Franny's

Since I have the luxury of living near Nick's Pizza, I rarely go searching for other pizzerias. Last night, however, I had such a spectacular pizza experience in Brooklyn that I will be regularly commuting there.

Franny's, a gourmet pizzeria so proud of its ingredients that it lists their origins on the back of the menu, has set a whole new standard for NYC pizza. Garlic salami, fennel sausage and guanciale are house-made and all produce is organically grown.

Last night, my companion and I started off with some Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and a couple appetizers: crumbled egg and bottarga crostini and roasted beet salad. Although the crostini were tasty and the roasted beets were sweet (if overpowered by a bit too much pistachio salsa), we soon realized that our appetite would have been better spent on the utterly dreamy pizza. Hearing the waiter's footsteps, we looked up expectantly and were met by a free-form beauty of a pizza, randomly charred, spattered with fresh melted mozzarella, and sprinkled with thinly-sliced cloves of garlic and whole black olives. And what a crust... crispy, moist and light at the same time!

I longed to try the four-cheese pizza (mozzarella, ricotta, Gorgonzola & Fontina), but my companion had no room. So I consoled myself with a vanilla bean-speckled panna cotta accented with tangy, syrupy saba (an Italian grape-juice beverage).

But it's that pizza I'll be thinking about all week.

Franny's: 295 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn, (718) 230-0221. Closed Mondays and the last Tuesday of every month.