It was Valentines Day the other night so in time-honoured fashion the girlfriend and I went out for a meal. I wonder where this tradition started? A project for another time perhaps. Either way, we donned our finery and trooped out to a local branch of Fire and Stone.
For those of you not familiar with this particular eatery, it is essentially a pizza place. However rather than doing your standard-fare toppings with a little bit of imagination or varying qualities of ingredients, Fire and Stone lends a bit of an international twist. The pizza base is a pretty standard pizza base but the toppings are themed to reflect the cuisine of various countries. By way of example, the London is topped with bacon, sausage and the other components of a fry-up. I have to say, I found this change hugely refreshing and quite fun.
Let me start at the beginning (as good a place as any). We arrived and had a charming and friendly welcome. Even though it was Valentines day and therefore stuffed to the gunnels we weren't made to feel like we were on a profit-making conveyor belt. This was reinforced by the fact that we were automatically moved to a table further from the door (and before you say this was a ploy, I sneaked a peak at the seating plan and sure enough - our names were next to the windy table). The friendliness continued throughout the meal. All the staff were charming and convivial without appearing brusque or, even worse, over-familiar. Given how packed the place was, service was remarkably quick too.
Our starters were an unremarkable combination of calamari and flatbreads with dips. I say unremarkable because, as I said, this place is a pizza place; everything else is just there for effect. That said, they were nice enough and certainly worth ordering. The portion sizes were decent too. Enough that it took the edge off our hunger pangs, not so much that we were put off the thought of the main course.
For the main course my girlfriend had the Cairo; the vegetarian option. If I'm honest, I don't really know what was on top of it (beyond pine nuts which were diligently picked off) but it looked nice enough. I opted for the Marrakesh topped with spicy lamb, peppers, olives, mint and tzatziki. The flavour was wonderful and blended nicely without being too ostentatious which, I admit I was worried about. With these esoteric toppings, it would be easy for the chefs to show off a bit and go over the top thus ruining what are supposed to be fairly simple dishes. I went for the new, crispier base too which hit the spot perfectly. Often I find pizza bases a bit doughy and stodgy so by the time I'm almost finished the pizza I can't bear another bite. This, in turn, always makes me feel a bit cheated (unless it's a takeaway in which case, cold pizza for breakfast is a bit of a treat and a reminder of my student days). However the Fire and Stone base was a perfect balance of being filling without being stuffing. It was also rigid enough to support a slice without half of it ending up on my shirt - a vital feature if, like me, you just don't have the patience to eat pizza with cutlery. My one complaint about the main course was that the tzatziki was artfully dropped on top. While this looked pretty, it meant that one either got a lot or none. There was no middle ground. I would like it if, next time, it was spread more evenly across the top.
By the time the dessert menu came we were both too stuffed to order anything further. This was a bit of a shame because there were a few things that looked excellent. Usually I'm not particularly one for desserts. This is partially due to an egg allergy that puts a lot of them off limits and partially due to the fact that I don't really have a sweet tooth however many of these caught my fancy. Perhaps next time.
One other thing that is worthy of comment was the house wine. Usually when I'm out I opt for a glass of house red. Decent beer is rarely a given and I don't often drink wine at home so it's a nice opportunity for a change. Since my wine knowledge and palette isn't particularly sophisticated I usually opt for a glass (or occasionally bottle) of the house hooch and hope for the best. Some of them are good, others are bad. The house red in Fire and Stone is excellent. It was surprisingly complex and subtle but still quite light. I thought it went as well with my seafood starter as it did with my spiced red-meat main. It's flavour was assertive enough to make it's presence known without destroying the other flavours in the food.
So on that note I would say Fire and Stone is certainly worth a trip. There are a few round London and in the South East. The combination of good food, well cooked and with a slightly eccentric twist is a great combination.
JR
For those of you not familiar with this particular eatery, it is essentially a pizza place. However rather than doing your standard-fare toppings with a little bit of imagination or varying qualities of ingredients, Fire and Stone lends a bit of an international twist. The pizza base is a pretty standard pizza base but the toppings are themed to reflect the cuisine of various countries. By way of example, the London is topped with bacon, sausage and the other components of a fry-up. I have to say, I found this change hugely refreshing and quite fun.
Let me start at the beginning (as good a place as any). We arrived and had a charming and friendly welcome. Even though it was Valentines day and therefore stuffed to the gunnels we weren't made to feel like we were on a profit-making conveyor belt. This was reinforced by the fact that we were automatically moved to a table further from the door (and before you say this was a ploy, I sneaked a peak at the seating plan and sure enough - our names were next to the windy table). The friendliness continued throughout the meal. All the staff were charming and convivial without appearing brusque or, even worse, over-familiar. Given how packed the place was, service was remarkably quick too.
Our starters were an unremarkable combination of calamari and flatbreads with dips. I say unremarkable because, as I said, this place is a pizza place; everything else is just there for effect. That said, they were nice enough and certainly worth ordering. The portion sizes were decent too. Enough that it took the edge off our hunger pangs, not so much that we were put off the thought of the main course.
For the main course my girlfriend had the Cairo; the vegetarian option. If I'm honest, I don't really know what was on top of it (beyond pine nuts which were diligently picked off) but it looked nice enough. I opted for the Marrakesh topped with spicy lamb, peppers, olives, mint and tzatziki. The flavour was wonderful and blended nicely without being too ostentatious which, I admit I was worried about. With these esoteric toppings, it would be easy for the chefs to show off a bit and go over the top thus ruining what are supposed to be fairly simple dishes. I went for the new, crispier base too which hit the spot perfectly. Often I find pizza bases a bit doughy and stodgy so by the time I'm almost finished the pizza I can't bear another bite. This, in turn, always makes me feel a bit cheated (unless it's a takeaway in which case, cold pizza for breakfast is a bit of a treat and a reminder of my student days). However the Fire and Stone base was a perfect balance of being filling without being stuffing. It was also rigid enough to support a slice without half of it ending up on my shirt - a vital feature if, like me, you just don't have the patience to eat pizza with cutlery. My one complaint about the main course was that the tzatziki was artfully dropped on top. While this looked pretty, it meant that one either got a lot or none. There was no middle ground. I would like it if, next time, it was spread more evenly across the top.
By the time the dessert menu came we were both too stuffed to order anything further. This was a bit of a shame because there were a few things that looked excellent. Usually I'm not particularly one for desserts. This is partially due to an egg allergy that puts a lot of them off limits and partially due to the fact that I don't really have a sweet tooth however many of these caught my fancy. Perhaps next time.
One other thing that is worthy of comment was the house wine. Usually when I'm out I opt for a glass of house red. Decent beer is rarely a given and I don't often drink wine at home so it's a nice opportunity for a change. Since my wine knowledge and palette isn't particularly sophisticated I usually opt for a glass (or occasionally bottle) of the house hooch and hope for the best. Some of them are good, others are bad. The house red in Fire and Stone is excellent. It was surprisingly complex and subtle but still quite light. I thought it went as well with my seafood starter as it did with my spiced red-meat main. It's flavour was assertive enough to make it's presence known without destroying the other flavours in the food.
So on that note I would say Fire and Stone is certainly worth a trip. There are a few round London and in the South East. The combination of good food, well cooked and with a slightly eccentric twist is a great combination.
JR
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