By Neil Sowerby
The San Carlo group have taken their hugely popular take on Italian cuisine to the suburbs revamping the old Players Restaurant at the Manchester Airport Marriott Hotel. Revamps a bit strong. New carpet aside, it looks much the same as in its previous incarnation. Come expecting the dazzling look of Cicchetti or the Bottega inside Selfridges and you will be disappointed.
But food expectations will be matched. Culinary consultant Aldo Zillis contemporary interpretations of rustic Italian cuisine are all in place. Here the new name San Carlo Fiorentina is the giveaway. This is food with a Tuscan influence. Via the not-very-Florentine presence of a Japanese Robata wood-fired grill, that Tuscan speciality grills come seared and intense from the live charcoal. Aged prime cuts of meat are the raw materials. On first inspection of the premises, under the stewardship-for-the-day of peripatetic celeb chef Aldo, rare beefsteaks were good, chops even better.
Fennel Tuscan sausage
Bread was excellent but not quite the unsalted Tuscan version; pasta, as youd expect, spot-on, the fennel-driven Tuscan sausage and tagliatelle tangle the pick of the dishes, though the manifold treatment of the aubergine felt similarly authentic. Not quite as earthy as it says on the Tuscan package, so Im sure it wont frighten the Cheshire set who roamed Players and the San Carlo name (already emblazoned beside the carousels in Terminal One) will surely draw the crowds.
The have suburban previous with the Flying Pizza at Roundhay in Leeds, proving it makes sense to cater for those diners who cant face the trek into a traffic-unfriendly city centre. So thats where Manchesters a bit like Florence, then.
San Carlo Fiorentina, Manchester Airport Marriott Hotel, Hale Road, Hale Barns, Chehsire WA15 8XW. 0161 904 5043. http://www.sancarlofiorentina.co.uk. On twitter @SC_Fiorentina. Open from noon until late seven days a week.
STOP PRESS: San Carlo, which boast 13 UK restaurants as well as overseas outposts, has announced further expansion with a third Cicchetti venue, this one in Londons Covent Garden. The 100-cover restaurant, serving Cicchettis trademark Venetian style tapas small plates is to open at 20 Wellington Street in May.