Frasca

Money moves fast. That's what I thought when I saw this new place kitty-corner from the L on Lincoln at Paulina in the space that used to house a bar. Frasca looks like the bar/restaurant a nimble, flush "restaurant group" would throw up after seeing the wild success of Spacca Napoli, not too far away.

I was gently skeptical, but I was also glad that the new place is not another phony Irish pub or the harder to summarize "Big Ten" 1/2 lb. burger and Caesar salad bar that largely defines dining in Lincoln Park, Lakeview and surrounds. Places with flat screens, French doors and university flags hanging over the entrance.

Turns out, Frasca is owned by the Dunlay's group, which also opened DOC wine bar recently. Only open since Monday, Frasca is already doing a brisk business. I stopped in yesterday for a look. Very pleasant space done up to look vaguely like a wine cellar inside. (A frasca (lit. "branch")is, apparently, a Friulian enoteca, often associated with a winery). The focus of the room is a large and relatively industrial-looking wood-burning oven kept at 750 degrees for pizzas and other simple, rustic things such as white beans, roasted cauliflower, the fish of the day, etc.

I was disappointed that there does not seem to be any Friulian bent to the menu (I had hoped one of the recent Italo-Yugo Chicagoans was maybe in the kitchen). I grabbed a sopressata pizza and a "panzanella" salad to go. As I waited, I looked at the wine list, which features maybe 20 nice options by the glass. Here's where I found Friuli: a tokai that was served a little too cold but was otherwise very nice.

The staff and bartenders are really on top of things, but they must have been brought over from other restaurants in the mini-empire. The hostess didn't have the answers to my fairly basic questions, but she cheerfully insisted on asking the chef for me. The place looks genuinely Italian (in the modern Milanese way) but has more of a "Big Ten bar" feel because of the staff and neighborhood patrons.

The salad was pretty darn good, really. Not panzanella, but the combination of greens, chicken, sopressata (it shows up a lot) and large croutons was well-balanced. The thing that impressed me though, was the dressing. For a place that probably wants to a appeal to a certain low denominator, they went with a dressing that borders on courageous. If I had to guess, it was red wine vinegar, shallots, anchovies, capers, romano, and some other stuff.

Now then, the pizza. Now let me say this up front: Frasca is not Spacca Napoli. However, the pizza was very well-made, with plenty of burnt bubbles and good "bread." A reasonable amount of cheese, bright sauce, and nice thin slices of sopressata. I detected a drop of oil in the dough, making it not Neapolitan, I suppose. (No one said it was.) It quite reminded me of some of the classic NYC pies. For 8 bucks, it was a decent value. The guy manning the oven and the peel should be commended for doing such a good job so quickly. Frasca needs to be sure he stays.

I was in and out of the place with my takeout in 15 min, tops.

I expect that Frasca will be wildly popular within a few days.

Money not only moves fast, it's still moving-- they were still doing the exterior woodwork as of this morning, I hadn't realized they were already burning the stuff inside. Glad to hear that, though unsurprisingly not as accomplished or authentic as Spacca Napoli, it's at least decent and not a waste of its woodburning oven. Robey St. Pizza Company or whatever it's called needs to step up its game, now, they have a nice little oven too but the pizzas are kind of plastic even so, and definitely overcheesed for the type (or any type, almost).

Yeah, believe me, I hate the pizza at Robey (and I had high hopes back when it opened). It's hard to understand how it can turn out so poorly. But that goes to show that some real skill is needed to make this type of pie. Among Chicago's wood burning oven pizzas, Frasca is on the SN side of the chart (it was last night; let's hope they aren't using an itinerant "consultant" who will move on and leave the cooking to less skilled people. That seems to happen more and more with restaurants these days. Blue Bayou is an extreme example.)

I'm eager to try Frasca. What did their eat-in atmosphere seem like?
The old place was JT Collins -- had pretty good bar food, actually. Better than most of the neighborhood options.

Yea, Robey's pizza tastes like cardboard with a ton of goop slapped on top of it. The result is baffling considering the oven that they invested in. Admittedly, their sandwiches and salads are pretty good. With that said, looking forward to trying Frasca.

