Pootled down to said establishment on saturday for a pizza and an earful from Roberto only to find it closed- though there was a note up about applying for a drinks license. However just tried phoning the clapham Eco and they reckon its closed for good. Anyone got any info?? Saturdays just won't be the same without a mad italian shouting at us..and clearly clapham's not an option..
Francos/Ecos????
- Thread starter Ms Bear
- Start date
Monkeygrinder's Organ
Dodgy geezer swilling vapid lager
Is that the one that wasn't open in the evenings?
Yep thats the one. In the license for booze application note it said it was for an evening application also so I got a bit excited that it might become an evening eaterie ( though how that would work in the market i wasn't sure..) . But then i spoke to the clapham branch and they said it was closed for good. Hopefully they're wrong...
Monkeygrinder's Organ
Dodgy geezer swilling vapid lager
Yeah I heard good things about it (on here mostly tbh) but never went. A pizza place that doesn't open evenings seems like it's onto a loser to me.
Yeh you'd think so, but its being going for at least 12 years ( am sure someone must know how long?). So its a real shame if they've pulled the plug on it. The pizzas were indeed yum and perfect saturday hangover antidote. Not to mention the entertainment value of Roberto...And where else to go for a pizza in brixton?
lang rabbie
Je ne regrette les gazebos
I think Franco's must have been in Brixton Market for thirty years.
When they opened the architect-designed Eco in Clapham High Street some seventeen years ago, people thought they were mad. CHS back then was a grim nondescript stretch of shabby shops, with a worse reputation than Brixton or Streatham High Rd has now.
When they opened the architect-designed Eco in Clapham High Street some seventeen years ago, people thought they were mad. CHS back then was a grim nondescript stretch of shabby shops, with a worse reputation than Brixton or Streatham High Rd has now.
Seems unlikely that they've closed down if you ask me. Business always seems good in there, at weekends at least, and trade doesn't seem to have declined in there markedly over the years. Be a real shame if they have - excellent pizza and friendly Italio-Cockernee banter.
innit
c'mon, little life giver
gaijingirl
Well-Known Member
I went down there earlier too - would be really upset if it's gone for good. The licence application thingy on the door was, I thought, slightly odd. Also didn't explain why it was closed - AFAK Eco/Roberto didn't sell booze.... though I might just have never noticed
No Eco (Brixton) doesn't sell booze - so maybe they're applying to be able to?
Indeed the indication was they were applying for a booze license, and it was the original owner who was making the application. That was why it was doubly confusing to be told by the Clapham Eco that Brixton had closed for good. But maybe they are just goofballs who don't have all the information. And the more I ponder it seems likely Roberto would've mentioned if it was going to close, not one to keep quiet about well anything. Anyway he only worked there on saturday, I believe he works at another restaurant in the week so might stalk him and demand an answer
In the meantime I'll check out Ferndales (thats not what used to be Alba is it?), ta for that.
In the meantime I'll check out Ferndales (thats not what used to be Alba is it?), ta for that.
happyshopper
Well-Known Member
It would be a tragedy if they have closed, although I have to admit I have not been as often in the last few years as I did 10 or more years ago. I used to go at least once a week - early so I could get the corner table to myself and read the paper in peace. Part of the reason is that their pizzas were so large that I always ended up being unable to work in the afternoon, as well as being one of principle reasons why I put on too much weight. I also felt in my occasional visits more recently that although good, they weren't quite as excellent as they used to be but that may just be a function of getting older.
supercity
Back, and readjusting
Let's hope it hasn't shut down. Franco's has been here for over 20 years, to my certain knowledge, and the focaccia sandwiches are unbelievable. I always dreamed that if an enlightened company (or council) took charge of that bit of the market, it could stay open at night (ie past 5pm) and provide indoor dining spaces for many similar places, all serving great food and not paying so much rent that they were forced out.
Then I woke up and realised I lived in Lambeth, and that if it ever did open up late it would be full of Starbucks and baahs anyway, and full of unarrestable drug dealers. And that the food would be shite.
Then I woke up and realised I lived in Lambeth, and that if it ever did open up late it would be full of Starbucks and baahs anyway, and full of unarrestable drug dealers. And that the food would be shite.
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
News about pizza
Spotted on another bulletin board:
New owner to open Neopolitan pizza place in Brixton market. They've got a wood burning oven an' everything.
Spotted on another bulletin board:
New owner to open Neopolitan pizza place in Brixton market. They've got a wood burning oven an' everything.
colacubes
Mr Hot Cookie
Yes there's a sign outside the shop - apparently they will be offering artisan cheeses and sourdough bases.
It's a pizza ffs
tescorewardcard
New Member
Walked past today and the oven is being installed and everyone looks busy. Can ANYONE explain the picture of Maggie Thatcher on the board?? Enough to put me off my pizza...
