San Carlo in the Press

San Carlo Cicchetti has been named restaurant of the year for 2011 by leading food and lifestyle e-magazine Manchester Confidential.

The magazine stated: “Cicchetti is sassy, busy, buzzy, good looking and innovative. It has an atmosphere locals and city visitors love. We could do with about ten such places in Manchester not just four or five. For the diner Cicchetti produces whole rosters of dishes which delight either through their cunning sophistication or their straightforward rustic simplicity. The kitchen gets this Italian balancing act almost perfect.”

Congratulations to the team at Cicchetti for an incredible first year.

Congratulations to John Thompson our executive chef based at San Carlo Cicchetti.

For John has joined the ranks of the culinary world’s celebrated chefs, after being awarded the highly respected Maitrise Escoffier by the ‘Conseil Culinaire Francais de Grande Bretagne’ (French Culinary Council of Great Britain).

The award, medal and diploma, on recommendation of the President of the Association Culinaire is in recognition for achievements within the culinary profession.

The association, whose founder members included the universally known Chef de Cuisine, Mr Auguste Escoffier, is a society managed by chefs for chefs and its main aim is to maintain professional standards of cuisine and to encourage learning and skills.

Executive chef for San Carlo Group restaurants, John works much of the time at San Carlo Cicchetti in Manchester but also travels alongside Exec Head Chef Franco Bellomusto, leading the kitchens at new group restaurant openings. December saw John and the Executive team supervise the launch of the Group’s new Signor Sassi restaurant in Beirut.

We were thrilled to host a very special welcome lunch for the heroic Chilean miners at San Carlo’s Flying Pizza at Roundhay, Leeds.
They were in the city ahead of their appearance at Make A Dream charity’s annual gala dinner in aid of Yorkshire’s sick and terminally ill children.
It was the miner’s first official speaking engagement since they were rescued along with 30 other men from a collapsed copper and gold mine in San Jose, Chile, South America

Heading up our 120 strong team of chefs; this year sees our irrepressible Executive Chef Franco Bellomusto celebrate 15 years of service with San Carlo.
Franco’s love affair with food started at a young age.  One of seven children, Franco was born and raised in Calabria, southern Italy.  It was Franco’s mama Emma who was to inspire his life-long passion for good food:

“Mama was an incredible cook and my inspiration; she made everything from scratch, every day and would be up before 7am to start cooking sauces and making pasta for lunch at 12” says Franco, “my eldest sister married a coach driver who was fussy about his pasta, he would toot the horn when he was three minutes away, that was how we knew when to start cooking the pasta.”

After graduating from catering school in Milan, Franco went on to perfect his skills at the city’s exclusive and historic Biffi Galleria restaurant.

Franco moved to England when he married and in 1996 he came to work for San Carlo. Fifteen years on, Franco has been at the helm of San Carlo’s kitchens as each restaurant has opened ensuring food, menus, kitchen staff and equipment are all in perfect order.

What keeps Franco and San Carlo together? “It’s simple” says Franco, “The owner Carlo and I share the same passion for good food…our mama’s taught us well.”

A great breakfast can be hard to find in the city but we firmly believe San Carlo Cicchetti’s are the best and we’re not alone, they’re getting rave reviews.
Offering a range of gourmet and classic options using the finest ingredients – from Eggs Benedict to a full-English, the Manchester Evening News awarded San Carlo Cicchetti the full 5 stars and Manchester Confidential supremo Mark Garner loves it too. Breakfast is served every day from 0830-1130am and from 9am at weekends. We hope to see you there.

San Carlo Cicchetti has been nominated for an award in The Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards 2011.  If you love Cicchetti and share our passion for great food and wine, we’d love to count on your vote. Time is short and voting closes at the end of September. It only takes 2 clicks to vote at www.foodanddrinkfestival.com/awards

Thank you!

Congratulations to the team at San Carlo Cicchetti in Manchester.

The King Street West restaurant which opened to critical acclaim in October 2010 has been shortlisted in the 2011 Food and Drink Festival Awards. Winners are announced during the festival which runs 7-17 October.

Hope you’ll join us in wishing the team luck – buona fortuna San Carlo Cicchetti!

San Carlo Cicchetti’s new website www.SanCarloCicchetti.co.uk is now live and the initial response from people has been fantastic.

Visitors and friends of the site can browse sample menu’s, view the gallery and learn more about our dedication to offering the best authentic Italian dishes created using the finest ingredients, many of which are flown in from Italy. We’ll also keep you up to date with our latest news and look out for our seasonal recipes for you to try at home.

We hope you’ll stop by online soon and, if you can, we’d love you to click “like” to acknowledge you’ve enjoyed the site. We’re also on twitter, follow our group of family owned restaurants @SanCarlo_Group.

San Carlo Cicchetti (pron: chi-KET-tee) re-interprets the delightful Venetian culinary custom of cicchetti – delicious small plate dishes to share or eat alone, enjoyed with a beer or glass of wine. The restaurant is located on King Street West in Manchester and offers breakfast, all day dining and dinner through until late seven days a week. Booking not required, table reservations are taken for the evening only, from 7pm. To make your reservation, please call 0161 839 22 33

Our hidden, glorious gem, the Bistro de Paris in Leicester is a delightful classic French restaurant located above San Carlo in the former ballroom of a grade 11 listed building.

Boasting a stunning new look following refurbishment, Bistro de Paris blends classic French cuisine with an exceptional wine list.

Offering a classic French a la carte menu in an elegant setting, Bistro de Paris is open from Tuesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner. Bon appétit, we hope you’ll call in soon.

Bistro de Paris, 2nd Floor, 38 Granby Street, Leicester. To book call 0116 251 844.

From Roundhay to Beirut and Bangkok, it’s a busy and exciting time for the San Carlo Group as we prepare to open San Carlo’s Flying Pizza at Roundhay in Leeds and two new Signor Sassi restaurants overseas.

Set to be a super-glamorous addition, Signor Sassi Bangkok will occupy the 37^th floor of the luxury Anantara Hotel in Sathorn, the heart of the city’s cosmopolitan business and shopping district. Signor Sassi Bangkok is set to open in October and will feature open air dining and private dining in a glass wine vault.

Having undergone massive regeneration, Beirut is being restored to its former glory and is being tipped as one of the world’s top hotspots. Signor Sassi Beirut is set to open late August. The stunning 4,000sqft restaurant occupies a prime location overlooking the stunning new marina, next door to the Four Seasons Hotel.

San Carlo’s Flying Pizza (formerly known as Flying Pizza) has been a labour of love for the San Carlo Group and its owners. Once the chosen haunt of celebrities, sports stars and the movers and shakers of Leeds society; the restaurant had fallen upon hard times. San Carlo Group bought the restaurant out of administration and, following a lavish rebuild and refurbishment are set to throw open the doors to our first suburban restaurant this month. An exciting new menu features the best dishes from our San Carlo, Signor Sassi and Cicchetti restaurants and some old Flying Pizza favourites too.  Watch this space for more news on San Carlo’s Flying Pizza. We hope to see you there soon.