I drove by last weekend and it appeared to be jumping. Even though I live down the street, I'm apprehensive to visit because:
a) I saw a ginormous flat-screen TV above the bar inside - broadcasting some sporting event.
b) I'm not a fan of any of the other Dunlay-owned restaurants - which all seem to appeal to the flat-screen sports watching crowd.
*No offense intended to fans of sports, flat-screen TV's or hip neighborhood bars. I just don't like to mix all three.

JeffB wrote:Now then, the pizza. Now let me say this up front: Frasca is not Spacca Napoli. However, the pizza was very well-made, with plenty of burnt bubbles and good "bread."

Jeff,

Frasca sounds like a place to try, nice to have an early, knowledgeable report.

Interesting you compare Frasca's pizza to Spacca Napoli, I was recently at Smoke Daddy, which the same Dunlay's group now owns, and would say almost the exact same thing, i.e. Smoke Daddy is no Honey 1, but the BBQ was well within the edible range.

Enjoy,
Gary

Frasca Pizzeria and Wine Bar
3358 North Paulina St
Chicago, IL
773-248-5222

So, should I bite my tongue, admit defeat and begin frequenting Dunlay's establishments ... 'cause they are now at least "within the edible range?"

And then, there is This Thread at CH. I just don't know what to think!

JimInLoganSquare wrote:So, should I bite my tongue, admit defeat and begin frequenting Dunlay's establishments ... 'cause they are now at least "within the edible range?"

Resistance is futile.

G Wiv wrote:

JimInLoganSquare wrote:So, should I bite my tongue, admit defeat and begin frequenting Dunlay's establishments ... 'cause they are now at least "within the edible range?"

Resistance is futile.

It took me a good five minutes to figure that one out, Gary. Five minutes I'll never get back, mind you. Excellent work! Spend 10 or so minutes perusing this one ...

My expectations for Frasca fell somewhere between hoping it would be great, since it's a short walk from my house, and fearing yet another plastic sports bar (I like JeffB's descriptor, "Big 10 Bar"). To cut to the verdict, sorry Jim, it appears the Dunlay's corporate management know how to make a heck of a good Neapolitan pizza, or at least know how to stay out of the way of their employees who can; and the atmosphere is quite a bit chicer than a sports bar as well.

I kind of expected Thai pizzas, Hawaiian pizzas, etc. but Frasca has a substantial and fairly authentic-looking Italian food menu that goes well beyond pizza, which I look forward to exploring in the future. However, for tonight we were there mainly to judge the Neapolitan pizza against the obvious local standard, Spacca Napoli.

We started with a Caesar's salad which was oddly sweet rather than tart, but did earn points for having visible bits of real anchovy scattered about. The kids had cheese pizza off the kid's menu, we had two grownup pizzas. In all cases the crust was the same, a hand-tossed one clearly made with quality pizza flour, and very very close in its final result to Spacca Napoli. Here's the bottom:



This one was a white pizza with prosciutto-- good quality stuff, but a little dull.



This (also seen at top) was one with fennel sausage, onions and a bright, slightly sweet chunky tomato sauce. This was really good (and went fast) and our waitress confirmed that it seemed to be a big hit. (I also give her points for warning us away from one item that she said no one seemed to like and was probably soon going off the menu, an Italian fondue.)



Even if there's no Thai pizza, the topping choices are a little more to American tastes than Spacca Napoli's, and I would also bet they're using a domestic mozzarella rather than the water buffalo one Spacca Napoli uses, the cheese was good quality but didn't stand out as much. But don't take those as anything more than minor quibbles (or simply choices; there's nothing wrong with using top quality cow rather than bufala mozzarella), these were very good pizzas and any city in America would be glad to have them. Or in our case, glad to have both Frasca and Spacca Napoli.

Afterwards we had a nice chocolate pannacotta in a martini glass:



Hard to judge service (other than to say that our server was friendly and seemed happy to be there) because we went there so early that servers and busboys outnumbered us 10 to 1 and were consequently not just attentive, but fairly desperate for something to do; someone else will have to say what it's like when the place is packed at 8 on a Friday night. All in all, Frasca is an admirable addition to the neighborhood, and it's impressive to think that my roster of more or less neighborhood places should include them, Spacca Napoli, Terragusto and Merlo, all but the last opened since the start of the year. Guess I'll be eating more Italian food this year.

