We are pleased to announce that this year we are supporting the incredible WOLO Foundation, a local charity on the South Coast, supporting families in practical and emotional ways through their cancer journeys.
As our charity partner of choice for 2024 we have heaps planned to raise as much as we can for this brilliant charity, who are very close to our hearts. WOLO stands for We Only Live Once and they live and breathe by this ethos everyday – “Life is a blessing and we need to enjoy it doing the things we love, with the ones we love”.
Their charity was born in 2018 and has since been supporting families affected by cancer and were there for our dear friend Rich, his wife Emma and their two beautiful girls giving them opportunities to create lasting memories together, before he passed away late last year. Their community continues to support Emma and their girls and are helping hundreds of other families affected by cancer.
As our charity partner we have committed to:
- Donating £200 a month direct from our restaurants over the next 12 months.
- Hosting a series of events to help raise vital funds and awareness of the charity, including our popular sell-out Arancino Charity Event which raised £1,720 in 2023 for The Sussex Beacon.
- Holding special events for the community WOLO supports, starting with an exclusive kids pasta Masterclass on Monday 8th April for children with cancer and for children whose lives are affected by cancer.
- Entertaining a Team WOLO dinner on Thursday 25th April for their staff and supporters to celebrate our partnership and how we can support each other through the year.
- Our founder David Toscano taking on an incredible personal challenge called ‘Ride for Rich’ cycling from London to Italy, in memory of his dear friend Rich. It’s a BIG challenge, so watch this space for news in the coming weeks and how you can support and raise money for WOLO.
We look forward to what we hope will be an incredible year for raising funds for WOLO, for all the families they support now, and for those they will in the future. Cin Cin!
For Sunday’s worth celebrating we will be opening our doors for a special 4 course Sunday lunch service running across the following dates:
- 10th March – Mother’s Day
- 31st March – Easter Sunday
- 5th May – Early May Bank Holiday
- 26th May – Spring May Bank Holiday
- 16th June – Father’s Day
Seasonal menus will be on offer for each of the dates. Check out our next seasonal 4 course menu for our next up special Sunday lunch on Easter Sunday.
Bookings are available in both Fitzrovia and Hove from 12.30pm with the last sitting available at 4pm.
We can’t wait to celebrate these special Sundays with you.
Ciao for now.
The BRAVO awards are back again. Voting is open from now until the 14th March 2024.
The BRAVO awards are an amazing celebration of all things food and drink in our wonderful city of Brighton and Hove. Voted for the people by the people, we never feel closer to all of you than when taking part, and it’s fantastic to see all the incredible talent in town getting the recognition it deserves!
This year, we are nominated in the following 4 categories and would love your vote if you think we’re worthy of it:
- Best Brighton Restaurant
- Best International Food
- Eat Well for Less
- Best Lunch
Vote for us in the BRAVOs and you could win £200!
You can cast your votes for us using this link.
Thank you for your support and wish us luck!
We started the new year by challenging ourselves to recreate what we normally do at Cin Cin but plant-based to celebrate Veganuary in all it’s glory. And since we launched our fully vegan and vegetarian a la carte menu it has been causing quite a stir amongst critics and foodies alike.
Restaurants Brighton reviewer, writer and vegan Rhys Trussler said “Cin Cin’s January menu really shines. The dishes sing of the chefs’ love of real ingredients and a whole-hearted commitment to doing a thing exceptionally well. The team has worked incredibly hard to deliver plant-based dishes that represent the kind of food you’d expect at Cin Cin, without resorting to gimmicks. This isn’t a menu for people who aren’t eating meat, this is a menu for everyone who loves Italian food.” Read the full article here.
Whilst in London we unexpectedly had a visit from renowned restaurant critic Marina O’Loughlin (most notorious as restaurant food critic for The Sunday Times) who said of her recent visit “A brilliant vegan menu at Cin Cin – ‘we aim to squeeze ALL the flavour out of vegetables’ we’re told – and they totally succeed. Loved the clever touches, bursts of lightly acidulated shallot and peppercorns with the gnocchi; the rosemary crumb on the lentil bolognese. Thoughtful and delicious.”
