SLICE is genius.
The little things in life. The details. Get these right and you're on your way. Especially with food.
"This makes the perfect Roman pizza, one with a a very thin crispy base that acts as great platform for piling the other flavours on top."
Slice has got it spot on.
People have been tweeting and gossiping about this little place on Stevenson Square for a while now.
The buzz is justified. These are the best pizzas I've eaten outside Italy. They're better than 99% of the pizzas I've eaten in the boot shaped country too.
The price is £2-£3 depending on your choice.
Slice - look at the lushness here
I had the pesto slice and the mushroom and ham slice. Both were magnificent. The generous toppings were chock with flavour, the base was exquisite. I could have eaten them twice over.
For the love of pizzas
Fellow food critic, the globe-trotting Neil Sowerby who was with me had a smoked mozzarella and mushroom slice and a Parma ham slice - top picture on this page. He was equally impressed.
The pizzas are a labour of love. And you can tell.
Liam Cassidy and Matt McGuirk the proprietors, after stints in various Manchester bars and restaurants, went to Rome to delve into the mysteries of the favourite food of the Mutant Ninja Turtles.
They served apprenticeship in the pizzerias of Emiliano Baldini and despite the present excellence of the food on offer are going back for more training this winter. They're beyond passionate about pizzas.
"We've also had a Castelli oven handmade for us by a pair of brothers in Lazio to help us get things just right," says Cassidy. "This makes the perfect Roman pizza, one with a a very thin crispy base that acts as great platform for piling the other flavours on top. It also helps with the foccacia and panninis we make."
Specially made Castelli oven
You could easily imagine a Slice in every town and city in the UK but any expansion plans might be difficult.
"We'd never sleep," says Cassidy. "The recipes for the pizza and the bread is a closely guarded secret from our training. We'd have to work all night."
Slice
Slice opens from noon to 1am Monday to Saturday. There are the pizzas, but also foccacia with fillings such as rosemary and tomatoes or for the sweet toothed, Nutella. There are various panninis on offer too. A drinks licence should arrive in the next couple of months.
But people, those pizzas. Wow. Look at them. Genius. It's the little things.
You can follow Jonathan Schofield on Twitter here @JonathSchofield
ALL SCORED CONFIDENTIAL REVIEWS ARE IMPARTIAL AND PAID FOR BY THE MAGAZINE.
Slice Pizza and Bread Bar, 1a Stevenson Square, City, M1 1DN. 0161 236 9032
Rating: 17/20
Pizzas: 10/10
Service: 4/5
Ambience: 3/5
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Slice - waiting for its name but cooking up a dough storm
