Fini Pizza

Open since late summer of 2022, Fini is the new kid on the block in the Brooklyn pizza game. As owners of Italian restaurants Lilia & Misi in BK also, they’re not new to the restaurant business. With a fair amount of hype surrounding this hip & trendy spot, I had some reasonably high expectations for this pizza. Right away, I fell in love with the dough…terrifically thin, light, firm & crispy with zero flop; the dough is truly spectacular. With that unique NYC/BK flavor you can’t find anywhere else in the country, along with an exquisitely crunchy and buttery crust; this is about as good of a pizza base as you will find to house the other ingredients. Unfortunately, it’s the remaining components that are lacking and the crux of the problem with this pie. I could barely taste the scant splotches of fresh mozzarella minimally covering the surface of the pizza; felt like I was eating a tomato pie. With a dearth of cheese, the sauce is in abundance and oddly isn’t a pizza flavored sauce; it tastes more like Sunday gravy (real Italians know 🇮🇹 🤌🏻), the kind you’d put on ravioli, made for meatballs, the kind you’d dip Italian bread in, a thick, heavy, deep red tomato paste based sauce. One of the reasons this could be is they dump a ton of Parmesan on top of the pie, seemingly trying to make up for the lack of mozzarella and thus dulling the sweetness of the sauce. Definitely gives the pie Sunday dinner vibes, not fresh pizza sauce; which isn’t bad by any means, just not a suitable flavor for pizza. The texture and taste of the dough screams 8s & 9s but the lack of cheese and non-pizza-like sauce score in the 6s & 7s. The disappointing core ingredients don’t provide enough support to the exceptional dough to make this pizza travel worthy. Maybe ask for extra cheese and Parmesan on the side when ordering to see if that makes a difference. The outstanding dough and crisp is worth trying if you’re in Brooklyn, but I wouldn’t make a pilgrimage solely for this pizza. They seem to be more concerned with their image, merch and being a trendy hipster spot in Brooklyn than making the best pizza in NYC.