Francie opened in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood at the end of 2020 and quickly went viral because of its 30-day dry-aged duck. That dish helped earn the restaurant a Michelin star just a few months after opening.
While the duck is the restaurant’s calling card, chef and owner Christopher Cipollone says one of the most technical dishes he makes is his version of a porchetta, a porchetini. “The porchetini we do here is like a baby porchetta for one,” he says.
Cipollone starts by putting a pork tenderloin on top of a sheet of flattened, ground sausage. All of this is on top of plastic wrap, which will be used to guide the sausage around the tenderloin and maintain the shape of what will become the porchetini.
Next, the porchetini in the plastic wrap gets Cryovaced and poached. Then it’s taken out of the plastic wrap to be seared. “What that does is it fully cooks the sausage, [and] leaves the pork tenderloin about medium to medium well,” says Cipollone.
Cipollone then brushes the cooked porchetini in a pork jus and rolls it in pork cracklings, which will provide a crunchy exterior. The dish is plated with tomato mostarda, potato terrine, and rosemary jus.
“It’s this little fine-dining fun way of serving a pretty simple dish,” says Cipollone.
Watch the full video to see how Cipollone and his team make this and other dishes, including Francie’s iconic dry-aged duck.