I was recently invited to the opening of the brand new Franco Manca pizza in Bournemouth (thanks W Comms!). I usually take Nick along to these things or just meet up with the Bournemouth blogger girls but this time I thought it would be nice to take my sister along as we only usually get to hang out during the day with the kids.
We arrived and were seated with my blogger chum Freya and a few of her work mates in an area that had been reserved for the ‘press’. We were offered some drinks and were told that food would just arrive as and when it was ready. (FYI the organic lemonade was lush.) We were then quite literally showered with starters. I’ve never seen so much food! The olives were incredible (coming from someone who isn’t a massive olive lover) and the burrata was truly out of this world. We gorged ourselves on unbelievable rich soft cheeses and cured meats.
To be honest, by this point, we were all a little worried that we weren’t going to fit any pizza in! But due to the gorgeously chewy sourdough bases I think I managed a good 6 or 7 slices of various flavours! I’m a bit of a sucker for a margherita because I think if you can get the basics right then you’re on to a good thing and it certainly didn’t disappoint. The number 6 pizza with chorizo also stood out as being pretty special. I can’t remember which pizza they were on now but one of them had the most mind-blowing tomatoes I’ve ever had that are grown on the slopes of Mt Vesuvius.
As a special treat, we were invited into the ‘kitchen’ (I use quotation marks as it’s all out in the open in the middle of the restaurant so you can watch your pizza being made) to make our own pizza. Obviously hilarity ensued as we tried to follow instructions from a pretty thick-accented Italian in the searing heat with the noise of the restaurant booming in our ears but we were all pretty successful (even if I did accidentally flip mine mid-cook in the pizza oven!)
We were then served a beautiful plate of desserts which we happily scoffed down. The rosemary & olive oil cake was new to me and a perfect choice if you’re not into overly sweet things. As we were rolling out the door we were handed an amazing goody bag filled with foodie treats like chilli oil, roasted artichokes and a copy of the Franco Manca book. Thanks again to Franco Manca & W Comms for having us!
