Naples descends on the North West\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n Double Zero, with its BYOB policy and mind bendingly good Neapolitan dough developed ways in which to combine water, flour, salt and yeast the likes of which Manchester had never seen before. The only disappointed faces heading away from the Chorlton joint were those who had, once again, come up short when hoping to snag a table.<\/p>\n And while it\u2019s doubtful that another pizzeria will ever come along to usurp Double Zero as the numero uno in South Manchester, the city centre has belonged to Rudy\u2019s since 2016.<\/p>\n Four years, four more restaurants and three more cities later, and Rudy\u2019s has not only cemented itself as the Capo di Tutti Capi of all things San Marzano and fior de latte in Greater Manchester (and, let\u2019s face it, the UK as a whole), but it generated a surge of interest in Neapolitan pizza that has allowed the likes of fellow Ancoats favourites Ciaooo, Noi Quattro and Mackie Mayor\u2019s Honest Crust to thrive, while also encouraging London mainstay Franco Manca to expand northwards at the back end of 2019.<\/p>\n But as the calendar crept over to the fiery hellscape that has been 2020, it has become apparent that room needs to be made for offerings with origins outside of the Amalfi coast.<\/p>\n \u201cBrooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten\/From the Battery to the top of Manhattan\u2026\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n As the sun\u2019s descent casts a balmy shadow across the city streets, conversations are punctuated with the immensely satisfying crunch of pizza crusts folding and pepperoni grease pools puddling on paper plates.<\/p>\n Curious noises emanate from the crowd of post-work revellers as monstrous yet delicate slices of chewy, blistered pies are enjoyed by a crowd sat out in the streets. Flimsy white napkins dab at mouths as second and third orders are placed and IPA\u2019s are swigged. Squint your eyes only a little and you\u2019d be forgiven for believing that you were perched in a neighbourhood in Brooklyn or Lower Manhattan and not Edge Street in Manchester.<\/p>\n Yet this is where beloved Northern Quarter stalwart Common have carved out their own slice of the Big Apple, with NYC inspired pizza shop Nell\u2019s sequestering themselves in the NQ bar\u2019s kitchen since mid-February.<\/p>\n Nell\u2019s is the brainchild of Common owner Jonny Heyes, who explained to us how he was always confident of his slice shop\u2019s success.<\/p>\n \u201cWe started off just selling slices out the front door, it was really exciting. Now we\u2019ve developed a following of regulars who keep coming back, keeping our Anthony Bourdain style band of outlaws in the kitchen busy.<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cNot to slag off any other style of pizza, because I love Neapolitan pizza, but there\u2019s so many more possibilities of what pizza can be. Neapolitans are very dogmatic, it\u2019s all \u2018you\u2019ve got to use this type of flour and this type of cheese\u2019 and I kind of hate that. I hate being told what I can and can\u2019t do.<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re New York inspired but we\u2019re Manchester made. We\u2019re a local product that we want people to feel ownership of.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n Get Ready to be Dancing in the Street outside Corner Slice<\/b><\/p>\n In a sleepy suburb of Failsworth, Danny Broadbent grips the edge of a deep, rectangular aluminium pan, angling out his latest cheese rimmed creation inspired by the Motor City onto the work surface in front of him. The Coney Dog, with its smoked beef hotdog slices, dry beef chilli, white onions and American mustard, combines two of the most important Detroit exports since Motown and Iggy Pop. And, sitting alongside the nine regular pies in rotation at Corner Slice, it\u2019s selling out in a matter of hours every night in Manchester\u2019s newest and perhaps most adventurous dough based venture yet.<\/p>\n The response to the rectangular pies and their addictive cheese crown crusts has been, it\u2019s safe to say, overwhelmingly passionate.<\/p>\n \u201cWe definitely didn\u2019t expect it to blow up so much. Like, in the first week, the amount of chat that it\u2019s got. We were sat here saying \u2018we\u2019ll be happy with 150 pizzas in the first week\u2019 and we did that in the opening two days,\u201d<\/i> laughs Broadbent, alongside Corner Slice co-owner and best friend of 14 years Frank Brashaw.<\/p>\n Broadbent, with 14 years experience in Manchester kitchens under his belt (most recently at Fin Fish Bar and Tender Cow in Mackie Mayor), wasn\u2019t content to go with the flow and instead veered away on his own path.<\/p>\n \u201cI could have tried to make Neapolitan pizza, but would it have been as good as Rudy\u2019s? No. Would it have been as good as Ciaooo? No. But can we be the best to make Detroit style pizza? Well, yeah. Although we\u2019re the only place in Manchester doing it (laughs), but we\u2019re setting a standard of our own.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt was risky, because people could have just gone \u2018that\u2019s not pizza, it\u2019s not round\u2019. I was convinced that was going to happen, \u2018the sauce is on the top of my cheese and it\u2019s not round? Take it back and start again.\u2019 But not one person has said one bad word about it and I was convinced that we\u2019d get something. Every customer has been amazing, really supportive.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n On The Map and Taking Over…<\/b><\/p>\n So whether it\u2019s Corner Slice\u2019s Mid Western influenced pies, Nell\u2019s New Yorkers or the procession of picture perfect Neapolitans that preceded them over the last five years, one thing is absolutely undeniable – Manchester is now a bona fide pizza city. And it\u2019s about to enter the most exciting stage of its evolution so far…<\/p>\n LYDIA WAKELAM @lydwak<\/a> Gus & Rick (SNACC DIARIES) @snaccdiaries![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.eatmcr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/1W6A2884-2-1024x683.jpg\")
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Here are some recommendations from the EATMCR community<\/h3>\n
\n<\/b>\u2018Double Zero – Sprinkle those extra jalape\u00f1os on my head while I sleep\u2019
\n<\/b><\/i>Double Zero\u2019s fluffy, chewy pizza bases have been a big doughy comfort blanket for me since I moved to Manchester three years ago. BYOB, always, sit with all your friends but never ever share.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/b>\u2018<\/a>Nells… MARINARA or MARGHERITA\u2019
\n<\/b><\/i>Gus is a margs man. They’re a true test of pizza, if you can get them right the others will probably follow. Where as I’m a marinara man. The most underrated and overlooked pizza<\/em> in my opinion.<\/p>\n