Frenzie Is Serving Up Excellent Late-Night Pizza and Wine in Brooklyn Heights

By Scott Lynch

Frenzie is located at 129 Atlantic Avenue, between Henry and Clinton Streets, and is currently open on Monday through Wednesday from 4 p.m. to midnight, on Thursday and Friday from 4 p.m. until 2 a.m., on Saturday from 2 p.m. until 2 a.m., and on Sunday from 2 p.m. until midnight.

In the end, it was inevitable: The second restaurant from chefs Dan Grossman and Brendan Kelley, who last winter gave Brooklyn Heights the instant-hit Confidant on Atlantic Avenue, would be about pizza. 

After all, the duo became besties during their six-year run cooking at Roberta’s, and Grossman worked at the OG L’Industrie when it was still a hole in the wall (“I was the first person who made pizza there outside of Massimo,” he tells BKMAG). Most presciently, perhaps, in his preschool yearbook, Grossman proclaimed that he would be “a pizza man” when he grew up. At Frenzie, Grossman and Kelley’s terrific follow-up to Confidant, the prophecy is fulfilled.  

The original idea here was for a family-oriented, all-day-cafe sort of spot, but Grossman and Kelley realized pretty quickly after opening Confidant, where their busiest time often started at 9 p.m., that what the neighborhood was really thirsting for was some late-night fun. So while the menu at Frenzie is anchored by shareable six-slice pies, the vibe skews more rowdy wine bar than stroller central. Plus, the place keeps pouring until midnight most nights, and until 2 a.m. on the weekends.

Spicy vodka pie with ’nduja, $26. Photo by Scott Lynch

Frenzie uses a proprietary sourdough blend from Brooklyn Granary, and the crusts on the 14-inch pies are kept thick and chewy. My buddy Kati and I happily plowed our way through most of a pair of these: a funky sausage-and-pickled-pepper beauty on sesame crust that seems to be an early signature here, and a spicy vodka pie loaded with garlic and blobs of zingy ’nduja.

Sausage and peppers pie, $25. Photo by Scott Lynch

Japanese eggplant and sungold tomatoes are featured on two other “specialty pies,” and Frenzie also has a line of classics topped, if you choose, with the likes of pepperoni, anchovies, and/or olives. “I love pizza,” Grossman says. “And I really love using cool ingredients on pizza.”  

Don’t forget, though, that Grossman and Kelley are world-class chefs, with kitchen skills and creative ideas that extend well beyond pizza. Which is to say you’ll want to spend as much time as possible in the “plates” section of Frenzie’s menu as well. The frito misto, for example, punches up that old standby with jolty boquerones, Mama Lil’s peppers, and an addictive ranch dipping sauce.

Frito misto, $22; beef tartare, $23. Photo by Scott Lynch

The plate of beef tartare, loaded with melty bits of strong cheddar celtuce for crunch, is also superb, and arrives covered in a blanket of very good house-made potato chips. Hamachi crudo with sweet-and-sour bonny melon and stracciatella with stone fruit are among several other seasonal, and highly appealing, dishes available here at the moment. 

Our only disappointment on the night came when the server told us that the soft-serve ice cream machine wasn’t working, but presumably that’ll be fixed by the time you get here. I hear the stuff is delicious. 

Frenzie’s cocktail philosophy, as head bartender Charlie Szur puts it, is to “take a classic and make it really cool.” So the dirty gimlet is infused with long hot pepper brine, a byproduct of the kitchen, while the martini throws some Manzanilla sherry and chartreuse into the mix. And the wine list is tightly curated, with 23 “fully natural” bottles currently on the list. “It’s all hippie wine,” says Szur, “from people using indigenous grapes who are close to the product they’re making, and who care for their land.”

Photo by Scott Lynch

Grossman and Kelley have now opened back-to-back bangers in BK Heights, located literally next door to each other, and the former hints that they might not be done with the neighborhood just yet. “Stay tuned,” Grossman says. “I love this area. It feels like people are traveling from Manhattan and other parts of Brooklyn to come to Confidant and now Frenzie, but in the end, it’s the locals that are our priority. They have been huge supporters of us, and we are grateful.”