We have really embraced Veganuary by going almost fully plant-based for the whole month. And whilst a bold and daring move for us, it appears to be paying off, as our customers are embracing the deeply rich flavours of vegetables and plant-based foods. Many restaurants are increasing their plant-based menus and so we wanted to turn our hands at really focusing on some fantastic vegan dishes. Chef patron, Jamie Halsall, and his team of chefs have worked really hard to recreate what we normally do at Cin Cin but plant-based. And whilst, not without it’s challenges, it has inspired a great deal of creativity within the team.
Cin Cin owner and founder, David Toscano, made a guest appearance on Allison Ferns Saturday morning BBC Radio Sussex show last weekend (6th January). Allison, along with her children Lois and Harry, visited Cin Cin in Hove to try out some of the vegan and vegetarian dishes on offer, tempting her ‘veg-phobic’ children to eat more vegetables and plant-based foods.
Allison started by asking David whether he was worried about losing more of his carnivorous customers by embracing a full meat-free menu this month. Of which David replied “Yes, it is a bit of a gamble, it’s not something we do on a regular basis. We always have a vegan and vegetarian set menu, but this year we decided we’d flip it on its head and make the whole menu vegetarian and vegan, which has set a challenge for the chefs. But we’ve enjoyed it and we think we have a really strong menu that customers can come and enjoy and not miss the fuller, deeper flavours that you would otherwise think could only come from meat and fish. Because it is possible to achieve that, with our skilled chefs, using vegetables and plant-based foods. We were quite nervous about this challenge and how customers would react, but the feedback has been amazing. Even last night I served a butcher and he said he really enjoyed it and was blown away by the depth of flavour that has come from the dishes of plant-based ingredients.” To find out what Allison and her children thought about the dishes you can listen to the full radio recording of Allison and David here [start at 3:17:20]
Our vegan and vegetarian a la carte menus is running, at both our restaurants in Fitzrovia and Hove from 4th – 31st January. Read on to find out what other local foodies and influencers wrote about their experiences and book your place now, to avoid disappointment, before the end of the month.
Brighton Food Guide said “All dishes on the January menu have been inspired to introduce people to the world of Vegan food and how to do it well…Loved this meal and the vegan dishes were so full of flavour, you never would have guessed that they didn’t contain meat, especially the lentil bolognese, it was so delicious. Jamie Halsall, chef patron, has done an exceptional job of turning a cuisine that is tricky to make vegan and created some fantastic dishes, and better yet, not a vegan cheese in sight. If you’re doing Veganuary and love Italian food, look no further than here, they have done an excellent job and I think you will be impressed!”. Read the full post here.
Dustsheets_and_decor influencer Poppy said “The star of the show to start is Panelle, truffled ricotta and balsamic onions. Would happily return and eat 10 of them. I’m veggie / pescatarian so it was such a treat to look at a menu and have so many options. Ordered two different mains and they were both 10/10. Finished off with a couple of beautiful fully vegan puds. It was one of the best meals we’ve ever had…Cannot recommend enough”.
And Brighton Food Boy, Gary wrote “Cin Cin has never been known for its plant based offering, so it’s a bold move for David & Jamie to run a fully vegan menu (with a handful of veggie options thrown in) for January, and hats off to them for having the cojones. A lot of thought and energy has been put into the dishes and it shows. The salt baked celeriac is served with creamed cavolo nero, shallot crostata, and a rich mushroom and black truffle sauce that had oodles of depth to it – so much so that one could easily mistake it for a beef or venison based counterpart. If you used to eat meat and now miss it, this dish will tick a lot of boxes for you.”
You can read all about the menus and our food offers we’re running for Veganuary here. Then book yo urself a table to try some of the dishes for yourself, before the end of the month, and do let us know what you think?
We’re going to kick start the new year and challenge ourselves to recreate what we normally do at Cin Cin but plant-based and celebrate Veganuary in all it’s glory. We’re putting on a spectacular vegan a la carte menu for January, at both our restaurants, which we’re extremely excited to share.
