Today, Wednesday 7th January, marks the first All You Can Eat event of the year at Arancina on Westbourne Grove!
Run on the first Wednesday of every month, the concept behind this event is simple. Between 6pm and 10pm, ladies pay £10 and men pay £12 – and then you can literally chow down as much pizza as you can handle! (Drinks are charged separately.) This is a great way of cheering yourself up during these dark winter nights with some exceedingly tasty pizza – and a great way of saving money too, which is no doubt a handy thing in January!
Better still, Arancina’s pizzas have a special style of preparation and presentation which they say is unique to London, and sees people flocking to them from all over the city. Their pizzas are all ‘pizza alla palla’ – this means they are both cooked and served on a wooden board. Better still, they add a little bit of sugar to their pizza dough which makes it really crispy and delicious. Mmmm…!
Arancina also run a very popular Aperitivo event once a month as well. The next one of these is on 11th February, also at their Westbourne Grove branch, and brings to London a particular style of dining that’s extremely popular in Italy. You pay just £9 for your first drink (why not try something like a Negroni, or an Aperol Spritz), and then you can eat as much pizza and arancini as you can handle! Arancina’s Aperitivo nights were hugely popular in 2014, with locals and tourists heading to their restaurant from all around – as you can see from the images in this post.
Head down to Arancina tonight (or the first Wednesday of every month) for their All You Can Eat special, or give their popular Aperitivo night a whirl on the 11th February!
All You Can Eat at Arancina First Wednesday of every month – starts Wednesday 7th January 2015
This past Monday 15th December saw the grand opening of new pizzeria Tonda at 233 Portobello Road, giving locals the chance to try out many different varieties of Italian pizzetta during a special ‘open house’ day. From the first pizzetta fresh out of the oven at midday to closing at 11pm, almost 1,400 pizzetta had been given away!
A pizzetta is a smaller version of a pizza, sized at just 6 inches wide, and cooked to order using authentic Italian ingredients. Tonda’s traditional recipe for pizzetta – one that does not use animal fat, colourings or preservatives – has been handed down from father to son; this family-run business is originally from Pescara in Italy, where it was founded in the 1950s by Gabriele Ciferni. Gabriele’s son Riccardo, a well-known Italian entrepreneur, and his wife Laila Ciferni run four locations in and around Pescara, named Trieste Pizza.
Tonda on Portobello Road is the first location in the UK, and will give customers the chance to enjoy traditional Italian pizzetta either in the restaurant or to take away.
Local resident Marcia Leatham said:
“Located right on my own doorstep, luxurious urban crisp tasty street food. We are blessed with a new stylish gourmet pizzeria called Tonda. Situated in the heart of Portobello, Tonda combines authenticity and originality where we can meet and unwind.”
David Shahata, UK business partner of owner Riccardo Ciferni, said about the open day:
“We had a wonderful day – it was good to meet so many local people and introduce them to our pizzetta. It went down really well I hope that our takeout format will be a winner with those wishing to have a quick bite. We think that Portobello road is a great location for our pizzetta.”
Tonda is now open daily from 8am to 11pm, serving coffee, pastries, pizzetta and soup throughout the day. More on Tonda can be found at www.tonda.co.uk.
New pizza restaurant Bite Me Pizza opened yesterday on Westbourne Grove – bringing you a new concept in pizza making!
Gone are the days when you have to struggle to find your perfect pizza amongst the choices on a menu – no doubt thinking you’ve found something that hits the spot before finding it also contains your one food nemesis…be that olives, onion, anchovies or whatever. Now you can get a pizza crafted exactly as you’d like with all of your favourite toppings! (And none of what you hate!)
A slightly crazy Ladulina and Don Roberto combination pizza – we asked and they ably made it!
At Bite Me Pizza, you start off with a homemade dough base (made on the premises – which you’ll be able to see!) and tomato sauce, made from 100% of the highest quality Italian tomatoes. Then it’s up to you to choose from over 30 quality toppings, leaving you to mix and match to your heart’s desire to create the ultimate (or perhaps unusual?) pizza. The base (dough + sauce) is £4 and toppings range from £1 to £2 each, so you can also easily spend as little or as much as you like on your creation.
Toppings are divided into three different groups – “meat & fish”, “cheese” and “vegetables” – and you can choose as many or as few from each type with items such as pepperoni, pancetta, organic artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, camembert, feta, gruyere and gorgonzola all available. Toppings as sourced as locally as possible, with many from Britain but none coming from further afield than Europe. Bite Me Pizza say that there’s over 1 trillion possible combinations…phew!
For those that don’t like to make the decisions – and prefer to leave it to the experts – there’s also ten pizza “favourites” that you can choose from. These include the Posh Pizza which features creamy tomato sauce and mozzarella di buffala, bocconcini, prosciutto crudo, rucola, cherry tomatoes, parmesan flakes and truffle oil. For something a little different, why not try the Ladulina – mozzarella, smoked salmon, red onion, capers, cream and dill. An unusual pizza, but one that really works – I can certainly vouch for that!
Nothing’s better with a pizza than a cold bottle of beer, and Bite Me Pizza offer a range of London ones – as well as Italian wines, sold by the glass and by the bottle. There’s also salads, soft drinks and juices to choose from, and even desserts. The “chocolate” pizza sure sounds like a interesting concept at first, but you’ll soon find yourself wolfing down slices. (It’s essentially chocolate spread between two light dough-y bases, with a light sprinkling of sugar on top. Bliss.)
One of Bite Me Pizza’s key philosophies is to be as sustainable as possible. A large part of this is down to their very fresh ingredients, which reduces their carbon footprint. The whole restaurant was built to be as eco-friendly as possible; the interior has been designed with reclaimed UK timber and iron, with faux leather as some of the furnishing. Biodegradable cutlery (made from corn starch) is offered alongside recyclable pizza boxes; environmentally friendly cooking methods are employed which sees electric rather than gas ovens being used (which obviously don’t emit CO2 emissions into the air).
Juice and salad selectionWhat veggie toppings would you choose?The cheese topping selection
Open from 8am each day (with coffees and pastries in the mornings), Bite Me Pizza is open until 10pm each night except for Fridays and Saturdays when closing time is midnight. The restaurant offers both eat in and take away, with delivery a plan for the near future!
Bite Me Pizza is founded and co-owned by Chris Manessis, a 22-year-old eco friendly pizza-obsessive who grew up in Geneva but now lives in London. His aim is to create a sustainable chain of restaurants that will serve high quality, local and affordable food whilst also interacting with the community and helping those less fortunate.
Open since yesterday (16th June 2014), head down to Westbourne Grove to check out Bite Me Pizza and build your perfect pizza!
Bite Me Pizza 95 Westbourne Grove
W2 4UW
www.bitemepizza.co.uk Do also check them out on Twitter
Local favourite La Sophia have come up trumps again with another special menu for Father’s Day this coming Sunday – in case you’d forgotten!
The great-value Father’s Day menu is being offered for £15.50 for two courses or £21.50 for all three (you can see the full menu below), and there will also be live music being played (a sneak preview here) from 12pm to 3pm. We’re sure that all the dads out there will delight in the sumptuous offerings on the menu!
Selection of French & English cheeses, crackers & chutney
(Supplement +£3)
A deposit of £15 per person is required – the restaurant will be in touch once you make your reservation. To reserve, please contact the restaurant direct on 020 8968 2200 or contact@lasophia.co.uk.
Father’s Day at La Sophia 15th June 2014 46 Golborne Road
W10 5PR www.lasophia.co.uk
