SAN Carlo haven’t hung around after snapping up neighbouring restaurant 47 King Street West. This Saturday (November 12) they are launching FEAST, a winter pop-up in the premises in conjunction with revered local chef Robert Owen Brown.
It’s a surprising development, well away from the Italian food template of San Carlo and Cicchetti. Rob is hailed as the champion of northern English food, marrying immaculate technique with a flair for gutsy cooking.
He’s also into sourcing his food from the great outdoors so the remit sounds perfect. The family-owned group describe their venture as “inspired by a winter woodland and offering sophisticated comfort food and seasonal, indulgent cocktails, wines and beers beneath a canopy of branches, evergreens and enchanting lights.”
FEAST will be open for breakfast and all day dining seven days a week until early January with a menu in tune with an English winter – roast pies and stews, yes, but check out starters such as wild porcini and Marsala soup with a pecorino pastry crust; plum and rum tobacco smoked Cheshire venison carpaccio with a hazelnut and cherry bell radish salad; and Loch Etive salmon, clementine oil, caviar cream and seaweed.
Mains are more stomach-lining – the likes of Hay baked mutton chop with a caper and Scotch broth reduction; rich claret braised Forest of Dean wild boar, Chorlton chorizo & horseradish dumplings; and, a dish fit for Desperate Dan (and ToM), classic steak, Marble beer and cow heel Pie.
Or maybe you’re game for whole local estate pheasant, bacon, bread sauce and wild watercress (pictured below).
To finish, perhaps toasted almond fondue with shortbreads and flumps, spiced honey and Vimto poached pear (pictured above) or baked Alaska with home-made Christmas pudding ice cream and butterscotch sauce. FEAST will be festooned with cosy blankets and lit by lanterns and twinkling lights. So a perfect setting for sipping mulled cider or woodland-inspired cocktails, created by Bark Manchester.
San Carlo Group MD Marcello Distefano said:“We’re excited to offer something completely different with FEAST. We’re fans of Rob Owen Brown and collaborating with him has been a great experience, it’s good to have some fun with a concept and we share the same passion for great food and produce. We hope everyone will come down and enjoy getting into the festive mood with us.
“What happens post FEAST? Well, we’re working on that right now and look forward to revealing all nearer the time.”
FEAST, 47 King St West, M3 2PW. Mon-Fri 8am until late; Sat and Sun 9am until late. To book a table ring 0161 839 1929.
