Franny's

Note: Franny’s is now located at 348 Flatbush Avenue. The former Franny’s space (reviewed below) is now Marco’s from the same owners.

*

For years, Franny’s was on that long list of Brooklyn restaurants that I’d like to try, if only I could find the time to get there. At an hour and fifteen minutes from home, it’s a bit far for anything other than destination cuisine, which I wasn’t persuaded Franny’s had. A Sunday visit to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (fifteen minutes’ walk from Franny’s) provided the excuse.

When Frank Bruni pronounced himself “besotted,” and awarded two stars, there was the distinct feel of a Brooklyn grading curve. Having now tried it, I can see somewhat what the fuss is about. Two of the dishes we tried (the appetizers) were fantastic. The pasta was less remarkable, but certainly very good. More about that in a minute.

At 6:00 p.m. on a Sunday evening, they were already quoting a walk-in wait of 40 minutes. I can only imagine what it might be at prime time on a Friday or Saturday. Franny’s does not take reservations, and the outdoor garden seating area had already closed for the season—an unfortunate decision on their part, as the temperature was an unseasonably balmy 75 degrees. Fortuitously, there were two vacant bar stools.

It is a noisy restaurant, and your evening is not unlikely to be punctuated with wailing infants and agitated toddlers. For a restaurant that appeals to that demographic, Frannie’s is wonderful—practically miraculous. If you’re in the area, by all means go, but be prepared with a backup plan or a place to cool your jets if they can’t seat you immediately. As good as Franny’s is, it isn’t worth a long subway ride, only to face an unknown, possibly lengthy wait.

A brick oven is the centerpiece of a half-open kitchen. The aroma of charred pizza crust permeates the restaurant, a terrific advertisement for their signature dish. We weren’t hungry enough to order a whole pie, and it’s a pity the chef doesn’t do more with that oven. Just imagine a pork chop, a whole duck, or even chicken. Instead, you’re limited to salumi (selections $9–17), appetizers ($6–15), pastas (just three offered; $16–17) or pizzas ($14–18).

The menu, re-printed daily, fits on one side of a sheet of stiff (presumably post-consumer) paper, with the now obligatory New Brooklyn list of farmers and suppliers on the reverse side. “Our sour cherries, honey crisp apples, blueberries, basil and kale are grown on Phillip’s Farm in Milford, New Jersey… . Our kitchen grease is converted into biodiesel fuel by Tri-State biodiesel.”

The cocktails here are reputed to be excellent, although we drank wine by the glass, a wonderful Casia di Cornia Rossa from Tuscany ($10). The nine-page wine and beverage list is far better than you are entitled to expect at a glorified pizza parlor. There’s an ample selection of bottles under $50, but the vast majority are higher than that, which is somewhat jarring when no food item is higher than $18.

A wood-roasted pork sausage with kale ($15; above left) was the food of the gods: salty, fattening, and bursting with flavor. More, please. A pork cheek and beef tongue terrine ($11; below left) was warm, luscious, and sticky. One hardly needed the excellent warm, crisp bread, but we were glad to have it.

Bucatini all’Amatriciana ($17; above right) was a more modest success: better balance and more deftly seasoned than most chefs could do at home, but unlike the appetizers, not a dish you’ll dream about for days afterward. The portion struck us as a bit small.

The pastas, according to Bruni’s review, had disappeared from the menu for a while, because the chef, Andrew Feinberg, didn’t think he’d mastered them. Perhaps the same timidity explains the absence of real entrées. If so, the chef should get over his hesitation, and start offering them.

On the other hand, when your restaurant is as successful as this one, you probably don’t look to amateur bloggers for advice.

Franny’s (295 Flatbush Avenue between St. Mark’s Ave & Prospect Place, Brooklyn)

Food: *½
Service: *
Ambiance: *
Overall: *

Balaboosta

When they write the tale of Sam Sifton’s failed tenure as a restaurant critic, perhaps his enthusiastic one-star review of Balaboosta will be front and center: four of the first six paragrahs were about the guests and his fantasies about them, rather than the restaurant.

After that review, for about a year, Balaboosta was always booked when I wanted to go. It remains popular, but lately crowds have thinned a bit. You no longer have to do cartwheels (or dine at inhospitable hours) to get in.

