Tucked under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, Farina serves up its quirky Southern Italian masterpieces, featuring uniquely topped, perfectly charred pizzas baked in an ancient oven.
"Brooklyn is full of excellent pepperoni pies and pillowy square slices, but if your Friday pizza night is in need of a refresh, why not try a funky-shaped pork belly and bottarga-topped pizza under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway? At Farina, a Southern Italian restaurant on the border of Carroll Gardens and Red Hook, the “irregolare” pizzas are slightly heftier than a classic Neapolitan, smaller than regular pies, and topped with things like apricot jam, and mashed potatoes. After your quarterly Big Red Hook Excursion, head here for perfectly charred pies made with seven-grain flour, along with some house wine." - willa moore, bryan kim, neha talreja, kenny yang
"We could subsist on pepperoni slices from our favorite slice shops for the rest of our lives, easily. But if your Friday pizza night is in need of a refresh, might we suggest a pork belly and bottarga-topped pizza under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway? At Farina, a Southern Italian restaurant on the border of Carroll Gardens and Red Hook, the “irregolare” pizzas are slightly heftier than a classic Neapolitan, smaller than regular pies, and topped with things like apricot jam and mashed potatoes. Funkily shaped and perfectly charred, they come with chewy, blistered crusts, and are best shared with a group after a full day Red Hook excursion, along with some house wine. " - bryan kim, willa moore, kenny yang, carlo mantuano, molly fitzpatrick
"Under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, opposite a gas station, Farina is right on the border of Red Hook and Carroll Gardens—and it’s where you should stop for a relaxed pizza dinner after a day spent thoroughly exploring the cobbled streets and maritime views of Red Hook. The Southern Italian restaurant makes pizza “irregolare” with seven types of flour, and you’ll find pies topped with mashed potatoes, or pork belly and bottarga. Come with a group for carafes of sangiovese, and lots of pizzas to share. If you stay late, you might even get some oven-roasted chestnuts. " - willa moore, hannah albertine
"Under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway is about the last place we ever imagined eating pizza topped with pork belly and bottarga. But then, everything about Farina, a Southern Italian restaurant on the edge of Red Hook, is a little unexpected. This place makes pizza “irregolare”, baked in an Irish oven from the mid-1800s. And even though New York City has a surplus of restaurants that put cheese on bread, somehow, when Farina does it, cheese on bread feels extraordinary, like being suddenly transported to a small, warm kitchen in 19th-century Naples, to bear witness to the marriage of dairy and carbohydrates. The irregularities start with the dough, which incorporates seven types of flour, and gets topped with apricot jam, or mashed potatoes, or tuna in olive oil. Then, there's the oven, which is built right into the back wall of the kitchen, where it's been responsible for baking a wealth of different bread products since before you were even a twinkle in someone’s eye. A server will mention this as if the oven is a human being—a wise one that has life advice to give, as well as a knack for pizza cooking. The pizzas are slightly heftier than a classic Neapolitan, and smaller than a regular pie. Funkily shaped and perfectly charred, they come with a chewy, blistered crust. And if you sit at the large communal table in the center of the dining room, you can take note of everybody else’s order—essential research for your next visit. But there’s more to this cozy restaurant than the pizza. On any given evening, you might encounter roasted chestnuts, or an off-menu calzone, overflowing with cheese. And if, blinded by the mystifying mash-up of seven grains, you fail to notice the chalkboard with a handful of specials written in nearly illegible cursive, you might miss out on the frutti di mare, or a candele with deeply savory meat sauce. You never know what, or who ( ), you might encounter here. There will be at least one Carroll Gardens-born baby who is saved from a tantrum by a slice of pizza, and at least one person who asks for a side of marinara sauce. But everyone who comes to Farina ends up lingering in the presence of that age-old oven, as if they've just rediscovered what it feels like to relax around a fire. Come here with a group and drink carafes of montepulciano way past your normal weeknight bedtime. Or stop by on the weekend, after a full-day , when sitting for a while sounds like a novel concept. Through the haze of a bread-and-cheese-and-wine-induced glow, even the illuminated gas station across the way looks strangely beautiful, framed by Farina’s large front windows. " - Willa Moore
"Pizza Moto is offering its very good Neapolitan-style pies, as well as beer and wine, for pickup or delivery from 5-9pm Tuesday through Sunday." - hannah albertine, nikko duren, bryan kim, arden shore, matt tervooren
