MAYBE it's Confidential's fault. We never appreciated L'Entrecote and criticised it heavily - for example here with Buttergate.
It's about to be replaced by Pizza Express. In the nineties the latter was exciting and fresh now it's almost as ubiquitous as Subway.
Then again, this may over-estimate our influence and the brutally plain concept was a flop because it was simply poor. Mancunians weren't fooled with steak and fries and nothing else. Rows and rows of tables remained unoccupied even on weekends.
But at least L'Entrecote was something to talk about. Now it's about to be replaced by Pizza Express should all licences and planning be granted. In the nineties Pizza Express was exciting and fresh now it's as ubiquitous as Subway, as familiar as Greggs.
Of course it'll be popular, a good lease for the landlords, a haven for anguished parents and a fill-up for the drinking classes, but it's nothing to excite the imagination. It doesn't do justice to the lovely 1840s building it occupies. Something a bit special might have been nice.
Hum ho.
Sloppy Guiseppe anyone? Maybe the Four Seasons in four central outlets, South King Street, Peter Street, Piccadilly Gardens and now King Street?
YAFIs* apparently still rule.
Let's hope this one isn't Confidential's fault.
(YAFI or Yet Another F***ing Italian, a phrase coined by Gordo of Manchester Confidential some years ago due to the Japanese knotweed proliferation of Italian-esque restaurants)
