SURELY Filippo Pagani in another life was a gondolier. One that liked nothing better after a hot day punting honeymooners around Venice’s backwaters to rustle up a Cod Sapporo from fish marinated for 48 hours with red onion, brown sugar and white wine vinegar.
San Carlo Cicchettihas often (deliciously) strayed from the original brand template of Venice-inspired small dishes but piratical-looking exec chef Pagani, unleashing its latest summer menu, has homed in again with this splendid dish from that hard-nosed city of romance and canals.
More extravagant is Caiucco, Tuscan Fish Stew with bread top baked in the oven. Smash open the crust and a surge of seafoodiness engulfs you. Inside there’s a swirl of prawn, clam, mussel, sea bass, red mullet and cod in a rosemary-scented broth.
It costs just £10.95 and would feed two amply as part of a meal of four or five cicchettii. Portions are generous. Another spectacular fish dish, black salt baked sea bass is £9.50. For that you get a whole fillet stripped of its salt casing by a server at table and garnished with peppercorns, lemon and parsley for a surprisingly unsalty, flaky treat.
My favourite of the new specials menu, though, Spaghetti alla Cippola (£7.85), is laden with a raw ingredient much prized in distant Tuscany.
Step forward barba di frate (monk’s beard, pictured above), a spindly samphire like sprue with a short growing season. Filippo tosses it with spaghetti, onions and an abundance of butter. This time it’s 24 hours in the making, another Slow Food classic that’s a rich, comforting tangle.
What I like about this summer menu is encapsulated in the seemingly simple broad bean mint and basil on grilled bread (£4.15), which is given oomph by shards of rare salted mature ricotta. In contrast, a beef Calabrese with Sicilian Pachino tomato tartare (£7.95) is all soothing creaminess thanks to a handsome topping of Puglian stracciatella (the creamy part of burrata).
An honourable mention to for the carpaccio of beef marinated in red wine with artichoke and beetroot dressing fort £7.80. Further assertive flavours that put in the shade the insipid tokenism of some rivals in the complacent Italian restaurant sector.
This quest for regionality and authentic ingredients is obviously paying off for the family owned San Carlo Group which numbers 16 leading UK restaurants and three overseas operations, including the recently opened Cicchetti Doha, Qatar. It is close to announcing a new site in London and is set to open new sites in Dubai and Bahrain in 2017.
MD Marcello Distefano told us: “Cicchetti is a concept close to our hearts. When we opened (in 2010) it was a dining concept new to the city; it’s thrilling to see how people have embraced it and is the blueprint for much of our current and future expansion. It’s wonderful to see people enjoying and sharing our passion for food – Cicchetti is all about celebrating the best in seasonal Italian ingredients and authentic regional dishes, many of which we hope will be new to the city.”
San Carlo Cicchetti, King Street West Manchester M3 2GQ. . Reservations not required but for table bookings after 6pm call San Carlo Cicchetti: 0161 839 2233.
