San Carlo Fiorentina, Hale Barns, Sampled

Confidentials 25 February 2014

SO the city hacks went on a trip to suburbia via train, car and balloon. They all came back in a bus having drunk all the wine in Hale Barns. And then went to Cornerhouse to drink more.

This was fabulous, good strong sausage, exquisitely timed pasta and that warm almost aniseed kick of the fennel seeds. Writing this at lunch makes me want it again now.

The hacks were on a Friday freebie out in San Carlo Fiorentina to sample the food. The restaurant was previously Players and, appropriately, given that ex-name of the establishment, an ex-player was dining, namely Andrew Cole. Or Andy as his best mate Teddy Sheringham called him.

Players was a renowned place of pilgrimage for those well-to-do folk known collectively as the Cheshire Set. San Carlo Fiorentina will be the same.

And then some.

"We get a lot of custom in our Manchester restaurants from around Hale Barns and out into Cheshire," said San Carlo Group MD, Marcello Distefano pouring your correspondent his sixth glass. "When the opportunity arose to take this place we seized it. It makes perfect sense for us. Many people find it hard to get into Manchester frequently so now they can enjoy what we offer on their doorstep.

"Of course," said Distefano pouring your correspondent his seventh glass, "we still need to do some refitting - in the bar area for example - but we're serving full-pelt already. Our hunch about how busy the restaurant would be has proved correct. In fact we've had to tweak the systems and the team to cope and to start to get it right. We're happy we're on course now."

San Carlo Fiorentina specialises in the meat dishes of Tuscany, hence the name. It has an acclaimed Robata grill - live flame over charcoal - to help achieve this.

San Carlo Fiorentina: the Robata doing what it oughta

In the sample meal Manchester's finest writers enjoyed, the standout dishes included a delicious steak, sweet as a nut, tender as the night. Other winners included the healthy delights of aubergines and courgettes collated nourishingly together.

The deep fried artichokes were a curiosity and a real love it or loathe it dish. As a fan of artichokes I liked it, many won't.

But the best dish for me was the sturdy, invigorating Tuscan sausage with a fennel seed tagliatelle. This was fabulous; good strong sausage, exquisitely timed pasta and that warm almost aniseed kick of the fennel seeds.

Writing this at lunch makes me want it again now.