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Franco Manca
4 Market RowElectric Lane, London, SW9 8LD
Trattoria Sapori a new place on Newington Green Sq in north London stoke newington, it is open 7 days a week lunch and late evenings, this place makes the pizza;s just like back home in Secondeliano, Naples. Now that is something of a rare thing. Their pasta menu is to die for as well, all...
Reviews for Franco Manca
0 found this helpful
I have had the rare pleasure of trying both places and I must say that they are both the best places to have your Pizza's if you want the Italian version, not Pizza Hut, not Pizza Express.
Trattoria Sapori a new place on Newington Green Sq in north London stoke newington, it is open 7 days a week lunch and late evenings, this place makes the pizza;s just like back home in Secondeliano, Naples. Now that is something of a rare thing. Their pasta menu is to die for as well, all their food are cooked to order, you may have to wait for a fee mins more but why not when you get the pasta like the Italians like it. Talking of Italians there always seems to be many eating there and that has to be a good sign.
Thumbs up to both Franco Manca and Trattoria Sapori for bringing us the real pizza back to London.
PS:
0 found this helpful
As far as I can tell, there are no restaurants in London that are blessed by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana. Having said that, and having had the immense pleasure of eating wonderful and authentic Neapolitan pizza in Naples (by people who have had the blessing), I honestly cannot tell the difference.
Sounds like Double Dutch? In simple terms: this is the best possible pizza - it's heavenly in every way. The dough is given 20 hours to prove and is cooked in under 50 seconds in a wood fired oven running at 500c. There's no other way to achieve this perfection. Other places do well (Made in Italy, Spaccanapoli, San Gennaro, Firezza) but no other restaurant in London achieves perfection.
There is a down side. Such is the place's popularity, you will probably have to queue for 30 minutes (or more) in Brixton Market, while you watch the locals attempt to steel produce from the adjacent shops. However, there is safety in the numbers of equally in-the-know fellow queuers. Besides, when you realise Franco Manca has what you need, you will put up with just about anything to get it. There's also an incredibly small range of drinks (one type each of red/white wine, beer, lemonade and tap water), and not much else to eat, and dessert is a perfect Monmouth espresso. The focus on pizza is their genius. It's all about the pizza and nothing else matters.
3 found this helpful
This is the real deal you need to go to Naples for equal or better real Pizza.
So good did not want to review it and keep it to myself.
The superb ingredients and authentic oven combined with real domain expertise shows in every single Pizza that is served.
5 found this helpful
I took the rare opportunity of a day off in Brixton to sample the pizza at Franco Manca. After an in depth article in OFM a couple of months ago, the internet has been awash with chatter about this place. And I felt like it was my duty as a Brixton resident and foodie to see what all the fuss is about.
Foolishly I forgot to take a note of the address, assuming that it must be easy to find. But I found myself walking back and forth along Electric Avenue, dodging the market vendors, trying desperately to find this "hidden gem". It always helps of course if you are actually on the right road. A quick call to 118500 and I was back on track. I was put through to Franco Manca who then guided me into the restaurant which was about 18 yards from where I was standing. The charming chap on the phone even spotted me and came to greet me. Top class service from beginning to end.
Snuggled into the heart of Brixton Market, remember, if you can, that it's Unit 4, Electric Lane. The restaurant bridges both sides of the covered market alleyway which adds a great natural flow to environment. On either side are large pizza ovens that have been hand build over in Naples. They generate a temperature of 500'C which is the key to their sourdough pizzas having such a crispy crust and soft middle. I inspected them with great interest, taking notes for next year's big project where I am planning to build an outdoor earth oven in the garden. Should be epic. If anyone's got any advice, I'd love to hear from you.
I ordered the chorizo pizza which comes with dry and wet sausage from Brindisa. It arrived almost as soon as I had spoken. Given all the hype, I was determined not to be prejudiced and was hoping it would live up to all the noise. And it did. As promised it was gorgeously charred on the outside, with the appearance of tiger bread whilst the mozzarella, tomato and chorizo was perfectly cooked as well. The puffy crust was crisp on the outside and pillowy soft inside. A bit like a savoury, hot macaron!
The chorizo had a lick of char and otherwise was simply irresistible. I was tempted to add pepper and chilli oil but didn't want to tamper with something that had been thought through so clearly. The mozzarella made almost made me giggle as it unwound as I tried to eat it like some sort of practical joke. All this fatty, carby goodness was washed down by a jar of their delicious home made lemonade followed the best espresso I've ever had for £1!
All the ingredients are impeccably sourced with superb credentials. But the crowning glory is the sourdough base that takes 20 hours of careful nurturing before it meets its glorious fate in the super charged ovens.