No need to apologize to me, Mike. It's kinda crazy that Dunlay's on the Square produced the worst pizza I've ever eaten (really, it was just rotten), and now has opened up a place making some darned fine looking pies, that sound like top 10th-percentile stuff. Life is full of surprises. I wonder if they'll try to impart some of the pizza-making skills to Dunlay's on the Square? I'd swallow my pride in a second if I knew I would be rewarded with a pizza like those you picture above.

Good to see that several days later, it's still good.

I have never been to Dunlay's, but Jim's post gives me comfort that I'm not missing anything. On the other hand, the Smoke Daddy and Frasca info suggests that the group is able to invest in places that will make money, but also serve good food that doesn't completely pander to Trixies. And why not. There are plenty of "groups" in NYC that pull it off. And it seems the Blackbird folks are headed that way (though they are arguably starting at the top and expanding down (the new place is a pub, after all) opposite of the Dunlay's people).

PS, interesting to see that Frasca used a very different tomato for the sausage pie. A thin, but very good, passata was on the sopressata -- possibly the Parmalat stuff, which is fine with me.

Just finished devouring my Capone pizza (the fennel sausage, fresh mozzarella, wood roasted onions, & tomato sauce pizza Mike G has picture above), and it was quite good. Loved the flavor of the sausage, although my pizza wasn't as well-done as the one pictured.

But ordering the thing was a bit of a disaster...

I walked over from the Paulina brown line stop, figuring I could grab a pizza to go and enjoy it at home. Walked in, asked about to go ordering and hostess #1 handed me a menu. A minute or two later she asked if i was ready, and i nodded, and then she handed me over to hostess #2 and walked away...#2 looked at hostess #3 and asked if she could punch in the order, and she agreed. The total came to $13.11...i hand her a $20, and she immediately asks: "do you want change for that?" Somewhat suprised by the need for that question, I reply in the affirmative, and then stand around for 3 minutes as #3 tracks down a server in order to get cash. Finally, with change in hand, I'm told it will be about 10 minutes, and that I can have a seat at the bar.

I go ahead an order a beer while waiting. 3 sips in, and someone appears from the kitchen with a carry-out box. He steps behind the bar, asks the couple sitting to my left- who have a half-eaten pizza in front of them- "Did you order ....?" They say no, he walks out from behind the bar, never bothering to ask me or the guy on my right, who also placed a take-out order and also only has a beer in front of him, if we ordered whatever pizza he's carrying.

He brings it up to #3, who puts it in on the floor underneath a chair. Mind you, this is the same girl who took my order about 5 minutes ago. Not wanting to believe the employees were that stupid, and thinking it was too quick for my pizza to be ready, I don't inquire if that's my pizza sitting on the floor, and instead focus on White Sox blowing a 7th inning lead to the Indians while drinking my beer quickly. 5 minutes pass, and I'm starting to accept that yes, these employees are stupid and yes, that's my pizza sitting on the floor getting cold. I think to myself, "self, if they try to give you that pizza, you should demand a new fresh & hot one as that one has been cooling off for 7-8 minutes, and you still have a 3 block walk home- you've been sitting here the whole time, it's not your fault they're stupid...'

A couple more minutes pass, and out of the corner of my eye, I see #1 ask #3 about the pizza on the ground. I focus intently on the game, still hoping against hope that that isn't my pizza- until the box is abruptly slid in front of me with the words 'sorry about the wait'. And immediately, #1 walks away...without any protest from me.

I really need to be less timid...

Needless to say, the pizza was pretty much room temp by the time I got it home. Still tasty though.

Also went to Frasca.

Service (Katie) 9/10

Food (Proscuitto pizza, three kinds of brushcetta) 8.5/10

It was another hopeful addition to the mid-priced northside neighborhood restaurnats that are not bar and grills.

J

BTW, always a good indication that this all took place at peak time on a Friday night at about 8pm.

My friend and I ate at Frasca on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. We arrived around 7:30pm and the place was packed. Hostesses were friendly and we were given an estimated wait of 30 minutes. We sat at the bar for a drink while we waited for a table. Bartenders were very busy and we ended up at the bar for 10 minutes before our drink order was taken. Shortly after getting our drinks, and about 15 minutes into our wait, the hostess came to tell us a table was open.

