Hello friends, I have just returned from a short trip to England, and as is my duty when I travel, I have to find the best pizza I can. This trip was no exception. In fact, I think I have found new inspiration along the way.
You can tell if Pizza is going to be good by a few things: the way customers are gobbling it down when you walk up, the way it looks when presented to the customer fresh from the kitchen, and by the style of Pizza oven in use. You don’t need to know that they feature quality ingredients because its obvious. You should be able to sense the care and concern for perfection at first sight. Franco Manca proved to be all of this, and quite a tasty lunch to boot!
mmm pizza in Brixton!
Tucked away inside the covered marketplace along Electric Avenue in Brixton, South London lies a sleeping giant. Even at 2:30 on a Thursday afternoon, we had to wait a few minutes to get a table. I’m told the wait can be as much as an hour as the day goes on, so we got lucky when a four-top opened up right after we arrived. I was super hungry and looking forward to what I was seeing and reading on the menu. Classic italian for sure, with a London twist. Chorizo is hugely popular over there, and it comes in just about everything. A dry and fresh Chorizo with Goat cheese was on the specials, but this home cured Gloucester Ham and Wild mushroom with fresh basil caught my eye. Buffalo Ricotta? hmm, sounds good, and yes friends, it was.
Gloucester Ham with Wild Mushroom
I was hard pressed to share with Nadia and Jonquil, but I did give in as their Veggie special was equally as interesting, with garlic, tomatoes, whole Kalamata olives, Capers, white anchovies and oregano. Slammin. All was eaten, and all was enjoyed. Even Jonquil’s 4 yr old son was mackin down on the anchovies, quite impressive.
not quite a veggie, with Anchovies, capers, oregano, garlic, fresh tomato and Kalamata olives
So, I was quite taken by the pizzas we had, and decided it would be god to rip them off for my next event, which happens to be this Friday. Bites on Broadway kicks off June 10th from 5:30 till 8:30 Pm. Along Broadway between 45th and 46th, in front of Oakland Tech. Join us for the First and hopefully not the last in a series of Friday evening Street dinner parties, with fun and games, live music and reasonably priced Street food made from 5-6 Local Oakland small businesses such as myself. Visit the facebook page for more information and check out the poster on the link above.
Come on down and show support for this new idea. Show the City of Oakland that we can do this and follow the lead of other cities across the country. Our hope is to create a working model that the city can see in action, to help widen the existing parameters governing and limiting the sale of “Street foods” around town. Hope to see you all there.
You can also check out Shorty’s new paint job up close. I’m working on the bumpers right now and we have a few more things to do, but its looking really sharp…
Stage one, roof and body painted!