Jamie Halsall, Chef Patron said “We thought it would be exciting and interesting to dedicate the menu to plant-based foods. Many restaurants are increasing their plant-based menus and we wanted to turn our hands at really focusing on some fantastic vegan dishes. The chefs and I have been working hard to recreate what we normally do at Cin Cin but plant- based. And whilst, not without it’s challenges, it has inspired a great deal of creativity within the team, and we can’t wait to share these dishes with you”
Cin Cin has always had a vegan menu, but we’re really embracing plant-based foods this January by making our a la carte menu mostly vegan, albeit there will also be a couple of vegetarian dishes thrown in the mix.
Our vegan dishes on the menu will include:
- Grilled Brussel sprout crostini, crema di cecci & radicchio
- Lasagne of beetroot & roasted jerusalem artichoke , kale & horseradish
- Ribollita of winter vegetables
- Ravioli verde of jack fruit ala genovese, wild mushrooms & parsley
- Saffron Strozzapreti, lentil Bolognese, rosemary crumb
- Salt baked celeriac, creamed cavolo nero, glazed red onion, black truffle sauce
- Millefuille of chocolate, spiced red wine poached pear & caramel
- Pistachio semifreddo, vanilla shortbread & Campari soaked blood orange
Cin Cin Hove and Cin Cin Fitzrovia will be open and serving it’s vegan a la carte menu from Thursday 4th January until the 31st January 2024. You can book online now.
Our final La Festa regional dinner for this year will take place on the 15th November, where we’ll whisk you off to Veneto, Venice.
Traditional Venice food is influenced by the bounty of the lagoon with fish and seafood featuring heavily, enhanced by vegetables grown on surrounding islands. And it’s hardly surprising that risotto is a major feature in Venetian cuisine as Veneto is one of Italy’s main rice-growing regions. Salt cod, polenta, squash and radicchio all feature heavily on Venetian menus. So we’ll be guiding you through an exquisite menu enabling you to eat like a local Venetian or to feel like you’ve been whisked away to a weekend in Venice.
Our feast of Veneto will take you through a variety of small plates to sample some of the regions specialities including scallop capasante, salt cod with grilled polenta and squid ink risotto. Our menu is rounded off with Tiramisù, which literally translates as “pick me up”, and is purported to have originated in the small town of Treviso near Venice. So we’ll be finishing this fine menu with a “pick me up” finale.
Read on to see the full menu and our vegetarian option and to book your place in Fitzrovia or Hove.
Main menu
- Fried stuffed olives
- Scallop capasante
- Salt cod & grilled polenta
- Squid ink risotto
- Proscuitto, roasted squash & radicchio
- Rabbit cacciatore
- Tiramisu
Vegetarian Menu
- Fried stuffed olives
- Crostini of truffled ricotta
- Grilled polenta & wild mushrooms
- Jerusalem artichoke risotto
- Roasted squash caponata
- Autumn minestrone
- Tiramisu
Book your place now so you don’t miss out.
We can’t wait to see you there!
OctoberBEST returns
We are so excited to be apart of it once again this year! ❤️
Bookings are live so make sure you secure your spot before they all get snapped up.
What’s on offer?
Cin Cin banchetto – £25pp + service
Limoncello Punch
Green olive & oregano focaccia
Coppa, roasted squash, radicchio & house pickles
Cacciucco Tuscan fish stew
Tonnarelli alla gricia
Abruzzese lamb skewer, fermented mint salsa verde
Available Wednesdays 11 and 18 October, and Thursdays 12 and 19 October.
Bookings directly via our website for those dates with prepayment required – https://www.cincin.co.uk/restaurants/cin-cin-hove/
But you better be quick as there are only a few places left for this special OctoberBEST offer!
Thank you to all who came to our Rome dinner in May, and our Palermo dinner in July. Next up in this regional ‘La Festa’ banquet tour around Italy is Bologna the capital of the Emilia Romagna region in Northern Italy – also known as the Fat City for its rich cuisine.
Some of the food you might associate most with Italy actually comes from Bologna and the Emilia Romagna region. Foods such as balsamic di Modena, Parmigiano Reggiano, parma ham all originate from here! Read on to see what will feature on our four course menu for our Bologna dinner on Wednesday 27th September, and find out a little out more about the origin of these beloved dishes.
