New restaurants can be so risky – clueless waiters, over-booked reservations – that you often forego the excitement of the latest/greatest for the comfort of the surest/thingest. Why not get both, simultaneously, at Francesca: a den of Spanish wine and cuisine from the team behind Frankies Spuntino.
A Basque re-imagining of the Frankies 17 space on Clinton Street, Francesca is a Spanish first for the Italian empire of “The Two Franks”.
They’ve brought in a ringer: Francesca’s chef de cuisine spent two years at a Michelin three-star restaurant in San Sebastian, the culinary capital of Spain that boasts more Michelin stars per capita than anywhere else in the world.
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a Spanish first for the Italian empire of “The Two Franks”
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There he basque-d in the influences that inform Francesca’s menu of pintxos – small, tapas-style plates traditionally enjoyed with copious amounts of both wine and company. And we’re all for tradition.
Dishes include skewers of house-cured Arctic char with mascarpone and trout roe, fried egg over patatas riojanas, and spring peas and fava beans with razor clams and jamon. All complemented by an eclectic, frequently-rotating list of wines by-the-glass from Spain, France, and Italy.
Latest thing meets sure thing. Viva los Franks.
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