Francie is getting a sibling devoted to pizza and sfizi.

Your first look at Allegretto al Forno

It’s hard for me to have a favorite restaurant; I’ve tried but I just can’t pick one. That said, a few in this city hold a special place in my heart and Francie is definitely one of them. You probably know it; the restaurant named for Francie Nolan, the title character in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn? It’s the Michelin-starred Williamsburg Italian-inspired restaurant from Chef Chris Cipollone, restaurateur John Winterman and investor Mark Norbom. The place that’s got Instagram reels on repeat for its magnificent dry-aged crown of duck, ice cold, bone dry martinis, and incredibly welcoming hospitality. (Also pastry chef Justin Binnie is there, and the desserts are crazy and fantastic like the rubber ducky-inspired Canard au Citron.) 

It’s not just the food and cocktails and “come on in” feels that makes Francie so special. It’s got this gorgeous, sultry old New York vibe. Credit to designer Glen Coben, but whenever I walk in, it’s like the room fades from color to black and white, and everyone appears to be drop dead gorgeous and clouded in curls of lazy cigarette smoke at the bar. It feels kind of illicit and delicious. It’s a place to tuck in with someone special, to gather for a celebration with many friends, or simply to sit at the bar on your own with an exquisite martini while reading The New Yorker so you don’t feel guilty as they pile up. 

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The team has been exploring an expansion for a while and when a two-story building next door was put up for sale, they grabbed it. In 2025, it will become Allegretto al Forno, a Southern Italian restaurant inspired by chef Chris Cipollone’s father, who recently passed away. In his honor, Chris will offer a collection of thoughtful dishes centered around the restaurant’s wood-fired oven: Neapolitan style pizzas made from house-fermented dough, roasted dishes of fish, fowl, meats and vegetables, and a collection of Italian tapas called sfizi or “little nothings.” 

“It is a restaurant built in my father’s honor, to share the flavors of Caserta where he is from,” said Cippilone. “We are going to do pizza and breads, and what we call sfizis or ‘little nothings.’ These are little bites of things I loved as a child, that my dad loved when he was a child, and that my grandfather loved when he was a boy, too. The menu is very personal.” 

Francie's martinis and more

The 50-seat space is named for Mr. Allegretto, Francie’s music teacher in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, so there’s a conceptual bond there between the two restaurants. There will be others. The breads for both restaurants (Roman sourdough, brioche, flatbread, and more) will all be made by pastry chef Justin Binnie in Allegretto’s dedicated dough room; the butchery program at Francie will be shared with Allegretto so the duck used make mortadella, duck sausage, and duck bolognese at Francie will be used for Allegretto’s charcuterie.

While there will be synergies, the team aims to make Allegretto something very different. There will be no martinis (Francie makes the best ones so why serve them next door?). There will be a few Southern Italian wines on tap, an all Italian bottle list, along with variations on tonics, and a long list of vermouths and spritzes. 

“We want to do things very differently than Francie,” John told me the other day when we chatted on the phone about the new restaurant. “The space is long and narrow with high ceilings and we hope people will sit shoulder-to-shoulder,” John said. “That will be a great thing. There will be pizzas, unique salads and charcuterie or marinated items and a lot of fun. We hope it will feel very welcoming and warm, like a house in southern in Italy. It’s for the neighborhood.” 

At the moment, the restaurant is doing a funding campaign on IndieGoGo where you can invest as little as $300 and as much as $10K, for a variety of cool rewards and perks. All investors will receive an annual gift card for 10 years in the amount of 10% of the investment to use at either restaurant. Other perks include some combination of priority reservations, swag, birthday drinks, waived corkage, opening party access, dinners in the private dining room, and in some cases, “recognition of your support in an architectural feature in Allegretto, such as a brick, tile or ceiling mural.”

Seriously. If you donate the highest amount, $10K, you’ll get your likeness painted into the ceiling mural by artist Esao Andrews; you’ll be up there along with John and Mark’s dogs. Can’t beat that.

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