‘Photographs better than it eats’: Circolo Popolare, Manchester, reviewed

Fools Pasta? We’ve got a new restaurant in Manchester, and it’s a YAFI!*

It’s called Circolo Popolare, owned by the Big Mama Group, founded in 2015 by two sharp Frenchmen, Victor Lugger and Tigrane Seydoux. Strangely, they brought ‘authentic, high-energy Italian dining’ to France.

Blimey.

The ‘unique’ proposition was and still is extravagance, featuring big, brash, and Instagram-able interiors, queues out the door, and water cooler stunt food. More of that later.

The likely lads, Victor and Tigrane, were heavily involved in Venture Capital and decided to start their own venture, The Big Mama Group which has been (very) successful. They began opening restaurants in London in 2019, starting with Gloria in Shoreditch.

The timing was a masterstroke; the Instagram surge was well underway, and phone cameras were now competing with SLRs, but beating them with slick video and connectivity. Meanwhile, the owners of these phones, the millennials, were the demographics filling seats and having a ball.

So, what’s their latest addition to the stable, Circolo Popolare Manchester like?

A hundred meters off Albert Square in the new St Michael's building, it’s a rather smart entrance with a curtained walk-in area, which opens to reveal a non-Sicilian’s idea of a Sicilian restaurant; rustic but comfortable seating with bright, Neapolitan soft furnishings, plastered white-washed walls, along with bric-a-brac that gives the feeling that someone has been collecting charming bits and pieces for the past half a century. For the Mancunian boomers, it’s very 70s Mario and Franco without the white tablecloths.

It’s buzzy and exciting, with staff dressed in Disney-inspired Venice gondolier uniforms. Which I quite like. Yes, shoot me.

The menu is no surprise to anyone who has been dining throughout our rich history of Italian restaurants in Manchester; it’s the same menu you have become accustomed to over the past forty years, except that some dishes have been re-imagined for the Instagram demographic and mugs.

One being Mafaldini Al Tartufo (£23 per person, usually served for two.) It’s typically a carbonara-type sauce, very cheesy, mixed and served inside a hollowed-out wheel of Pecorino Romano cheese at the table for effect, but in my case, it wasn’t, as I ordered a portion for one. It also came with a very liberal shaving of fresh black truffle. I’ve seen it done before, it looks fab, but tastes a bit bland in this rendition. Your nose is delighted, but your palette is disappointed.

Sirloin Alla Griglia next (£34), 35 day aged sirloin of great quality, nothing stunt about this; indeed, it was generous, cooked exactly as asked and formed a nice fan across my plate. Well-aged, finished on good grass, tender with a nice covering of fat, easily removed if required. It’s served with ‘crisp potatoes’ baked in their jackets, then cooled, and finally cut into chunks and sautéed. They were fantastic. And a handsome gravy-boat portion of a superb tangy salsa verde sauce.

I was expecting disappointment as the restaurant is within a stone’s throw of Hawksmoor, Blacklock and Flat Iron.

I wasn’t.

In the early 80’s I found myself at dinner at Spago, Wolfgang Pucks restaurant then on Sunset Strip, with a couple of pals from Capital Records up the street. We got a table next to Ralph Lauren’s party. Obviously a right gawper at the time (and still am) I was watching what he was eating; a green salad. And a glass of water. On the way out, he’d obviously spotted me staring, as I shovelled four courses down my neck. On the way out, passing our table, he looked back at me, blew out his cheeks, and buggered off through the doors laughing to himself. I nearly passed on the lemon tart in shame.

But I have to say, the Insalata Verde (£5.50) at CP looked a lot better than Ralph’s. 

It could only have been dressed by people taught by the French. A hefty pile of fresh, crunchy leaves with a vinaigrette that must have originated in an old brasserie in Lyon. Near perfect, no stunts here.

For pudding, an old favourite of mine, a Sicilian Lemon Tart. Described as “The Incredible Lemon Pie” (£8), this is the pinnacle of the stunt dish genre. Imagine a 9” wide soggy tart case, with a filling of lemon curd so sweet it could strip enamel.

Then get a cast of Marge Simpson’s Beehive, fill it with meringue, stick that on top of the pie and finish in a Rational Pro Oven (that’s the only one I think is tall enough), then cut the whole thing into four quarters. Next, get a server with good balancing skills to deliver it to the table, initially delighting the diners, then overwhelming their palettes and finally pats them on the arse, sending them packing with type two diabetes.

The service is excellent here. It doesn’t suffer from over-training; they are warm, genuinely enthusiastic about what they are doing, and have the knack of knowing when to intervene. No one asked me if everything was ok seven times, and certainly not when my mouth was full.

It’s an undeniably good-looking restaurant, the sort of place that photographs better than it eats. But while the formula worked in Paris and Shoreditch, with apologies to Tony Wilson, Manchester plays by its own rules. With nearly ninety quality Italians already thriving here, Circolo Popolare might find that looks and hashtags don’t go quite as far north of the M25. They’ve done their homework on décor, but not on Manchester and this city doesn’t queue for gimmicks. Mancunians are stunned by great cooking skills, not pats on the head. And we are the graveyard of southern chains, TV cooks and absent landlords. Has anyone seen Gordon Ramsey recently?

Mind you, that steak…

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*YAFI … Yet Another Fucking Italian

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Circolo Popolare is on Confidential Guides

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