The chef, Einat Admony, serves up a pleasing mix of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern (non-Kosher) cuisine from her native Tel Aviv. There aren’t many great examples of this cuisine in Manhattan, a fact that elevates Balaboosta above the merely routine.

The restaurant’s name is Yiddish, and like much of that language, not exactly translatable. The rough meaning is, “perfect housewife,” which, if it were written in English, wouldn’t tell you much, except that the chef is a woman. She also has a West Village falafal restaurant called Taïm, though her blog gives the impression that most of her attention is spent here.

The menu is admirably focused, with about half-a-dozen entries each in three categories: small plates ($5–11), appetizers ($9–14), and entrées ($20–29).

The wine list — all sustainable, organic, or biodynamic — is mostly French and Italian. There are plenty of choices in the $30–50 range, so you can get out of here for less than the $100 per person that seems to be the mid-priced standard nowadays.

While you wait for the food, you can snack on fried Yuca chips (above left), which have the alarming tendency to spoil one’s appetite.

From the “small plates” part of the menu, we shared the Crispy Cauliflower ($10; below left) with currants and pine nuts, an outstanding dish.

A very good whole Branzino ($29; above right) came with grilled asparagus, a beet-citrus salad, and a lemon-dill sauce.

Sifton’s favorite dish was the boneless half chicken cooked “under a brick,” Israeli couscous with dried apricots and green leeks, and gremolata sauce. It wasn’t bad for a $22 entrée, but the chef didn’t coax as much flavor or tenderness out of the bird as the best I have had lately, the chicken at Tiny’s in Tribeca.

We had a fairly early reservation and found the home-spun space delightful before it filled up. But like so many modern downtown restaurants, the exposed brick meme is played out to the hilt. When full, later in the evening, we were shouting to hear each other, and that was with a corner table. In the middle of the room, I suspect it would have been worse.

Balaboosta is a pleasant enough place, though I would probably choose to come back for lunch or at off-peak dinner hours.

Balaboosta (214 Mulberry Street at Spring Street, NoLIta)

Food: *
Service: *
Ambiance: *
Overall: *

Michelin New York 2012 Ratings

The Michelin New York 2012 ratings were announced this afternoon. As always, we’re back with our tabular listing of the stars from 2006 (the first year) to the present. To summarize:

Promotions:

• Brooklyn Fare was promoted from two stars to three
• Eleven Madison Park was promoted from one star to three
• L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon and SHO Shaun Hergatt were promoted from one star to two

I have no argument with any of these: they are all excellent restaurants. We can only hope that the next New York Times restaurant critic won’t be as clueless about Hergatt as the current one.

Demotions:

• Picholine was demoted from two stars to one
• Shalezeh was demoted from one star to none

Shalezeh never deserved a star in the first place, and I have certainly heard reports of a decline at Picholine. I’ve no argument here either.

Starred in First Eligible Year:

• Ai Fiori, Brushstroke, Danji, Junoon, Heartbreak, Tamarind Tribeca, Tulsi

All seven of these received good reviews, though Sifton skipped Heartbreak, sending an underling to write an enthusiastic Dining Brief. It is certainly odd that five of the seven are Indo/Asian, including three Indian.

Older Restaurants Starred for the First Time:

• Rosanjin, Tori Shin

I have no idea what changed at these restaurants to suddenly make them star-worthy. Both have been open since around 2006–07. Rosanjin got an enthusiastic deuce from Bruni in 2007; I gave it three in 2008. Tori Shin was never reviewed in the Times, and I had never heard of it until today. In total, seven of the nine new one-star restaurants are Indian or Asian, a peculiar statistic.

The full list is below. See the end of the post for the color key.