We were seated in one of the banquettes. The restaurant was very loud - conversation was a bit difficult. Our server was friendly and was able to make suggestions and answer our questions. We split their "out of season" caprese salad (Frasca's name, not mine) which I thought was tastey. The tomatoes are oven-dried and the salad was drizzled with olive oil and balsamic. I ordered the haven pizza (mozzarella, clams, garlic, oregano). I wasn't too impressed with this pizza - I felt I've made the same quality at home with store-bought crust and basic canned clams. My friend had the caponata pizza (tomato sauce, eggplant, roasted peppers, mushrooms, olives) on our server's recommendation and liked it. We split an order of the cauliflower which was delicious (found in a section of the menu titled "For the Table" and described as "sicilian-style au gratin with olives and raisins"). One service gripe: my pizza was brought to the table at least 5 mintues before my friend's pizza was served. Maybe they assumed we were sharing the pizzas? My friend and I both sampled the red wine flight, which at $12 is fairly reasonable for what you get.

All in all, I think Fransca is a decent addition to the neighborhood. It's not at the top of my list to go back, but I would like to try some of their other pizzas.

FWIW, I have been to Frasca a few times since my initial post, and will say that with crowds comes some inconsistency. I had one particularly not-great pizza when the oven seems to have been a bit cool. Maybe that was the situation that Daisy experienced (or she has an 800 degree pizza oven at home ). Regarding the timing of orders, I have the opposite complaint. For certain foods (fried foods and pizza, most especially) I want it when it's ready. It would be nice if the place could time things perfectly, but I would rather have different people eating different courses than have a Neopolitan pizza, fritto misto or tempura sit a second longer than necessary. On one visit, Frasca let a pie sit while another appetizer was being prepared. Not a good idea.

I'll likewise throw in a few notes based on additional recent visits to Frasca.

Pizzas: very good, though the same thing ordered twice is usually fairly different each time. Not better or worse, just more of this and less of that. Last time the pizzas were flatter and crispier than the other times-- less rise time or something. Still, glad to have this place so handy, and one new pizza I tried, one with rosemary and pistachios, was really good-- though I will also say, I went to Spacca Napoli again in the interim, and was reminded that there's a vast gulf between "really good" and "great."

Things That Aren't Pizza: mixed record. A "polenta terrine" was like block o' polenta, sauce out of a jar plopped on top, flavors that didn't meld or even much belong together. On the other hand, brick chicken with white beans was really delectable, a simple dish based on simple pleasures (chicken fresh from the pan, white beans with just shy of too much butter) which delivered just fine.

Incidentally, they have a new offering, which is, you get a check-off sheet like in a dim sum place listing various bruschettas, meats, cheeses, and other noshes you can have with your wine, and then there are various ways (frankly, a few too many ways, it was a little complicated-sounding) that you can order a bunch of that stuff. (Thankfully, there's a default "just pick me out some stuff" option too.) We didn't do that but it's probably a nice option for people whose priorities are wine first, nosh second.

I went on sunday night. Since i cook at the wine bar down the street, i was interested in what Frasca had to offer. The better they do, the better we do - just getting foodies onto roscoe island is pretty tough, it is nice to have a little help. It seems that they offer a different type of experience than we do, which means that my conclusions should be taken with a grain of salt.

the food wasnt bad at all, although the edges of the prosciutto pizza were a little too carbonized. I would have liked a little more dressed arugula on my pizza, the presentation was a little dry if i have any complaints. Good pizza is pretty tough, dough can be picky about humidity and time. This pizza was definately good.

three different brushcettas were all well recieved, and the wines i had were both tasty and in a style i like. I also liked the sushi-bar style ordering of cheese and apps.

service seemed fine, they wear T-shirts and there were probably too many of them on the clock. All were friendly although none were engaging.

The build itself is nice, they did a fine job and have half of brazil nailed up on the walls. if they ever left(god forgid) i am sure that a new O'finnegans or O'malleys or something like that can move right in for a pretty cheap buildout. i think there are three or four TVs, which is three or four more than i would like. The focal point of the room is the "big 10" style bar. They have a sexy wine celler hidden way in teh back, i would have missed it if i hadnt gone to the bathroom. There are some other interesting archetectural elements of the space that are overpowered by the humongous bar. i think they could have shoved the bar in the corner and added tables in its place for a more effective space.

