Franco Manca has long been on my radar but a visit to the Chiswick High Road branch was my first. I had tried and failed to visit the Brixton branch before I went to a gig at the academy, not realising that they close at 5pm due to being situated in Brixton Market.

Pizza is fast trending in London and I am becoming less scared of being torn to shreds when my answer to peoples question of what is my favourite meal being pizza. Of course I don’t mean Dominos or Pizza Hut but there are many fantastic authentic pizza restaurants popping up all over London.

Daniel Young, the brains behind #PizzaTuesday talks so passionately of a dish that was once thought of as the easy and, pardon my expression, chavvy choice. He referred to Pizza Express as the Starbucks of the pizza world, hugely popular but there are better and more authentic pizza establishments popping up around London. I do agree with him but i’m still drawn into Pizza Express once every couple of months – I have previously expressed my love for the new Francesco Mazzei range and I do stand by my word.

The ethos of pizza Tuesday is simple. Once or twice a month a group of around 14 people will see what London has to offer in the form of pizza. What is it?… I hear you ask. Pizza, more pizza, a few starters to share and lots of flowing wine. When asked his long term goals for #PizzaTuesday (this is the # used on Twitter), Daniel suggested the idea of the ultimate Pizza Tuesday in Naples. Wow, when can I sign up?

Giuseppe, founder of Franco Manca was on hand to show us how to fold the perfect pizza. You can see the video here. He also explained that to create the perfect Franco Manca style pizza, the oven temperature has to be between 460 – 520 degrees and the pizza will take just 50 seconds to cook! (Isn’t the oven beautiful)

We had a special tasting menu of starters and pizzas included a Neal’s Yard 4 cheese pizza, which is not on the regular menu, margarita, chorizo and vegetable. The vegetable pizza had a scattering of potatoes, which was interesting and delicious.

Pizza Tuesday gives you the chance to get together with like minded enthusiasts and you get to ask the experts any burning questions that you may have. I had a special experience at Franco Manca and I’m already itching to go back.

Franco Manca
144 Chiswick High Road
London
W4 1PU
02087474822