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Venue: Franco Manca, 19 Bennetts Hill, B2 5QJ; website
Choice: Cured chorizo pizza (£8.25) Chooser: Chef Emiliano
Pizza. Is there anything it can't do? Actually yes. It makes for a bad tennis ball, but that's about it. And with Franco Manca arriving in Birmingham the city centre's awesome pizza shortage — which was becoming a hot political topic — is totally fixed. You can have yourself a margherita for £5 (all pizzas are a fiver for the first two weeks, starting today, but the margherita price won't shift), which is insane value when the food is this good, but bung some bubbled chorizo on it and things become riotous. Franco is expanding at quite some pace, which would rightly worry those who have plate-cleaned their offering since the first one opened in Brixton back in 2008. Forty seven (forty seven!) pizzerias on and with four more being built, it would be easy to take your eye off the prize, but the courses on our visit — front to back, starters to dessert — were excellent. Pizzas often sogify (technical term) toward the centre but these babies remain crisp and charred at the base, right the way through, while the ingredients smack of quality. Made from sourdough and walloped into a 450°C woodfired oven the dough rises and rouses into a brilliant circle of Italy. Which would explain why their Salina branch is holding its own in Sicily. The cocktails (why were we hitting cocktails on a Monday?) were forgettable but you're not there for Negroni. You're there for very affordable, mozzarella-ed merriment and a happy-making Montepulciano (£19.50 a bottle) that brings the plate to near perfection. Menu
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NEW THEATRE, OLD REPUTATION
New theatre is all well and good, until it isn't. And then it's awful. So how's about trying your newness with world beaters, the Royal Shakespeare Company? Their latest newbie, Crooked Dances, introduces Katy, a 30-something journo assigned to interview an eccentric and infamous pianist. Having become trapped together, the pair share an experience which quickly escalates to involve sorcery, the occult and ‘stretched time’. Inspired by the music of real-life composer Erik Satie, (an obsession of the writer, Edgbaston’s own Robin French) although modern in many ways, the production flirts with Gothicness and has a synopsis which comes on like a present-day Dracula. Well worth getting your teeth into. Sorry. At the RSC's The Other Place from June 20 to July 13. Tickets (£15)
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GIN-BORNE: THE NEW HARBORNE
The problem with pop-ups you HEART is their propensity to close. But Sadler's Harborne High Street hang out, initially open by the brewery for just December, is still popping and upping with beers and ales, but also coffees, cakes, live music and a stonker of a selection in gin. You have two more months to get there before the venue and its outdoor street-side spots will finally close to transform into a permanent Sadler's spot. To toast the final eight weeks in its current form, the team is offering you lovely lot its e'er so pretty gin board (pictured) for £25. The selection of six gins, four tonics, all the garnishes and plenty of botanicals usually costs £35 but mention us when you book, or before you order and you'll save ten pieces of the Queen's paper. To put towards the next gin board, presumably. Offer runs until July 28.
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INDEPENDENCE DAY, BY INDEPENDENTS
Forget boats and fireworks, you can't eat or drink either of those. On July 4, you can however eat a Texas-inspired BBQ tray from the Andy Low'N'Slow School of Awesome on Loki Edgbaston's beaut decking. Because the weather will obvs be nice by then. Think Dunwood Farm Angus brisket, hot link sausage and pork belly rib. Also for the free range Paddock Farm pork shoulder bun with slaw, pickles and house BBQ sauce we'll be demolishing. Dishes will cost from £3 to £18 for the prime stuff. In terms of what you're cheersing with, Phil Loki (may not be his real name) is recommending a typical American smoky barbecue accompaniment: Bogle Zinfandel. Supercharged with fruit, and body, the sweetness'll match this kind of food like stars match stripes. Bookings taken from 5pm 'till 9pm. To nab a spot, email victoria@lokiwine.co.uk, she's very nice.
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