I was amused when two gentlemen in suits arrived and loudly asked "are you the guys who make the best pizza in London". I felt like I stood out pretty badly in my brown cords and blue v-neck jumper, but I was a chameleon by comparison. It seems that word has spread and that this gem is fast becoming a lot less hidden.
Be warned that Franco Manca is only open on week days from 12-5. My pizza, lemonade and coffee came to well under a tenner.
3 found this helpful
Franco Manca is hidden in the maze that is Brixton market. Upon finding it, we joined the queue that ended up being a 10 minute wait (which was fine). It did seem to take a while though because we could see all the delicious looking pizzas being served and started to salivate. I was a bit dubious about it being next to one of the fish places in the market but it was unnoticeable through the lovely smells coming out of franco manca.
The menu is simple, 6 different pizzas, a red and a white wine, 1 type of beer or home-made lemonade.
I couldn't resist going for number 5 with cured organic chorizo (from brindisa) and mozzarella and the lemonade. The base was slightly charred and perfectly crisp, just how I like it! You could tell that the fillings are better quality but I was bit disappointed at how little there was on the pizza. I'd definitely have given them 5 stars if they fill the pizzas up a bit more.
All in all, an excellent addition to the fantastic eateries already in Brixton.
1 found this helpful
Oh wow. Despite living only up the road, I cannot believe I didn't discover this place sooner. It's apparently been here for 5 months already.
Proper Neopolitan pizza with a sourdough base. Delicious, fast and cheap. This place is a gem, off the beaten track and in an unexpected location. Expect to queue to get a seat, but once seated the service is fast and exactly as you would expect from the Neopolitan owners. I just wish it was open in the evenings.
The prices are ridiculously reasonable at around £5 for a pizza, £1.90 for organic beer or £1 for delicious home made lemonade.
I'll be back. Very soon.
2 found this helpful
Illustrated Critique:
http://foodsnobblog.wordpress.com/category/restaurant-reviews/franco-manca/
Text-only Critique:
Whilst recently riding a wave of successful dining choices, it seems I have allowed myself to become caught in some fey riptide whose sole concern is to drag me from one Italian restaurant to another. Though this has hardly been horrid, having now pulled me back in from beautiful Belgravia and washed me up in not-so-beautiful Brixton, I have become suspicious of this current’s intentions. But I decide once more to consign my fate to the fates or more verily, chowhounds, whose compelling recommendations have again proved persuasive.
Franco Manca is a relatively recent arrival on the Brixton restaurant scene, having opened in March this year. New owner, Neapolitan expat Giuseppe Macoli, has some big shoes to fill as this site was previously home to Eco and before that, much-loved Pizzeria Franco. He is determined, however, to establish Franco Manca - literally translated as Franco is missing/missed and a tribute to aforesaid Franco - in its own right by bringing with him a brand new concept: bona fide Neapolitan pizza made from organic, local ingredients.
This is no easy task as, believe it or not, there exists actual laws governing how authentic Neapolitan pizza is made. The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (Association of Real Neapolitan Pizza) has laid down a strict set of stipulations that must be satisfied by anyone planning on producing the genuine article. Regulations include that the flour has to be type 0 or 00 (strong flour with high-protein content); the dough must be kneaded and formed by hand without using a rolling pin or other mechanical device; it must be baked at above 485°C in a wood-fired oven for no more than 90 seconds; and many more.
Such draconian measures have scared away lesser men, but Macoli is determined, focussed and, if early signs are anything to go by, very near to fulfilling his ambitions. However, being authentic is not enough; he also wants to be the best and so has recruited Neapolitan pizza and wild yeast expert, Marco Parente, as a fulltime consultant to create the perfect dough. Now, this critique has taught me a great deal about pizza including that the most important ingredient is the dough and the most vital element of this most important ingredient is the crescita (culture/starter/mother) i.e. the magical, living organism from which the sourdough grows. With this in mind, Parente procured a very special, very rare 200 year old culture from a secret source off the island of Ischia in the Gulf of Naples. This crescita has been combined with organic stone milled flour made mainly with Italian grains and is allowed a minimum of 20 hours to rise - consider this against the 4-6 hours that typical store-bought breads are speed-risen in. This may sound all well and good, but what it really means is that the friendly bacteria in the crescita does most of the hard work for you, breaking down the gluten in the flour, to produce a healthier, easier-to-digest pizza. So I can eat even more pizza before becoming too full, right? To ensure and achieve all this, FM has had two of its very own wood-fired, brick ovens and a dough mixer made by Forno Napoletano and imported especially from Naples.