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
More details on Franco Manca Pizza (hmmm... crap name).
clandestino
no llevar papel
Will it be open in the evening? I can't work out from that thread.
Hope so!
Hope so!
lang rabbie
Je ne regrette les gazebos
Unfortunately the licensing application isn't visible any longer on Lambeth's website, as they only post them up during the statutory consultation period - which ended on 28 February.
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
i salute your lurking skills Ms Bear
Yes 10 posts and 2 threads since 2002.Quality not quantity Dan U
.Supercity is correct and there are ideas to keep the indoor market open later.Whether that will come to anything is another matter.Also I dont now whether some units in the market now finding the rents expensive.
Hello Pizza Eaters
I thought out of courtesy to those with an interest, I'd sign up here and flesh out the info on Francos ... The link to the EG forum provided earlier on this thread is useful as it provides some facts for die-hards scouting for authentic Neapolitan pizza in London.
I was involved in setting it up; I am also guilty of painting the Madge picture. A few people have complained I made her too beautiful, but the old girl has great bone structure, and I couldn't help myself from idealising her a bit - my logic being that had she been an artisan rather than a politician, the world might have been a better place... Also, as the text on the poster read, we are 'bringing it back . . . - but not Maggie'.
Making pizza the traditional way not only gives an authentic product many have (and will hopefully acquire) a taste for, but it ensures that the product is healthy and more digestible (because of the longer fermentation process). So whoever it was who said he couldn't work in the afternoon after a large pizza should be relieved to know this will not be the case anymore.
Most breads one buys in the shops are made with synthetic yeasts and are then speed-risen for about four-six hours. The sourdough recipe used now requires a twenty hour rise, so most of the work (breaking down the gluten) has been done for you already by the friendly bacteria in the culture or 'crecito', as it's called. This culture has been 'fed' i.e kept going, for hundreds of years, and is from Ischia, an island near Naples. The result is a pizza that is softer underneath, and blissfully crusty around the edges.
The owner has gone to great lengths to maintain a well-loved destination for pizza in Brixton, and improve on it by introducing better (organic) products and reducing the price considerably. It is a great dedication to Brixton and an interesting experiment in 'slow' fast food.
We have installed heaters which will soon make sitting outside more bearable too... The second oven will be for bread, made in the shop opposite.
It will take another month for the oven to settle down and to achieve consistency in the products. The cheesemakers at Alham Farm in Somerset were only trained in the making of mozarella a few weeks ago.
So be patient, be kind, and enjoy the pizza.
XX
thehunger
P.S. It was called Franco Manca (is missing/missed) as a dedication to Franco, who is a friend of ours - and of the many who remember him. He was present to greet people on our first day, and several people were most pleased to see the 'Godfather' of Brixton pizza again.
I thought out of courtesy to those with an interest, I'd sign up here and flesh out the info on Francos ... The link to the EG forum provided earlier on this thread is useful as it provides some facts for die-hards scouting for authentic Neapolitan pizza in London.
I was involved in setting it up; I am also guilty of painting the Madge picture. A few people have complained I made her too beautiful, but the old girl has great bone structure, and I couldn't help myself from idealising her a bit - my logic being that had she been an artisan rather than a politician, the world might have been a better place... Also, as the text on the poster read, we are 'bringing it back . . . - but not Maggie'.
Making pizza the traditional way not only gives an authentic product many have (and will hopefully acquire) a taste for, but it ensures that the product is healthy and more digestible (because of the longer fermentation process). So whoever it was who said he couldn't work in the afternoon after a large pizza should be relieved to know this will not be the case anymore.
Most breads one buys in the shops are made with synthetic yeasts and are then speed-risen for about four-six hours. The sourdough recipe used now requires a twenty hour rise, so most of the work (breaking down the gluten) has been done for you already by the friendly bacteria in the culture or 'crecito', as it's called. This culture has been 'fed' i.e kept going, for hundreds of years, and is from Ischia, an island near Naples. The result is a pizza that is softer underneath, and blissfully crusty around the edges.
The owner has gone to great lengths to maintain a well-loved destination for pizza in Brixton, and improve on it by introducing better (organic) products and reducing the price considerably. It is a great dedication to Brixton and an interesting experiment in 'slow' fast food.
We have installed heaters which will soon make sitting outside more bearable too... The second oven will be for bread, made in the shop opposite.
It will take another month for the oven to settle down and to achieve consistency in the products. The cheesemakers at Alham Farm in Somerset were only trained in the making of mozarella a few weeks ago.
So be patient, be kind, and enjoy the pizza.
XX
thehunger
P.S. It was called Franco Manca (is missing/missed) as a dedication to Franco, who is a friend of ours - and of the many who remember him. He was present to greet people on our first day, and several people were most pleased to see the 'Godfather' of Brixton pizza again.
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