Restaurant	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Adour				**	*	*	*
Ai Fiori							*
Alain Ducasse	***
Aldea						*	*
Allen & Delancey				*
Alto				*	**	**
Annisa	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Anthos			*	*	*	*
Aureole	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
A Voce Columbus						*	*
A Voce Madison		*	*		*	*	*
Babbo	*	*	*
BLT Fish	*
Blue Hill			*	*	*	*	*
Bouley	**	**	**		*	*	*
Breslin, The						*	*
Brooklyn Fare						**	***
Brushstroke							*
Café Boulud	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Café Gray	*	*	*
Casa Mono					*	*	*
Convivio					*	*
Corton					**	**	**
Country		*	*
Craft	*	*
Cru	*	*	*	*
Daniel	**	**	**	**	***	***	***
Danji							*
Danny Brown						*	*
Danube	**	*	*
Del Posto		**	**	**	*	*	*
Dévi		*	*
Dovetail						*	*
Dressler			*	*	*	*	*
Eighty One				*	*
Eleven Madison Park					*	*	***
Etats-Unis	*	*	*	*	*
Fiamma (Osteria)	*	*		*
Fleur de Sel	*	*	*	*
Gilt			*	**	**	**	**
Gotham Bar & Grill	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Gordon Ramsay			**	**	**	**	**
Gramercy Tavern	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Heartbreak							*
Insieme				*	*
Jean Georges	***	***	***	***	***	***	***
Jewel Bako	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
JoJo	*		*	*
Junoon							*
Kajitsu					*	**	**
Kyo Ya				*	*	*	*
Kurumazushi		*	*
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon			*	*	*	*	**
La Goulue	*	*
Le Bernardin	***	***	***	***	***	***	***
Laut						*	*
Lever House	*	*
Lo Scalco	*
Marc Forgione					*	*	*
March	*
Marea					*	**	**
Masa	**	**	**	***	***	***	***
Minetta Tavern					*	*	*
Modern, The	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Momofuku Ko				**	**	**	**
Nobu	*
Oceana	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Perry St.		*	*	*	*
Per Se	***	***	***	***	***	***	***
Peter Luger	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Picholine	*	*	**	**	**	**	*
Public				*	*	*	*
Rhong-Tiam					*
River Café					*	*	*
Rosanjin							*
Rouge Tomate					*	*	*
Saul	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Scalini Fedeli	*
Seäsonal					*	*	*
Shalizar/Shalezeh					*	*
SHO Shaun Hergatt					*	*	**
Soto					*	**	**
Spotted Pig	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Sushi Azabu					*	*	*
Sushi of Gari		*	*	*	*	*	*
Tamarind Tribeca							*
Tori Shin							*
Tulsi							*
Veritas	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Vong	*	*	*
Wallsé	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
WD~50	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Color Key:

Green: Restaurant promoted, or starred in first year of eligibility
Yellow: Restaurant demoted, but still has at least one star
Red: Restaurant demoted, and now unstarred
Gray: Restaurant closed, moved, or opened too late in year to be rated

Tiny's

I admit some initial skepticism about Tiny’s, a small Tribeca restaurant that occupies a bright pink landmarked 1810 townhouse.

There are two red flags, right out of the gate. The guys who opened it, Matt Abramcyk and his family (brother, sister, and father), are better known for nightlife spots. And New York Rangers goalie Henrkk Lundqvist is an investor: restaurants associated with famous athletes are usually terrible.

Tiny’s defies the odds: I’ve visited twice, and loved it both times. This is rustic American bistro food, not especially complicated, but really well prepared. Defying the axiom that dinner these days is bound to cost $100 whether you like it or not, Tiny’s is reasonable, with appetizers between $10–13 and entrées $20–25. It’s a focused menu too, with just seven of the former and five of the latter, although at the bar various snacks and burgers are available too.

Dinner begins with warm bread that is simple but beguiling, with soft, spreadable butter—which I mention only because so many restaurants can’t manage this basic convenience.

Grilled chicken ($20; below left) might be the best chicken dish I’ve had this year: juicy and full of flavor, with a smokey crust on the skin and a hearty warm vegetable salad underneath.

Hake ($22; above right) was a shade less memorable, but nicely done, with a salad of artichokes and radishes under a white bean purée.

Both my visits were fairly early on weekday evenings. It was not crowded, and I was seated immediately. But on a Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m. I was turned away, and another day at around 10:00 p.m. there seemed to be a large crowd gathered outside. These are nightlife operators, after all.

A number of message board reviews mentioned poor service, but I was treated well on both visits. The décor is a similar drab chic that the same team nailed at Smith & Mills, a smaller and less accomplished restaurant. With exposed brick, metal chairs, and a pressed tin ceiling, I suspect it could get loud in here when full. But for an early dinner it’s delightful.

Tiny’s (135 West Broadway between Duane & Thomas Streets, Tribeca)

Food: *½
Service: *
Ambiance: *
Overall: *