TASTE OF ITALY
New pizza pop-up set for city spot
THE spirit of co-operation is propelling the hospitality back into existence. The latest example is local restaurant concept Beirm hosting a pizza pop-up, working with Cottonrake.
It is happening tomorrow and Saturday, with collections at 12 Eastvale Place, opposite SWG3’s Galvanisers Yard.
Cottonrake is a popular fixture on Great Western Road, presenting macarons, pastries, sausage rolls, eclairs and cakes to carry away with you. The established name has made some space available in their production bakery for newcomer Alex Brady who will be making a selection of artisanal pizzas.
The story so far: Alex travelled to Naples in 2016 to spend two months training at the famous Neapolitan pizza school of Enzo Coccia. He learned about buffalo mozzarella, visited olive groves and tomato fields. There was time working in Edinburgh before he immersed himself in the food scene in Copenhagen – “I took a lot of inspiration from there before I came back to Glasgow”.
Beirm is his idea for elevating the traditional pizzeria experience using seasonal Scottish produce. There were finalised plans for a residency at Gnom and a pop-up at The Gate. Then a week later lockdown happened. Ultimately Alex wants to plot a course to a sit-in restaurant – which is an ambition many of us share at the moment.
Before he finds a permanent home, it will be more pizza drops and limited-edition events. “We work really closely with my friend Mags who has a ready-to-go cocktail business, called Hybrid
Drinks. They are in Fleur and Thornwood Bar for delivery at the moment. We’re hoping for the next couple of pop-ups we can collaborate with them on the drinks menu and have natural wines and cocktail pairings to go alongside the pizzas.”
They are offering a tightly formatted menu with emphasis on quality ingredients. You could order prosciutto cultured butter, prosciutto di Parma, dressed greens and pecorino on your pizza. Or try chilli oil, roasted honey squash, gorgonzola, squash puree and pimento pine nuts. If you are going all in then sign up for smoked mozzarella, potato, confit yolk, cured pig cheeks, garlic aioli and add truffle. Desserts are a tiramisu or an Amalfi lemon tart by Cottonrake.
Meanwhile, the spirit of solidarity has put Rockvilla Pizza from Possil Road into partnership with Clockwork Bar and Kitchen, the newly refurbished venue in the South Side. Look out for weekend deliveries with toppings options including ‘nduja, ricotta cream or Tuscan sausage, cooked at almost 500°C to give a light, chewy and charred crust. Glasgow has entered a golden age for local pizza.
Five March Back
Five March is a neighbourhood hangout for food, cocktails and good times with friends.
Your favourite Glasgow DJ probably drinks here. Part of a new wave of West End hospitality, they had established a venue with a strong sense of community before lockdown intervened.
Owner Joanna Nethery is excited about restarting conversations with locals over the months ahead. They have opened their reservations for outside and inside seats from April 26: “A lot of our regulars live close by and they will have a chat to us over the wee railing outside and spirits are high at the moment, everyone’s so excited about starting to go outside again.
“We all take so much from other people, in terms of how we feel about ourselves and reassurance. So, we are looking forward to being hospitable again, to make folk feel welcome.” Joanna and Peter MacKay, her business partner who is the head chef, have been offering a dine-at-home menu during lockdown.
This had the benefit of allowing Five March to bring the kitchen team back to work while also finding new customers on social media. A busy dining room remains the ideal scenario. Joanna added: “I think we miss the camaraderie that you get from a busy Saturday with the tickets racking up and the buzz from the dining room. Dine-at-home was essential for our income, we’re a young business but we want to get our game faces back on and see people laughing and having fun again, the whole place swinging.”