IF i were them (and i am not), i would lower prices a little bit or get rid of the bar and the TVs. either step would place them more soundly into a niche; I felt the prices were too high for the atmosphere, regardless of food quality - ALTHOUGH it is not a terminal flaw. I would gladly fork over the same money for the same food and wine if i didnt have the distraction of the big game going on behind me, or if i felt that they picked wood for a reason other than it looks expensive. all in all I will probably return, i have no complaints and only criticisms.

Erik.

Frasca has but one relatively modest television, and it faces only one side of the bar. More than half the restaurant is completely out of view of any televisions.

Kennyz wrote:Frasca has but one relatively modest television, and it faces only one side of the bar. More than half the restaurant is completely out of view of any televisions.

Although I have yet to visit, I swear I've seen more than one television in that place as I drive by (I live right down the block).
Either way, it's more than what I would consider "modest" - which is a huge reason I have yet to visit.
Personally, I think the City of Chicago should have banned televisions in restaurants instead of foi grois.

Well, it's unfortunate that you're basing your decision not to visit on a fallacy. There is one, just one, television that I would estimate is either 32 or 40 inches. And again, the majority of the restaurant is completely out of view of said television.

Kennyz wrote:Well, it's unfortunate that you're basing your decision not to visit on a fallacy. There is one, just one, television that I would estimate is either 32 or 40 inches. And again, the majority of the restaurant is completely out of view of said television.

I stand corrected.
For what it's worth, this is not the sole reason I have thus far decided to avoid Frasca.
At any rate, the single television is quite visible from the outside. It's large enough that I can tell what type of sport (basketball, baseball, etc.) is being broadcast when I drive by.

Who cares if there is a freekin television in the restaurant? If the food is good they can put as many giant plasma televisons wherever they want!!

No need to avoid frasca, pretty good overall! Looking forward to going back, and I dont say that about a lot of places here that are at the same price point...Except of course for Mr. Thai....

J

rmtraut wrote:Who cares if there is a freekin television in the restaurant? If the food is good they can put as many giant plasma televisons wherever they want!!

You're right. Maybe they could bring your pizza out on a TV tray and park it right in front of your own personal Lazy Boy recliner.
While this discussion is quickly jumping into the "Not About Food" realm, I think the presence of televisions in a bar/restaurant affect the atmosphere to a HUGE degree.
When I dine out, it is usually in the company of friends. I personally find televisions distracting. Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-television. Far from it - I enjoy watching just as much as anyone (especially complete garbage like Janice Dickenson Modeling Agency!). I just prefer to do my viewing at home.
Regarding the comment above: I can guarantee that I would not frequent a restaurant that was filled with big plasma televisions - even if the food was amazing. A place like ESPN Sports Zone could have the most amazing cognac-infused jalapeno poppers in the world and I would never dine there. Funny, now I'm trying to imagine a place like Avec or Blackbird filled with TV's.
Come to think of it, Custom House has several throughout the space. The difference is, they are showing random, mood-enhancing pictures with no sound.
Of course, this is largely irrelevant since - as I previously indicated - the presence of a television is only one reason I'm not interested in Frasca.

LTH,

Went to Frasca this evening and I must say I liked the place. Friendly caring customer interaction, when I evidenced interest in the pizza oven I was given a first hand look*, excellent service and the food was quite good.


We started with oven roasted calamari w/olive and tomatoes. Slightly spicy, tender squid, accented by the occasional olive. A nicely done dish.


Smoked salmon carpaccio tasted more like gravlox, and the arugula was over dressed in a sweetish dressing, but the salmon was first rate, and nicely accented by capers, and the overall effect was tasty.


Pizza was good, not Spacca Napoli, but then again, they are not trying to be Spacca N. Ingredients were fresh, Ellen particularly liked the wood roasted mushrooms on the pizza and the crust was thin and crisp.



There is, as has been said in the thread, only one tv, which is not visible from a good 3/4ths of the place. It was not visible from where we were seated, and the sound was off the entire time we were there.

