What to drink: Champagne, Cava and Prosecco

Celebrating a special occasion or is any night out in a restaurant a special occasion? While waiting for your food sparkling wine is the favourite tipple. If like me you prefer to drink water to remain clear-headed whilst choosing your food, then a little fizz with the food is fun. It keeps you interested in the drink and raise a glass to your companions and lock eyes and smile.

But let's be more serious and sensible for a moment. Let's think about places and prices. At San Marzanos in Hatch End their shop sign reads Pizzeria and Prosecco bar. Pizza and Prosecco are both from Italy. A good matching of country for food and wine. Cava is a sparkling wine from Spain. Top of the range or price and the French would say, quality, is Champagne.

Cava originally came from caves or cellars around Barcelona in North East Spain. Cava is made by method champenoise, or traditionelle in bottles, whilst Prosecco is made in tanks, so its cheaper. If you can't tell the difference and don't care (nobody does once they are onto the second glass - surveys have found - surveys of consumers drinking various drinks including whisky)  cheaper is better, better value.

Several previous posts have featured San Marzanos in Hatch End, near Hatch End station in north west London, England.

Angela Lansbury BA Hons is a travel writer, photo-journalist, author and speaker. 

Prosecco, Wine and Drinks at San Marzanos, Hatch End

What are the Prosecco choices, and other drinks, at the new pizzeria and Prosecco bar restaurant in Hatch End? 

The first printing of the drinks menu has the same tricolour of the Italian flag colours across the top, like the food menu. The restaurant owners' plan is to print a new menu with fuller descriptions of the drinks shortly.

Your choices are:

Champagne

Prosecco

Red Wine

Rose Wine

Spirits and Liqueurs

Beers

Soft Drinks 

Milkshakes

Smoothies

San Marzanos Pizzeria & Prosecco Bar Menu Revealed & Translated

If you want to check out the menu it's on the front window or one of the owners will proudly hand you a copy. Red, white and green (I say it that way because I'm used to the UK flag which is red, white and blue, but here on the menu you see green, white and red, the colours of the Italian flag.

SALADS
The first dish I noticed on the menu under salads (Insalata) was tricolore, three colours, as both the Italian flag and the three colour Italian starter are known. The tricolore : colours of green avocado, white Mozzarella cheese and big beefy red Beef Tomatoes.

Another salad is vegetarian Vegetariano; and there's salad with meat: Napoli Salame, and Prosciutti.

In case you can't blow up the photo or want a quick summary or reminder:

STARTERS
Starters, first courses, Cicchetti: a range of choice including:
 olives - not just your regular olives but fried olives and gnocchi, which are a kind of pasta.  £4.95.

Smoked salmon appears on the starter menu as Salmon crostini, think smoked salmon with a crust (Toast ed ciabatta bread). £5.95.

 Or antipasti (literally before the pasta) which includes sliced Proscuitt, Napoli salami, cheese of the day and sun dried tomatoes. £6.50 per person.

PIZZA
Nine pizzas in this section of the menu, priced from £6.95 for a Marinara with tomato sauce; £7.95 For the Margherita with cheese; the N'Duja with spicy sausage at £8.95;  wild mushroom and truffle oil at £9.95.
Calzone The folded one! £11.95. Includes Friarelli (wild broccoli) and spinach (spinach). Optional chilli. and 'Nduja.

The long oblong table for groups has benches both sides. I was wondering whether this would suit the groups I know which are sometimes looking for venues for parties (a book group, a writers' group, two speakers' groups, a group of retired people mostly over 50). Each group often has somebody either with a stick or wanting a high back chair. The restaurant-bar owner says he had a group in last night and he can push together three tables with the freestanding backed chairs to make a table for a larger group and accommodate those wanting chairs with backs.

Extra toppings 95p/£1.95.
Sides include garlic pizza bread or chips picante at £3.95.

DESSERTS
Desserts from £3.95: for Affogato; Gelato 1 scoop £1.75, 2 scoops £3.25; 3 scoops £4.95.
Flavours: Nocciola, pistacchio, Vaniglia, Ciccolato, Sorbetto of the day.

MORE DESSERTS
I've emailed the menu to my family and among the desserts we were pleased to see Tiramisu. The San Marzanos version is listed on the menu as Deconstructed Tiamisu, ur homemade coffee flavoured dessert. Another item which brought an enthusiastic response was Affogato, Vaniglia (vanilla) gelato (ice) topped with a shot of espresso.