Our antipasti course includes gnocchi fritti. Stroll down the back streets of any city in Emilia Romagna and you’ll see every salumeria serving these golden pillows next to mounds of thinly sliced cured meats. Our gnocchi fritti are stuffed with herbs and garlic and served with either parma ham or Parmigiano reggiano.
This will be followed by our primo of lasagne verde or tortellini en brodo, two of Bologna’s signature pasta dishes. As legend has it, the goddess Venus was staying at an inn in Castelfranco Emilia when an innkeeper was taken by her beauty and designed the tortellini shape in the shape of her navel.
Everyone knows and loves lasagne, it’s a classic. This particular local variation is made green by the spinach in the pasta sheets.
Our secondi includes erbazzone, a savoury pie typical of the summer months filled with cooked greens encased in a thin, flaky crust. A dish of humble origins, it was created to feed the hungry crowds of fieldworkers harvesting the regional greens used in the dish.
To finish, you’ll enjoy a palate cleanser of balsamic ice cream before finishing with torta di riso, blackberry & amoretti. Torta di riso, is a custard-like cake made of almonds, rice and amaretto, and is made throughout the year in Bologna.
Read on for the full menu and to book your place now…
Book your place now in Fitzrovia or Hove by selecting the 27th September and the ‘La Festa’ option to secure your place.
We’re so proud to have retained our Bib Gourmand distinction for good food at good prices for our Hove restaurant in the Michelin Guide 2023.
A Bib Gourmand award is a special recognition by the Michelin Guide for restaurants that offer great food at reasonable prices. The award was created in 1997 and is named after Bibendum, the Michelin mascot25. Although not as well known as the MICHELIN Star, the Bib Gourmand is hugely popular.
We’re as proud as punch for retaining this accolade and we couldn’t be happier!
Hear what the MICHELIN Guide’s Point Of View had to say about our Hove restaurant:
“Cin Cin’s loyal band of customers come for its great value Italian food – a mix of homemade pastas and small plates, where fresh ingredients are simply cooked and natural flavours are allowed to shine. You can create a different experience every time you come by sitting in a different place: in front of the open kitchen, at the horseshoe counter, gazing out the window onto the street, or in the calmer rear room.”
See our listing here: Cin Cin – Brighton and Hove – a MICHELIN Guide Restaurant
We’re also thrilled that our sister restaurant in London Fitzrovia is featured in the Michelin Guide 2023. And this is what the MICHELIN Guide’s Point Of View had to say about our London restaurant:
“Having made their name in Brighton, the owners opened a second branch here in Fitzrovia in 2021. It’s all about big Italian flavours and easy-to-eat dishes to share with family and friends – and it’s also less pasta-centric than many of its competitors. This corner restaurant is bright and welcoming.”
See our Fitzrovia listing here – Cin Cin – London – a MICHELIN Guide Restaurant
This recognition is down to all the hard work each and every member of the Cin Cin family puts into the carefully crafted dishes and drinks and the service we provide to all our customers. Well done team, you make us proud every day!
A huge thank you to everyone that stopped by and enjoyed our dishes at Pub in the Park in Brighton last weekend! We had a blast and loved meeting you all! It was great to see our Chef Patron Jamie’s demonstration at the Firepit on the Saturday evening where he made a pizzetta with marinated courgettes and taleggio! And it was brilliant to get to know the other chef’s better through their sessions too.
Our pop up restaurant stood proudly alongside other Sussex brands including The Chilli Pickle & Patty Guy, as well as Tom Kerridge’s Hand & Flowers, The Kentish Hare and Brindisa Tapas. Our dishes of Baccala arancino, rigatoni with Sussex pork ragu, Calabrese spicy chicken wings, Mac & Cheese and loaded fries flew out the kitchen and kept us busy all weekend.
Hats off to anyone who braved the wind and the torrential rain on the Friday night to see the Sugababes, Soul II Sound System and Judge Jules, and tucked into the food and drinks on offer whilst the heavens opened.
It was a fantastic festival full of great food and music. We hope to see you there again next year!
