The Blog For Insatiable Westchester Diners

Oct 19, 2009

10:45 AM

Frankie & Fanucci’s Wood Oven Pizza

In only a few short months, Frankie & Fanucci’s has quickly gained a loyal following of area pizzaphiles. Boasting a fiery wood-burning oven, the Hartsdale pizzeria is drawing attention for its flavorful, thin-crust, Neapolitan pies.

Frankie & Fanucci’s replaces what was once Lia’s; inside, the space was gutted and reworked with tiles, wood, and leather to create a dining room that’s casual and family-friendly, yet more upscale than your local pizzeria.

At the heart of the bustling open kitchen is an 8,500-pound wood-burning oven—the restaurant’s focal point, both visually and literally, since the kitchen contains no burners, fryers, or grills. The oven is it. “We make everything in there,” explains Brad Nagy, one of Frankie & Fanucci’s owners. That includes pizzas (up to eight large pies can fit in the oven at a time), sauces, meats, seafood, and veggies.

Nagy says the benefits of a wood-burning oven are a smoky flavor imparted by the wood—the kitchen goes through a cord of cherry and oak woods per week—and super-fast cooking times. Compared to a gas oven, which typically only gets up to 500 to600 degrees, the wood-burning oven reaches close to a scorching 800 degrees; a small pizza pie bakes in only two to three minutes.

The oven’s ultra-high temps and tender pizza dough, made from high-quality Italian flour, give Frankie & Fanucci’s pies a distinctive crisp yet chewy crust that’s slightly blistered and charred on the edges. Meat lovers flock to toppings such as Italian fennel sausage and prosciutto di Parma. Pizza purists will appreciate the classic margherita-style pie, adorned simply with plum tomatoes, whole-milk mozzarella, and basil.

While the focus of Frankie & Fanucci’s menu is pizza (small pies start at $9.25, large at $14.95), other dishes to try include meatball sliders ($4.95), oven-baked clams ($7.95), and the vibrant salads, most notably a mixed green salad with pears, Gorgonzola, and roasted walnuts ($8.50). Desserts are highlighted by an assortment of creamy Baci gelato.

Frankie & Fanucci’s is open Sunday to Thursday, 11 am to 10 pm and Friday and Saturday, 11 am to 11 pm.

Frankie & Fanucci’s
202 E Hartsdale Ave, Hartsdale
914-725-8400

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