TELA VUOTA
Here at Zizzi we are committed to giving a platform to some of the Country’s most exciting artistic talent and on Friday 13th August we held a rather special event in our newly refurbished Glasgow West End restaurant to celebrate this fact.
The event entitled ‘Tela Vuota’ or ‘Blank Canvas’ marked the launch of our ‘Fresh Talent’ initiative, which seeks to provide professional opportunities for graduates who specialise in art, illustration, design, ceramics and just about any creative discipline.
The night was unique because for the first time we invited five artists to take part in a one off collaboration project during one night in the restaurant. The event was witnessed by a range of top Scottish bloggers and documented by filmmakers from the Glasgow School of Art.
Overall the evening was a tremendous success with the artists turning the blank, white walls into a truly amazing spectacle in front of our eyes. We hope to put many events like this on across the country in the future, so watch this space!
THE NEW SPECIALS ARE HERE
When it comes to launching our new specials our Head chef Angelo goes off into a cloud of steam and pans, and when he comes out we get to eat the lot.
This season he's picked some great new ingredients which we're very excited about. For example we’re using Calabrian n’Duja sausage to make a spicy tomato sauce with fresh fettucine ribbons, parsley, and mascarpone cheese to finish. Try it with a glass of the organic Syrah-Merlot, from Angelo's home region of Puglia.
Click on the link below to check out the rest of Angelo's delicious new specials menu available in every single one of our restaurants nationwide.
THE GREAT BALSAMIC SEARCH PART 3
The result of Marina’s care, passion and attention to detail is after 25 years, a tiny amount of thick, brown heaven in a bottle. We tasted it as you would a wine, watching it coat the inside of the glass and taking in its rich, sugary, complex aroma before it touched our lips. Absolutely delicious. But at almost £60 per bottle, it’s no wonder that Marina sells only 12 bottles of Balsamic Traditionale a month!
The product that we all know and love is called Balsamic di Modena. Balsamic di Modena isn’t left to age for as long, so although it’s taste is still distinctively balsamic and delicious, it isn’t as thick and syrupy as the Balsamic Traditionale.
Marina is very proud of how she makes hers. Rather than being a slave to 21st century manufacturing methods, she injects the best elements from the Traditionale method into the more industrialised approach used for Balsamic di Modena.
The result? Vinegar that tastes like no other.
THE GREAT BALSAMIC SEARCH PART 2
Our search for the world’s best balsamic vinegar took us to a traditional Italian and beautiful supplier’s farm called Nero Modena. The farm is owned and run by a lovely lady called Marina whose family has been making balsamic for generations from the picturesque settings of Modena.
After a tour of the stunning farm, Marina showed us the traditional method used to produce the oldest and purest balsamic vinegar - Balsamic Traditionale. This pure, untainted balsamic is produced from Lambrusca and Trebbiano grapes crushed into a pulp and then lovingly tendered over time into a truly luxurious and wonderful product.
The ‘must’ (the fermenting grape juice) is poured into small barrels to ferment in the summer and cool and clarify in the winter over many years. The barrels are made from a range of woods, each of which gives its own flavour to the must. Every spring, Marina tops up each of the barrels with liquid from the barrel next to it, mixing the flavours together, which ultimately produces a richer vinegar. The attention to detail, care and passion shown by Marina at Nero Modena reflects that which our Executive chef Angelo keeps at the heart of his cooking.
MODENA TRIP
Last week we flew over to Italy on the search for the world’s very best vinegar. This may seem like a bit of a trek just to find one ingredient, but we know that every detail has to be perfect when it comes to creating delicious Italian food.
Italians are incredibly passionate about balsamic vinegar, especially the citizens of Modena, in the north of Italy. Italian law states that for a vinegar to be officially called ‘balsamic’, it has to be made in Modena, no exceptions. It’s this passion that we love at Zizzi, the same passion that drives our head chef Angelo to continually create new and exciting dishes with true Italian inspiration and flair.
Read more about our trip to Modena tomorrow.
FRESH TALENT IN FOCUS - CAMILLE ROUSSEAU
When we saw Camille Rousseau's work for her Central St Martins MA, we knew we wanted her to help us with the redesign of our restaurants. We commissioned a mural for Zizzi Charlotte Street, and once we'd seen what she could do we never looked back. Camille's now done work for Charlotte Street, Chelmsford, Canary Wharf and our new Strand Zizzi.
Camille's originally from Paris but she's lived in London for 5 years now, and the influence of the city is a strong theme in both Charlotte Street and Canary Wharf.
"Zizzi always ask me to look very hard at the local area when I'm working on a new commission. Zizzi restaurants are about the local culture and colour, and you can't do that without being inspired by what's going on around you".
"I want people to look at what I've done and pick out little details that make them smile. When you're making a mural that's maybe 3 metres across, you have the chance to tell a real story".
We love her style and can't wait to see what she'll come up with next.
BETTER BY DESIGN
When we open a new restaurant, we want its design to be inspired by its local setting. For the new Zizzi in Chelmsford, we commissioned original art from designer Camille Rousseau. She took two of the 20th century's most important inventors as her inspiration - Marconi and Rochenchko. Camille says: "Mixing their content, Marconi and the radio with the inimitable style of Rochenchko, makes perfect sense as these geniuses were both starting their cultural revolutions around the same time." We love it and we hope you will too. Come by and see what you think.
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