I’d been curious to see how the new location of Franny’s would compare to the original, as it’s been one of my Brooklyn favorites. The new spot opened on April 8th, and promised more seating, a larger menu, and even a separate downstairs dining space for private parties. Accustomed to arriving to a group waiting just outside or inside the door, we were amazed to find the new space much more open. The pizza oven space is much more spacious, as is the bar area.
We decided to sit at the bar, happy to have caught them still serving dinner at almost 10pm (their posted hours are actually until 11:30pm). We ordered several appetizers as well as a pizza, which ended up being a perfect amount of food. The first dish to come out was the pea shoots with lemon and pecorino rossellino. The fun ribbons of cheese were a nice balance to the slight bite of the greens.
This freekeh salad was my favorite out of the starters. It included some tasty parsnips, almonds and pecorino ginepro.
I was not sure if it would be too heavy, but this wood-roasted pork sausage with mustard greens was a perfect addition to the line-up, adding just enough protein to the starters we tried. The greens were nicely done – not too bitter with excellent flavor.
And of course, it’s not a visit to Franny’s without a pizza. This time we went with the prosciutto cotto, spring onion, olives, chilies and caciocavallo pizza. The thinly cut proscuitto was flavorful. The chiles added a bit of spice and it was a nice change from the standard mozzarella for them to use the caciocavello (a sheep’s milk cheese).
For dessert, we tried their latte gelato and the salted caramel. The latte was more of just iced milk – made me almost think of making snow ice cream growing up. Put the two together, and the flavor was quite good. Yum. Verdict? New Franny’s still equates to the varied goodness of the original.
Franny’s – 348 Flatbush Avenue (b/w Stirling Place & 8th Ave), Brooklyn – 718.230.0221
No reservations, except for parties of 8-12
grits in the city 