The Tony Macaroni company has expanded rapidly since launching in East Kilbride in 2001. As well as branches in Largs, Motherwell, Livingston and Glasgow, the firm has just opened its first branch in Edinburgh.
Alla Romana in Bruntsfield serves pizza by the slice to go or sit in. Slices start at £2 for chicken rising to £59 for a full sized special pizza designed to feed several people.
Apparently, the dough at Alla Romana is left to rise for up to four days before being topped and cooked in the oven. Your blogger’s pizza-making knowledge is minimal so I have no idea if this is exceptional or not.
Fill the Coliseum
Either way, their pizza certainly seems popular. Their website claims that the restaurant sells enough pizza in a month to cover the floor of the Coliseum in Rome – a factoid which is a little more colourful than the standard line that ‘X company sells/manufactures enough widgets/cola/salami to fill X Olympic swimming pools an hour/day/decade’.
Incidentally, another popular group of restaurants which started in the West seems to be setting up shop in Edinburgh. We haven’t verified this but it looks as though Ashoka Indian restaurants may be about to open a branch in Edinburgh city centre. We’ll confirm shortly.
Fledgling flight of Gannet planned
Moving back to Glasgow, Peter McKenna and Ivan Stein are two chefs who met while working at Michael Caines’ now defunct Abode. Come May they hope to open The Gannet on Argyll Street, an area which is developing some serious gastronomic muscle.
A 60 cover bar and restaurant, it promises fine dining without the faff and lots of local sourcing.
The Big Hospitality site has more details here.