Flammenküche, tarte flambée, French pizza even: The famed Alsatian flatbread goes by many names in this country.

At downtown's Grand Café, chef Sophiane Benaouda has dubbed it with its German name, Flammenküche, meaning "fire oven." It's appropriate nomenclature for a flatbread cooked in, natch, the restaurant's wood-fired oven.

Benaouda recently instated a make-your-own-Flammenküche menu riddled with a motley assortment of topping possibilities, including white anchovies, candied walnuts, strawberries and mozzarella.

The new menu is available only in the restaurant's bar during lunch and dinner and, sure, it's entertaining to assemble a personal mishmash from the list of 22 toppings. But we prefer to build a pie ($9) with the classic Flammenküche toppings of lardons, caramelized onions and crème fraîche. Call us purists.

The lardons--sizable chunks of house-cured Kurobuta bacon--lend meaty heft, as the long-cooked onions provide a melting bridge between the soft tang of house-made crème fraîche and the salty crackle of the thin, jagged crust.

You may anticipate sharing with a friend, but in the interest of diplomacy, order two.

Then flip to the Alsatian section of the wine list, request a bottle of Riesling, and settle in for what can only be called deliciousness--in any language.

Grand Café, 501 Geary St. (at Taylor St.); 415-292-0101 or grandcafe-sf.com