Overall very enjoyable, we will be back.

Enjoy,
Gary

*Pizza oven is both wood and gas fired. Wood, which is shown in my picture, on the left, gas on the right.

My friend and I went to visit Frasca a week ago today. The overall experience was okay. Our service was slightly slow -- I think it's safer to say that our server was maybe a little on the flaky side. On the other hand, we went around 9 PM on a Thursday night, and it was fairly busy. We got a table right away (from a party that had just left), but the place was pretty much full.

I thought they had a nice little wine list.... I can't remember specifically what I got, but it was decent.

We wanted to order the calamari (like the one Gary pictured), but they were out (!!), so, to our slight disappointment, we ordered the wood fired shrimp, with came with fennel seeds, crushed red chili, herbs and evoo. I think we just got it because we liked the sound of ordering something with "evoo," haha. Even though I later found out that only stands for "extra virgin olive oil." *sigh* ... oh well. It was okay. Not really a stand-out dish. Then again, I'm not a huge fan of baked or sauteed shrimp. Nonetheless, I still found it a bit bland.

We ended up both ordering pizzas ... I ordered the four cheese pizza with mozzarella, parmigiano reggiano, ricotta, fontina. I felt like there was the taste of a sharp, goat-or-sheep's cheese on the pizza. I didn't feel like it fit with any of the cheeses they described on the menu. Am I wrong? Anyway, the pizza was fairly decent, although I felt like they left too much crust exposed (approx 3/4"), which made the end bites kind of dry. And don't get me wrong, I'm a huge crust fan, it just was a bit bland at times.

My friend ordered the capone pizza, I believe, with tomato sauce, wood roasted onions, fennel sausage and provolone. I had a slice of it. Not bad.

For dessert, we decided to try the carrot cake tiramisu with espresso. I'm always a sucker for a gimmick. It was interesting. I would have called it more of a "deconstructed" tiramisu, because they basically served it like this: in a martini glass, with the shot of espresso on the bottom, whipped cream in the middle, marscapone cheese on top with cubes of carrot cake sprinkled on the sides. It was definitely interesting. And the espresso was very strong.

After dinner, we went to have a drink at Bourbon, the new bar/restaurant down the road. I did not sample their food, but the atmosphere was interesting (their back room with the orange cushioned walls and barrels was definitely strange), and the drinks were strong. I may go back there to sample food if it still makes it. (They were not terribly busy when we arrived around 10:30 PM, but, then again, Waterhouse had 1/2 price drinks that night, which may have been the culprit.... I still felt that Bourbon attracted a slightly classier, albeit, laid back crowd.... )

Anyway, back to Frasca. While I didn't think it was the best place I've ever been, it wasn't bad for what it was. I thought the atmosphere was interesting --- and while they seated us inside, we sat next to one of the fully open picture windows, which I liked.

Their very non-descript website can be found here.

It took me long enough, but I finally made it to Frasca last night and I was quite impressed. Started off sharing a pretty good chopped salad (it might have replaced the Panzanella) that had croutons, sopressata, grape tomatoes, chicken & romaine.

They have a number of bruschetta options and offer 3 for $8. The white bean puree with balsamic was quite good, while the sopressata was pretty good and so was the ricotta with honey and pistachios (I much preferred the ricotta at Francesca's Forno, although I enjoyed the honey at Frasca much more). The bread-part of the bruschetta was not really crispy (as I prefer) but the toppings were better than average.

As for the pizza, I had the arugula and prosciutto. I really enjoyed it although the toppings were a little too salty. This was the result of some vinaigrette on the arugula. Nonetheless pretty darn good and I really liked the crust -- crispy on the edges, a little softer in the middle.

I also tried the brick chicken which was all breast, skin-on, marinated and served in the middle of a pool of white beans and natural juices from the chicken, in which I detected at least some rosemary and oregano. This was a pretty flavorful dish and the chicken was super moist.

Service was very good and it's a pretty nice dining room, nicer than I expected I guess (I might have expected more of a bar atmosphere for some reason). In any event, good enough that I'm sure to return.

I was happily surprised tonight to learn that Wednesday is 2-for-1 pizza night at Frasca. Let's see, Monday Jury's, Tuesday Candlelite, Wednesday Frasca....