm.. We ordered a Zuchini Crustini, a squid dish, and a pizza.. The pizza was excellent.. Everything else was very average.. The squid dish was sparce and uninteresting.. I would go back and stick to pizza and salad I think.. They have this gorgeous wood burning oven.. Our waitress was unattentive and overly impressed with herself.. I asked for a glass of wine when our crostini and squid arrived.. 12 minutes later she brought the wine out and said "geeze, you guys cant wait for anything" Commenting on the fact that we were done with our three pieces of bread they gave us. One example of our exchanges.. Anyway, the pizza was great.

Edited August 24, 2006 by Daniel (log)

[Pan]

I finally made it to Franny's. It was a very pleasant experience.

My dining partner and I shared an appetizer of pancetta, dandelion greens, peaches, and slices of lightly pickled red onion. My dining partner felt that it was really overdressed with an overly vinegary dressing, but all the ingredients were good, especially the pancetta.

We then shared two pizze:

Buffalo mozzarella, anchovies, olives, and ricotta

Buffalo mozzarella and homemade sausage

The brown olives were especially good. Our feeling about the pizza is that it almost doesn't bear comparison with any other pizza we've had, because it is almost entirely different. The excellent dough was well-charred but the texture was very light and fluffy. As artisanal pizza, I think it is on a par with DiFara's, but again, entirely different in character.

We had a bottle of Ambra Rosato with the meal, a very good fruity rose' that cost only $30 and was recommended by our waitress, Colleen.

For dessert, I ordered the fior di latte gelato and my dining partner ordered the vanilla panna cotta with peaches. Both desserts were excellent.

With a peppermint tea for me, the total on the bill before tip was $100, a fair value, especially because we were sitting in a lovely garden that almost made us feel that we were at a rustic trattoria where English happened to be spoken.

Franny's is a very good neighborhood restaurant that's worth a trip from outside the neighborhood. I'm sorry it took so long for me to go there for the first time, but this surely won't be the last time I go there.

I'm editing this because I see that some of you have had trouble with the service. We asked our waitress whether it would be sufficient for us to split one appetizer and have one pizza apiece, and she said it would be. Our service was friendly and unaffected, and when my dining partner made a criticism of the appetizer, we were told that it would be passed on. If anything, the only problem with the service was that I was erroneously brought a bill about $30 too low to sign for my credit card. Of course I never would have let that go by. I think that the problem may be with certain servers and not others.

Edited August 26, 2006 by Pan (log)

[Sneakeater]

Our feeling about the pizza is that it almost doesn't bear comparison with any other pizza we've had, because it is almost entirely different. The excellent dough was well-charred but the texture was very light and fluffy. As artisanal pizza, I think it is on a par with DiFara's, but again, entirely different in character.

←

I'm so glad you liked this place.

I just wanted to highlight the above passage because it says something about the pizza at Franny's that I've tried to say to various friends but could never quite articulate. I don't really look at Franny's pizza as being comparable to other pizzas. I almost don't think of it as "pizza". It's never a choice to me, for example, whether to go to Franny's or Grimaldi's: I'm either in the mood for one or the other, and I view them as being quite different things. And, as someone in New York Magazine once remarked, Franny's isn't really a pizzeria, but rather a typical New Brooklyn Restaurant that serves pizza.

I'm also glad to hear you say you think Franny's is on a par with DiFara, since that's a thought I've had but have never had the guts to express out loud.

It's always great to read a review that says things you've thought be could never organize into expressions. Thanks again.

[Pan]

You're welcome. I agree that the character of Franny's is so different that I couldn't imagine there being a question of whether to go to Franny's or Grimaldi's (or, for that matter, DiFara's) at a given time.

[johnder]

Stopped by Franny's last night for a bite to eat with Don after going to a cocktail event at the Montauk Club. Happily we were able to get seated right away, even though the place was pretty crowded.

Given we weren't super hungry, we just ordered the mixed charcuterie plate

The house testa

and a Tomato Buffala Pizza

Given it was my first time at Franny's (shameful I know), and Don's first time, we ended up chatting with Sunny, our great waitress and she ended up giving us a taste of some other things to try:

House pickles:

Potato Croquettes

Even though we were really stuffed at this point, we took her recommendations that we needed to try the vanilla panna cotta

Overall it was really great. As expected the pizza was spot on, great crust and all the smoke flavor you would expect from the oven. The Potato croquettes though were the star of the evening for me. Personally, you can fry pretty much anything and I will love it, but a molten ball of potato and cheese, fried and topped with more cheese is awesome.

I really enjoyed the testa as well, served warm, with the toasted bread -- just the right amount of fat, well seasoned. My thought was the salsa verde they served with it had too much acid for my taste -- it was overpowering the taste of the testa. I would have preferred the acid be cut down in favor of some more herbal notes. More like a parsley or herb salad.

The panna cotta was unlike any I have had before. It was obvious they used the least amount of gelatin possible for it to hold the shape, but once you start eating it, it melts in your mouth. With the tart saba sauce to cut the richness, it was gone pretty quick.

At the end, the experience was great -- really good vibe, great service and good food all around. My single biggest pet peeve isn't related to the food though, it is with a single item on an otherwise interesting cocktail list. They have a Brooklyn cocktail on the menu, (Maker’s Mark, Sweet Vermouth and fresh lemon sour), personally being big into cocktails I guess it bothers me that there is already an classic Brooklyn cocktail (rye/bourbon, vermouth, picon, maraschino) that is replaced by this modified whiskey sour.

It's not going to stop me from going back -- maybe if I go back enough and order a real Brooklyn cocktail, I can stir up a following.

[docsconz]

Great to see that Franny's is still doing it right. It has been awhile between reports. This place reminds me a bit of Two Amys in DC or vice versa.