DRINKS
What about the Prosecco? I'll look at their drinks later, probably tomorrow.

GLOSSARY
You may want to check these terms:
affogato
bianca sauce - white sauce - bianca means white, therefore white pizza, sauce, or white anything
bocconcini Mozarella
bruschetta
bur rata cheese
Calabrian - from Calabria
ciabatta bread
crostini
e - and
fior di latte - flower of milk, either mozzarella cheese, or vanilla ice cream
friarelli - wild broccoli
gelato - soft ice cream, often made with milk and fruit juice and less caloric than British ice creams which usually have more cream, other fats and sugar
malanzana
Milano - from Milan
Napoli - from Naples
'nduja - spreadable pork sausage from Calabria. Picture in wikipedia.
nocciola
Parmesan cheese
Pesto
picante
pizzuros
Pomodoro
prosciutto
vaniglia - vanilla?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/'Nduja

I don't see any service charge so I imagine most people will add 10% in cash. What about credit cards? I don't see them mentioned. We'll have to go (with some cash, just in case) and find out.
If you need to know anything more, or want to make a booking, their phone number is :
Tel: 0208 428 2052.

Angela Lansbury BA Hons
Travel writer, photojournalist, author, speaker, speech writer and trainer.

New Pizzeria Prosecco Bar - Open in Hatch End Lucky Friday 13

San Manzanos (see my previous post about the name).

Open at 6 pm on Friday 13th, 2015. The balloons inside say Good Luck for the Friday opening and are heart shape for Valentine's Day on Saturday.

San Marzanos are tomatoes, which probably appear on their pizza. Prosecco is a sparkling white wine which comes from Northern Italy, reputedly originating in a town called Prosecco near Trieste. The grape used to make the wine was called Prosecco. 

Confused? Everybody was confused. Especially when people from both Prosecco (the place) and other regions made a wine called Prosecco (place name) from Prosecco (grape) and other grapes. Now the local grape is called Glera.  

Pizza is from the South, of Italy, not America.  The Americans claim to have invented Pizza, although some say Americans invented a particular type of pizza, known as Chicago pizza, which is thick crust pizza. Trust the Americans to make everything bigger, for taller people with bigger appetites. That's how you can remember the difference. But some people prefer thin crust pizza, considering it more authentic, as well as less fattening. Plenty to talk about whilst you are sitting eating pizza and drinking Prosecco.

The restaurant's chairs and tables are an eclectic mix of colours and styles. I liked the cute and clever round table for two in the shape of a barrel. 

You might like a square table with a tile top, or maybe wood.

If you need more space to spread your bottom, bag or coat, choose a banquette. On second thoughts, I my first choice is not the chairs by the bar shape table; I shall aim for a banquette. I'm the sort who needs lots of back support. (I'm also scared of heights so places with bar stools are not for me. Especially if I lean too far back laughing at my own jokes.) 

However, alternative seating, if your back can look after itself keeping upright, is a backless cube shape stool which is safer than perching a bar stool, keeping you grounded, near the ground. But I'll leave that decision to you. I'm heading for the banquette. 

So who is going to buy me a drink and share piece of pizza?

 I arrived before the menu and for the first month they plan to be seeing how it goes and possibly adapting the menu. 

Owners And A Familiar Face

Who is in charge? I met the two owners. One is certainly a familiar face if you have had coffee and snacks in Delicious, serving coffee and bagels a few doors along. Hatch End is a hub for coffee, snacks and lunches during the day, with wine and dine in the evening. I keep counting the bars and restaurants, about 16. 

I don't yet have the restaurant's business card nor menu but I can tell you where to find it. In the middle of the high street, near the crossing. More news on the menu soon.

Angela Lansbury is a travel writer, photographer and author.

Photos copyright Angela Lansbury.

(Angela also writes comic poetry, and draws caricatures with watercolours and gold.)

Self-portrait, by 'Angella'.

New Pizza and Prosecco Place in Hatch End - sneak preview of San Marzanos

The name of this place, San Marzanos, and its connection with tomatoes was what I researched in my previous post on Jan 21st. Now I am delighted to be able to offer you a sneak preview of the progress. My guess is that it will be opening soon.

As you see from my pictures it looks - very modern in style. Quite different to the rustic charm and cliffside sea views on murals in the Greek and Italian restaurants already in Hatch End. This part of Pinner, in the Harrow area, was always and still is 'restaurant capital of north west London'.