Afternoon Tea is often seen as a decedent treat, an enjoyable and relaxed experience reserved for special celebrations … but sometimes it’s nice to do something indulgent just because!
Our Italian take on this British tradition is ideal for all occasions – a family gathering, a birthday surprise – or just a break from shopping.
Choose from a simple ‘Cream Tea’ of Fruit Scones with Jam and Clotted Cream served with your Choice of Teas or go extravagant with our ‘Champagne Tea’ with Assorted Finger Sandwiches, Fruit Scones, Savoury and Sweet Pastries, Choice of Teas and Glass of Veuve Cliquot Brut.
Afternoon Tea is served at Gran Cafe at Selfridges, Manchester and our Cicchetti restaurants in Manchester, Covent Garden and Piccadilly, London. Days and times of availability vary so please contact the venue to enquire and make a booking.
Other freshly made Italian cakes, pastries and our Gran Cafe macarons are available to eat in or take home.
As we wave goodbye to Summer we’re certainly not dreading the darker nights and cooler weather because with a new season comes a whole host of incredible fresh ingredients … and amazing new dishes.
As we welcome Autumn we look forward to wholesome and hearty specials created using the finest produce from Italy. This month our chefs are getting excited about Venison, Guinea Fowl, Porcini Mushrooms, Artichokes, Figs and, ‘the diamond of the kitchen’, White Truffles.
We’ve already tasted the new seasonal dishes at Cicchetti Covent Garden courtesy Group Executive Chef Filippo Pagani, and outstanding is an understatement. Well done chefs!
You’ve been asking for them and we’ve been busy working on them. Now we’re delighted to announce that our Christmas menus are available and we are taking bookings for seasonal celebrations.
This year’s options include San Carlo’s version of traditional dishes such as Turkey with chestnut stuffing, chipolatas wrapped in pancetta, served with Italian gravy and Rack of Lamb as well as seafood favourites including Supreme of Salmon and Norwegian prawns cooked in a pink peppercorn sauce and Seabass Signor Sassi, pan fried seabass fillets white wine and garlic, seasonal winter mushrooms.
If you’d like to join us for our five-course special Christmas Day lunch, New Year’s Eve meal or reserve a table for an office party, lunch or festive family gathering during December contact your chosen San Carlo restaurant for more details and a booking form.
Fancy three courses? Prefer sweet to savoury? Then our ‘Dolci’ menu is definitely worth a try. All home made with an Italian twist, our desserts and gelato are truly delicious.
‘Scannolo Siciliano’, cannolo stuffed with ricotta cheese, candied fruits, chocolate chips and Grand Marnier and ‘Crostata di Mele’, a traditional Italian-style tart, are both very popular choices.
If you don’t mind sharing we recommend our ‘Dolci San Carlo’, a selection of mini bites or the ‘San Carlo Special’, chocolate, hazelnut and vanilla ice cream with crushed Ferrero & warm Nutella sauce. Enjoy these specials with a complimentary glass of Vin Santo.
Just make sure you ask for extra spoons,because, we can guarantee, our desserts are so good everyone will want to try!
The second week of Celebrity MasterChef saw five well-known personalities enter the MasterChef kitchen – and we welcomed two of them to in to our kitchen at Cicchetti Covent Garden, London.
Children’s TV presenter Sam Nixon and comedian Syd Little took on the challenge of cooking for the first time in a restaurant, preparing dishes for Cicchetti’s paying customers, and working alongside Group Executive Chef Filippo Pagani.
Sam was in charge of the Mixed Grill orders and Syd was tasked with recreating our Seafood Stew special.
Cicchetti Covent Garden appeared on Celebrity MasterChef on Thursday 25 June. To watch this episode visit BBC iPlayer.
It would seem Summer is the season of change at San Carlo Group as this month we also introduce a new menu at our San Carlo restaurants nationwide.
Using the finest produce flown in from the markets of Milan, our Group Executive Chef, Filippo Pagani, and his experienced kitchen team have developed meat and grill dishes and seafood specials – combining main ingredients with seasonal vegetables, herbs and fruits.
New creations include:
- Nodino di Vitello Burro e Salvia, Veal cutlet specially imported from Tuscany and cooked in butter and sage.
- Abbacchio Ligure, Baked rack of lamb with red wine and mixed herbs.
- Pappardelle Cipriani ‘Alla Piemontese’, Famous Cipriani pasta ribbons, sauteed with porcini mushrooms, garlic, parsley butter, Parmesan shavings and drizzled with truffle oil.
- Branzino al Sale, Baked salted and crusted whole sea bass, flamed with vodka (Special).
A selection of Grills, cooked using charcoal and wood, are also a new addition. Chateaubriand Steak (28 day aged) served with a Bearnaise sauce and 35 day dry aged Ribeye, Sirloin and T-Bone steaks now sit alongside old favourites on our extensive San Carlo menu.
A feature dish on the Florentine Grill is the Tomahawok Steak (for two), a large bone-in steak with a big, rich flavour – one of the rarest and most expensive steaks from the USA.
Filippo Pagani said: “Every chef enjoys creating dishes to mark a new season. We use the freshest ingredients and produce of the highest quality so every mouthful is divine!”
The Summer menu is now being served in San Carlo Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds, Bristol and Leicester.
We’ve been enjoying the lighter nights, sunshine and all the fresh ingredients that the new season brings and our chefs have been working hard in the kitchen developing menus to reflect the warmer months.
Using the finest produce flown in from the markets of Milan, delicious, light and colourful dishes bring a taste of the Italian Spring and Summer to your plate – and a burst of flavour to every mouthful.
Our experienced kitchen team have expertly matched seasonal vegetables, salads and fruits such as asparagus, green beans, peas, chicory, watercress, lemons and apricots and combined them with main ingredients from crab, mackerel and sardines to lamb and pork.
The new Spring/Summer menu will be available from 1st May – and it’s so enticing we can’t guarantee you won’t want to try everything!
Italian food is the gold standard of dining out. In these days of deliberately wacky food ‘concepts’, where you might be expected to quaff your drink from a water pistol or blindfold your partner before dinner is served, Italian cuisine is a reassuring defence of traditionalism.
Italy’s food culture is a strong investment for us Brits. Unlike our sometimes slack approach to opening hours, the Italians understand the importance of strong round-the-clock service. And duly Cicchetti, meaning small dishes in Italian, is open from 7am to midnight 365 days of the year.
Join My San Carlo Newsletter
Want more from San Carlo? To thank you and show our appreciation for your loyalty, San Carlo Group Restaurants has launched My San Carlo. Benefits include being the first to hear about special events and new dishes, as well as access to news, recipes, competitions and the low down on how to order secret menu items! What are you waiting for? Get started and Join the My San Carlo newsletter today..