172.Bringing Her Style to an Established Pizzeria

Our guest this week is Mya Anitai. She owns Franny’s Pizzeria & Restaurant, Highlands, New Jersey. She took over a longstanding pizzeria Francesco’s Italian Restaurant in May 2019 and rebranding the business into Franny’s in February 2020.Mya discussed the rebranding with us in a previous Conversation. She said, “Francesco’s had been in business for 40 years before I purchased the restaurant and took over. With great bones and a neighborhood of nostalgic support, I worked steadily to modernize the menu and increase ingredient quality across the board. The most popular dishes from Francesco’s stayed as well as specials directly from my Richmond, Virginia restaurant Dinamo (@dinamorichmond). I spent months monitoring sales and learning my customer’s dining desires before fully rebranding and becoming Franny’s.”Mya also owns Dinamo in Richmond, Virginia. We explore each restaurant’s menu and what makes Franny’s different.Franny’s has a full menu with pizza at its center. Franny’s serves three types of pizza: classic, New York style flour-tossed round, oil-pressed, square granny pie and deep-dish Sicilian. And we get into what makes those styles unique and what’s behind that oil-pressed grandma pie.  Other menu items include pastas, entrees, sandwiches, appetizers, salads and soups. We talk about Franny’s menu focus, as well as its new seasonal menu and what produce she will highlight.Listen that and more on this week’s The Hot Slice Podcast.Explore more on Franny’s at https://frannyshighlands.com/  and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/frannyshighlandsRead Mya’s Conversation in Pizza Today at https://pizzatoday.com/topics/people-pizzerias/conversation-mya-anitai-frannys-pizzeria-restaurant-highlands-new-jersey/Show Notes: Submit your pizzeria for the 2024 Pizzerias to Watch List. Complete the form today at https://pizzatoday.com/pizzerias-to-watch-questionnaire/Learn more about Pizza and Pasta Northeast in Atlantic City on October 1-2 at https://ppne.pizzatoday.com/Don’t forget October is National Pizza Month. We have ideas and marketing resources to help you. Visit: https://pizzatoday.com/national-pizza-month-october-2019-pizzeria-tool-kit/