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<\/a>All the deliciousness at Masani Pizza in the former Lillian\u2019s in Forest Hills <\/p>\nI grew up in Forest Hills, not the fancy part in the Gardens, but on the other side, on Burns Street off of Yellowstone Blvd. As a kid, and with my own kids, we often found ourselves at Lillian\u2019s Pizzeria on the corner of Harrow Street and 69th Avenue. It was a family-run favorite of Ray Romano\u2019s; a neighborhood slice joint, full of love and really good greasy slices. <\/p>\n
Lillian and her husband Tony ran the pizzeria for almost 50 years and sold it in 2018 and then it changed hands again in 2024. They\u2019ve now sold it to Mike Chau, the food influencer known as Food Baby<\/a>, and a fellow native of Forest Hills (he and his wife and kids still live there), who has reopened it at Masani\u2019s Pizza, a pizza sensation. The lines are longer than I think 69th Avenue has ever seen other than for the bus on the first day of school.<\/p>\n Like Lillian\u2019s, this will be a family affair for Mike and his wife Alexandra; the name Masani comes from a mashup of the names of their three kids, Matty (13), Sammy (10), and Nicky (7), whose photos are hung in vintage frames up and down the restaurant\u2019s red walls. (They\u2019ve always been a family-business sort of crew; the Chaus, who are high school sweethearts, first came to fame with restaurant reviews that included their kids being ridiculous on camera.)<\/p>\n Mike grew up eating at Lillian\u2019s every Friday night with his family\u2014he loved Lillian\u2019s pastas and chicken parm\u2014and hoped to create a similar family-friendly vibe with a similar menu of pies, pastas (and soon) chicken parm and the like. <\/p>\n Now, Mike can do a lot of things but he\u2019s not a chef; to do the pizza making he hired longtime friend and pizza maestro Felix Toro of the mobile pizza shop Happy Bull <\/a>(a translation of his name) Pizza. \u201cI thought of him immediately because we love his pizzas and he\u2019s another Queens kid; He lives in flushing.\u201d<\/p>\n Toro\u2019s menu is ambitious and delicious \u2013 with garlic knots, pinwheels, classic pies and impressive pastas for a slice joint. The best of the mix is the simplest \u2013 the margarita, but they\u2019re also doing a cacio e pepe (this one can be used as a base for an Italian salad with pepperoncini and olives, that\u2019s a pretty fantastic combination), a pepperoni and hot honey slice, one with creamy vodka sauce, and a bouncy, crispy-crusted focaccia-based tomato-sauce and cheese covered slice called the Lilian Sicilian (which they also do gluten-free). Their tidy pasta menu uses Brooklyn Pasta Lab and leans into the same sauces from the pies; their radiatore comes with vodka sauce, and the cacio e pepe with small shells.<\/p>\n Dessert comes from another Queens icon \u2013 the Lemon Ice King of Corona, where I went nearly every week with my kids when we would go out to the Queens Hall of Science. You\u2019ll love these ices, but save room for @supermoonbakehouse<\/a>\u2019s Ube Pandan Ice Cream Sandwich. They will go fast! Hope you can make it over to the shop, it\u2019s so good! <\/p>\n Masani Pizza<\/a> is located at 96-01 69th Avenue, in Forest Hills. It is open 12-8 daily; closed Mondays because the Chaus need a break! = )<\/p>\n You may know chefs Brendan Kelley and Daniel Grossman from Confidant,<\/a> their popular Brooklyn Heights restaurant, but the pair met at Roberta\u2019s making pizzas, which is why the opening of Frenzie<\/a> next week is so exciting.<\/p>\n As you know, Brendan and Daniel took over the Colonie space earlier this summer to relocate Confidant, and it\u2019s already become a beloved neighborhood staple, known for its bread service, prawn pot pie and smoked trout mousse toast (though my favorite dish of the moment is their roasted sunchoke with miso sabayon). <\/p>\n While opening Confidant, the pair have been working on building out the former Pips wine bar space next door, but recently had a change of direction. It started as an all day cafe they originally planned to call Lou & Bev\u2019s. But they pivoted to a pizza and wine bar model with a menu that leans into their PhD-level pizza skills. Brendan was the sous chef at Roberta\u2019s and opened the famous pizzeria\u2019s new Domino Park location in October 2020; Daniel has been a mainstay in the kitchens of New York City\u2019s pizza royalty, including Roberta\u2019s and L\u2019industrie. So, yeah, there\u2019s a ton of experience and talent between the two. I\u2019m very excited for this one!<\/p>\n When they open on Aug 13th (or abouts), they will be serving NY-style pies in the vein of Roberta\u2019s and L\u2019Industrie, with a late night menu that will be a chef\u2019s choice \u2013 \u201cslices or squares, or round or whatever we are feeling that day,\u201d Daniel told me when we chatted last week at the space. There will also be small plates, wine and cocktails and soft serve! <\/p>\n The team is calling it Frenzie because the word has a fun, buzzy energy and vibe. \u201cFrenzie, in my opinion, is a watering hole,\u201d Daniel told me. \u201cIt\u2019s a place to gather, to come together and convene.\u201d See you there!<\/p>\n Frenzie is located at 129 Atlantic Avenue; right now the opening date is set for August 13th, but things change so follow along on their Instagram <\/a>for updates!<\/p>\n Rockaway native and boardwalk pizza maestro Sean Aiken (of Seany Pizza)<\/a> is nearly ready to open Crown Square<\/a>, his debut Detroit-style pizza shop in Rockaway. He signed the lease on this former bookstore on Rockaway Beach Blvd over a year ago and he has slowly and painstakingly renovated and redesigned it into a super cool slice shop with a Hip Hop NYC vibe \u2013 a stunning dark stained oak banquette and hard maple shelving anchors the space that\u2019s got Knicks blue and white square tiled floors, and pops of Knicks orange on all the chairs. A window counter perch looks out onto the Boulevard with a view of the wide ocean beach beyond the boardwalk and the sound of the A train rumbling in the distance. It\u2019s kind of dreamy.<\/p>\n Sean is getting ready to (finally) open Crown Square! <\/p>\n When I stopped in a couple of weeks to chat with Sean and check in on his progress, the place was looking beautiful and he\u2019s ALMOST ready to serve bubbly pans of frico-crowned pies (hence Crown Square) and slices, wings, and, on weekends, breakfast pastries from Brooklyn Native, a killer breakfast burritos, BEC sandwiches, and breakfast pizzas too!<\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking for olive oil, hot honey, a jar of gorgeous Calabrian chiles, or really good pasta, he\u2019s curated a nice little pantry section on one wall of the shop so you can get some fine picnic supplies there too. He plans to do delivery as well! So excited for this one to come to life. <\/p>\n Crown Square is located at 9904 Rockaway Beach Blvd. Follow along @crownsquarepizza<\/a> and @seanypizza<\/a> to get updates on opening day and in the meantime visit him on the Beach 97th Street Boardwalk at Seany Pizza for his wood-fired slow-fermented Neapolitan pies.<\/p>\n<\/a>Ray came back to bless the new space! <\/p>\n<\/a>Brendan and Daniel, alumni of Roberta\u2019s and L\u2019Industrie are opening Frenzie next week! <\/p>\n<\/a> Joe Bliffen, Frenzie\u2019s chef de cuisine, on the left, with Brendan (center) and Daniel (far right) in the frenzied midst of opening Frenzie!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n