One of New York's most beloved restaurants is opening in Nashville. Here's what to expect

When Frank Castronovo and Frank Falcinelli, the Frankies behind Brooklyn's beloved Frankies 457 Spuntino, announced plans to open an East Nashville outpost, The New York Times covered it.

This was, Times writer Christina Morales explained, the 20-year-old Italian restaurant's first expansion outside of New York. More noteworthy, perhaps, is the take of Sam Sifton, the Times' former food critic who eventually became the paper's assistant managing editor.

Sifton's final column as critic in 2011 detailed the joy and (occasional despair) he found dining in the city's restaurants — he hit at least 700, he figured. Of them all, the best meal he had on the job was with his family in the garden of Frankies on a summer evening, he wrote.

"We had what everyone always has at Frankies: crostini and some romaine hearts, beets, cold rib-eye salad, cavatelli and sausage and brown butter, meatballs, braciola marinara," he wrote.

"The food was simple and elegant. The children behaved as they do when they are starving, and in love with what they are eating. Nothing was wrong. Everything was right. It would have been nice if it could have gone on forever."

That's the feeling Castronovo and Falcinelli, and the operating partner of the Nashville location, John Burns Paterson, hope to replicate with their first foray outside of New York, called Frankies 925 Spuntino after its Cherokee Avenue address.

Falcinelli and Castronovo said in an email that Frankies was intended to be the quintessential neighborhood restaurant.

"Accessible, democratic, consistent — where every time you step through the door it feels like a hug, and you want to become a regular," they said.

Frankies will open in waves in the Laurel and Pine development, in a space that used to be a mattress factory.

Already operating is the Pizzeria at Frankies, which serves terrific thin-crust pies in the space adjoining Frankies 925 Spuntino. The main restaurant's opening, tentatively slated for September, will trigger changes to the pizzeria menu: more toppings, salads and access to an expansive wine list.

In the fall, Frankie's Italian market will open across the road, selling espresso, fresh pasta, Frankies-brand olive oil, salumi and other Italian staples.

'Not a copy and paste'

The partners plan to evoke elements of old Brooklyn at their new restaurant with a strategically cozy layout.

A large communal table near the entrance, within shouting distance of the service pass as well as a mahogany bar salvaged from an upstate New York hotel, will create a pleasant tension, Paterson explained. It breaks up what would be a too-open space. It brings people closer together with each other and with the dining experience.

Despite a menu that hews closely to the original Frankies, this one will have its own identity.

"It's not a copy-and-paste," Paterson said. "It's not how do we replicate Frankies, but how do we bring it here and let it evolve naturally?"

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Frankies will honor its surroundings with Tennessee-made ham on the salumi plates and local vegetables in the antipasti. Some of the handmade pasta dishes will include seasonal produce.

But one of the charms of Frankies, Paterson said, is its comforting familiarity. That cold rib-eye salad that Sifton loved will be on the local menu, too. So will the sausage cavatelli and meatballs.

So devoted is the Brooklyn customer base to consistency that when a salad of dandelion greens, octopus and capers was pulled from the menu for supply reasons, customers sent hate mail.

"One guy wrote us, like, a literally handwritten note with the finishing line, 'I hope you fail,'" Paterson recalled, laughing. "And I framed it and put it on the office wall. I joke about it, but it feels good to know you have something people can rely on."

The Alabama-born Paterson is one of the reasons the Nashville location exists.

A certified sommelier who worked at Charleston's McCrady's during Sean Brock's tenure, Paterson will turn 36 this year. Coming out of the pandemic, he nervously announced to Castronovo and Falcinelli that he wanted to move closer to extended family. He left that conversation as a partner and became an East Nashville resident.

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Castronovo and Falcinelli said they've always had a deep affinity for the Southern city and its warmth, and praised its emerging food scene as "one of the most exciting places to eat in the world."

"When John told us he was heading back down South, we finally had the perfect opportunity to open a place in Nashville that was truly rooted in the community," they said.

Frankies at a glance

• Frankies will have 70 seats in the dining room, eight at the bar, 10 at a communal farm table and another 50-60 seats on a back patio.

• The restaurant will have an extensive wine list. All wines will be stored properly in a climate-controlled room in view of the dining room.

• Frankies will have a full bar with well-made classic cocktails with Italian accents. Think amari, vermouth and a martini washed with olive oil.

• The restaurant should open in September with a classic Italian menu, but with a large selection of vegetable dishes.

• The restaurant will initially be open Wednesday-Saturday but will quickly move to daily service for lunch and dinner with no break in between the service periods.

• Frankies 925 Spuntino will be at 925 Cherokee Ave.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Beloved New York restaurant Frankies will soon open Nashville location