Chris Bianco now with Jamie Oliver

[Barry]

Hi,

I came across the following interesting link...

http://www.jamieoliver.com/news/union-jacks-chiswick-opens#.T3sV_CXH-JQ.facebook

Looks like Chis has been a busy boy!

Kind regards

Barry in Cape Town

[Giggliato]

They mention using curds on their pizza instead of stretched curds, I've been meaning to try that myself. 

[scott123]

As much respect as I might have for Chris Bianco, I don't think he can coax a great pizza out of Jamie Oliver.  This forum has some incredibly talented English pizzamakers, but when you get into celebrity English chefs, there's a gargantuan disconnect with pizza.  Their definition of pizza is so adulterated, so off the mark, that even help from Chris Bianco can't save them.

Look at Blumenthal's (and by extension, Chris Young's) pizzas.  A Michelin three star chef and he makes some of the worst pizzas I've ever seen.

[TXCraig1]

As a foodstuff, the pizza has more bastard offspring than Game of Thrones' King Robert Baratheon (note for non-nerds: a lot)... Part of this charge is led by a man who really ought to know better. Jamie Oliver's Union Jacks chain – which debuted in St Giles, London, last year – has reinvented the pizza as a "flat" and switched mozzarella and sauce for "Anglo" delights such as pork shoulder and Stilton. Why hast thou forsaken us, Jamie? Perhaps it's long-awaited revenge for that moment in Jamie's Italy, when the chef – frustrated by his Apulian hosts' inability to withstand the slightest experimentation with their local food – wishes that Italians were more open-minded.


http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/trending-pizza--death-by-a-thousand-slices-7669152.html

[cornicione54]

To be fair, Union Jacks doesn't tout itself as a pizzeria nor does it call its "wood fired flatbreads" pizzas.

http://www.unionjacksrestaurants.com/food-and-drink

That said, I do question some of the cheese pairings on the "flats"
Stilton and pork shoulder? hmmm
Brisket and Sparkenhoe red leicester? Lincolnshire Poacher w/ tomato and basil?  That does both of those (fine) cheeses a disservice - neither of which belong on their "flats" imho.  If Jamie was going for "local" cheeses could he not have used some unpasteurised buffalo mozzarella from Laverstoke farm?  Also there are plenty of excellent ewe's milk hard cheeses suitable for grating (Berkswell, Spenwood, Lord of Hundreds) not forgetting some great ricottas (including from Westcombe dairy). I'd also throw Ogleshield (raclette-ish) and Duckett's or Gorwydd Caerphilly on the menu before most of Jamies' choices.

[Barry]

I am surprised that Chris Bianco did not convince Jamie to open a Pizzeria Bianco clone in England. I wonder if they use the same dough recipe and procedures that Chis used in Phoenix?

And the weather..... Imagine the shock for Chris when he moved from Sunny Arizona to wet and miserable England!

Kind regards.

Barry

[cornicione54]

I am surprised that Chris Bianco did not convince Jamie to open a Pizzeria Bianco clone in England. I wonder if they use the same dough recipe and procedures that Chis used in Phoenix?

And the weather..... Imagine the shock for Chris when he moved from Sunny Arizona to wet and miserable England!

Kind regards.

Barry

Wouldn't a Pizzeria Bianco clone be kind of missing the whole point of what Chris Bianco's been trying to do? No other pizza maker I can think of (except perhaps the guys at Franny's) has banged on about local produce quite as much as Chris. However misguided, it appears that Jamie Oliver has taken that same ethic to "Union Jack's" by supporting local/uk produce.

[Barry]

Hi Cornicione54,

You are right - Chris has always supported local produce, as has Jamie. It makes so much sense. Why warm the planet by transporting goods from far away, when local substitutes can provide suitable alternatives?

I remember reading somewhere that Chris might have had health issues about 18-24 months ago. Thought it had something to do with a wheat allergy and his lungs....

I hope it goes well with their venture, and look forward to seeing the reaction to "flats".

Kind regards.

Barry

[pizzaboyfan]

Hard to believe, but this article says that Jamie Oliver is the richest chef in the world...

http://eater.com/archives/2012/04/30/is-jamie-oliver-the-richest-chef-in-the-world.php

[scott123]

Hard to believe, but this article says that Jamie Oliver is the richest chef in the world...

http://eater.com/archives/2012/04/30/is-jamie-oliver-the-richest-chef-in-the-world.php

cookbook author/patent troll Nathan Myhrvold

Whoah  I'm kind of disappointed in Myhrovold and Young for what they're doing to pizza in Modernist Cuisine, but 'Patent Troll' seems a bit harsh.

[buceriasdon]

Yelp had mixed reviews but mostly very favorable:  http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/union-jacks-london

[cornicione54]

Whoah  I'm kind of disappointed in Myhrovold and Young for what they're doing to pizza in Modernist Cuisine, but 'Patent Troll' seems a bit harsh.

Slightly off topic but I think pizzaboyfan meant Patent troll as in someone who buys up  patents and then sues people/companies for infringement:
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110720/12081715175/patent-troll-nathan-myhrvold-declares-patent-trolling-to-be-good-thing.shtml