Old friends, new ventures

In the last fortnight I’ve had the pleasure of meeting up with my former colleagues from Earl’s Court on two separate occasions. The weekend before term, a work junior of mine invited me for a catch-up cocktail to gossip about changes at my old workplace.

Over my lovely Tiramisu martini, made by my favourite ex-colleague bartender, I was treated to a bunch of horror stories about my former manager gone wild. Nothing I was surprised by, going by past experience; nevertheless, it’s still rather saddening watching the place go from being open every day to only operating Thursday-Saturday. The bar staff, though mostly unchanged from when I ‘left’ (it’s a long, unpleasant story), have had to pick up second or even third jobs to make up for the drop in pay. The waiting staff, who spend the most time dealing with the manager from hell, have all but changed – excluding the work junior who invited me. Mismanagement rot is a lovely thing... not!

This visit gave me the closure I needed, though; I was still very much miffed at how I was left hanging without hours or a word back in August...but looking at how the place has gone downhill, I’ve probably dodged a bullet there. In hindsight I’m not sure what I was thinking, juggling late bar hours with an engineering degree. Never again, definitely not in the near future.

As for the other colleague, who was the former head chef of the place... he had a stint opening his own traditional Neapolitan pizza joint in Stansted, but has since left that venture and has now broken into the London street food scene. At the moment his old-school Citroen pizza van operates two days a week, though they’re looking to double that by April. The Sud Italia team keep things interesting by changing the menu offerings every week.

I managed to check out Bruno’s wares this Saturday just gone: the pizzas were just as yummy, if not more so, from what I recall him making at the old bar. The best bit? It’s all properly wood-fired – yes, from that little truck! He also has an adjoining stall selling little food tidbits like buffalo mozzarella, amaretti biscuits and pecorino flown in from Italy... as well as my Achilles’ heel: home-made nduja sausage. If I weren’t skint at the time I would’ve bought their whole stock; at £2.50 for a decent-sized portion, though, I managed to get enough. Call me biased, but I find even Whole Foods’ offering just isn’t spicy enough for me.

Imperialites living near these areas can check them out at Brook Green Market and Kitchen on Bolingbroke Road (Saturdays 10am-3pm), and The Food Market Chiswick on Grove Park Farm House (Sundays 10am-2pm). All 9 inch pizzas are a fiver; tell Bruno or Silvio that Carol sent you – enjoy!