Restaurant Pair 'The Franks' To Open Carroll Gardens Slice Shop

CARROLL GARDENS, BROOKLYN — A new member of "The Franks" empire is coming to Court Street this fall in the form of a pizzeria between their other neighborhood restaurants.

Frank Castronovo and Frank Falcinelli plan to open a pizza shop between Frankies 457 Spuntino and Franks Wine Bar in September, likely called F & F Pizzeria, the restauranteurs told the New York Times.

The new spot will be a collaboration between The Franks, Chris Bianco, who started Pizzeria Bianco in Arizona, and Chad Roberston, owner of California bakery, Tartine. The September opening will come after about a year of planning and several attempts at finding the right pizza aficionado to help transition to the new cuisine, they said.

“You need an expert. We’re not pizzaiolos,” Castronovo told the Times. “It wasn’t until we actually decided that we would do pizza that we realized that we needed to work with somebody, collaborate with somebody.”

The new shop will be connected to the restaurant and wine bar by a kitchen. It will offer a more fast-casual feel than the other two eateries the childhood friends own.

“The pizza project is the pizza project: You’re in and you’re out,” Castronovo said. “You’re not getting wined and dined. We have a restaurant for that, and we have a wine bar for that.”

The collaboration between The Franks, Bianco and Robertson will not be a financial partnership, they clarified, but will be a relationship to "share intellectual property" and help each other out.

Falcinelli and Castronovo had originally planned on working with Long Island pizza icon Umberto Corteo for the new pizzeria, but the deal fell through. Corteo and The Franks are still on good terms, though, they told the Times.

To read the duo's full feature in the New York Times click here.