Thus, the dough handled, Macoli reapplied his commitment to local quality onto cheeses, tomato sauce and toppings. He commissioned Alham Wood Farm of Somerset, one of only a few water buffalo farms in the UK, to produce fior di latte (cow milk mozzarella) and ricotta and even imported a master Neapolitan cheese-maker from Sorrento to help them churn out a better product. A refreshingly simple, but tasty tomato sauce is made from crushed peeled Italian tomatoes and a little salt; that’s it. Toppings are limited - eleven; I counted - but what is lacking in quantity is made up for in quality; ingredients are fresh, seasonal, almost 100% organic and the finest that can be found, whilst keeping prices competitive.
The restaurant itself, utterly unpretentious and spilling out into an already tight arcade alley, occupies opposing sides of the passage. Each side has one of those mammoth ovens, enabling one shop to operate as the actual pizzeria, whilst the other, already offering diners additional seating, is to be a bakery. The no-frills décor of old, solid oak benches and tables is modest, basic and practical, but adds rustic charm. Tightly packed tables and the constant Italian arguing (well, arguing to us, polite conversation in Italy) between an all Italian staff as they rush around complements the hustle-bustle and buzzing atmosphere. The similarly super-simple menu offers six pizzas served regular or as calzone, a side salad and beverages (organic lemonade/beer/wine and Monmouth espresso). I decided to try both a calzone No.3 and regular No.4 (each option being charmingly numbered).
Bevanda: Limonata. I aberrated from my usual tap water order - though filtered water is freely available - to try the legendary lemonade here. It is handmade, organic and tasted thick, refreshing and not at all sickly sweet. The dulled lemon flavour was not especially sour, but still zingy. The clear, pale tan juice is served in a quaint glass bottle with stopper and is a snip at £1 a bottle.
Calzone: No.3 - Wild mushrooms, garlic, anchovy & mozzarella. A picture is worth a thousand words, which is great as I am finding it impossible to do this incredible image justice. That is why I will try starting with the stunning smell first; it was a strong and comforting herby aroma of basil and hot bread. Lovely. The thin sourdough base and middle was fluffy and soft like a pillow bed for the oozing mozzarella and fresh tomato sauce. Its encasing edge or cornicione - according to Neapolitans, the most prized part of the pizza - is soft yet very slightly crisp and speckled with carefully charred little blissful blisters seductive in flavour. Normally, I would discard the crust as gratuitous carbs, but in this case that would be criminal; fleshy and tender and so moreish, I enjoyed every single bite. What cannot be seen in the photograph is the moist, warm filling within: sweet, soft caramelised, earthy mushrooms (porcini and chanterelle) were combined with salty anchovies and more of the tomato sauce to achieve an impressively rich, deep flavour. As accompaniments to the dishes, garlic and chilli oils were provided. I found the chilli rather impotent, but the garlic was surprisingly strong and absolutely perfect with the crescent calzone.
Pizza: No.4 - Tomato, garlic, oregano, capers, olives, anchovy & mozzarella. The pizza looked perfect: another gorgeous example of that airy, puffy golden cornicione was complemented with generous measures of molten mozzarella, rich tomato sauce and fresh, fat olives. The secret behind the delicious base is the intensely hot, intensely short baking, whereby the blistering heat seals in the toppings’ flavours and locks in the moisture of cornicione. This time, lovely oregano notes accompanied the warm odour of basil. The taste was just as good as the calzone’s: the yielding, chary crust flavourful; the base elastic yet easy-to-tear; the cheese milky and creamy; the sauce fresh; and the capers and anchovies intense and powerful. The hot, meaty olives, which come from a small Spainish finca that Macoli himself has helped finance, added texture and taste into the mix. The pizza was very light and the perfect size for one; even after eating two, I felt full, but not blown-up-like-a-balloon stuffed.
The food was great and, judging by the queues of customers outside waiting for a seat, many agree with me. I have already heard rumours that demand is so great, the restaurant will be moving to larger premises that will allow more flexible opening times (being within the Arcade means they have to shut when the arcade does). Indeed, Macoli deserves such success: the commitment he has shown to the strict conventions of Neapolitan pizza making is admirable and his dedication to quality, local production and ingredients is to be commended. However, both would be worthless (to me) if Franco Manca did not deliver, and deliver it does, in bucket loads.
I have long been disillusioned with pizza, seeing it as a commercial, carb-heavy atrocity of melted cheese and stodgy dough. This meal has dashed those preconceptions. Franco Manca is a real diamond in the rough (FM the diamond, Brixton the rough). Great tasting, simple food at amazing prices with good, friendly service; what more do you really need? Franco manca, ma Giuseppe è trovato.
4 Market Row, Electric Lane, SW9 8L
tel: 020 7738 3021
nearest tube: Brixton
www.francomanca.co.uk
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http://www.pizzanapoletana.org/images/assoc_nofoto.jpg
You can find members by looking here:
http://www.pizzanapoletana.org/eng_associati.php
There don't seem to be any in the UK!