Lunch at Franny’s in Brooklyn

Our neighborhood of Brooklyn has some real culinary treasures. While it's not as high profile as the restaurant scene in Manhattan, there are some interesting options in Park Slope, and it seems there are more every week. One of the oldest institutions of this burgeoning foodie mecca is Franny’s, a pizza joint featuring a wood-fired oven, thin crust pizzas, and a handful of seats. It is so popular that, whenever we think of it for dinner, the place is too packed: we see the line out the door from blocks away.

We discovered the secret to admission though. We had been wandering about Brooklyn, looking at open houses most of the day, and we wanted a place to sit and discuss what we had seen. So, we swung by Franny’s in the middle of the afternoon--after lunch but before dinner--and found it nearly empty. We grabbed a couple of seats at the bar, and ordered some wine while we looked over the menu. The wine list was Italian, the food was Brooklyn. Handcrafted small pizzas and a range of ingredients, it was the perfect treat for a chill winter afternoon. The pizza was everything we expected from such a popular place: fresh, interesting ingredients carefully selected for a balance of flavors, piled on top of handmade pizza dough infused with the smokey flavors of the wood-burning oven. The Italian red wines were powerful, and complemented the flavors of the pizza as well as one would expect of a wine and food culture so intimately mixed.

It's great to be reminded of such a wonderful treasure, right around the corner from home. While it is not always easy to squeeze through the crowds, sometimes a popular spot is really worth the wait--and even better when you don't have to.