“It was only on Thursday that I let my hair down a little over lunch at my new favourite restaurant, Cin Cin, a laidback Fitzrovia Italian where I had a cold beer and then a carafe of white and a carafe of red with excellent carciofi alla giudia, stuffed courgette flowers, salumi and a terrific lobster fettucine with… Oh, wait, lobster, there you go – that could have been it. “
We are so proud to announce that Jamie Halsall will be undertaking a year long apprenticeship focusing on Mental Health Leadership in Hospitality in association with The Opportunity Group. The course is conducted by The Burnt Chef Project, an initiative launched in May 2019 with the sole intention of eradicating mental health stigma within hospitality.
The apprenticeship focuses on mental health training, performing effective appraisals, problem solving, essentials of leadership, driving cultural change, team dynamics and coaching and feedback. Jamie will end the course with all of the tools and knowledge to better support our staff members and enhance Cin Cin as a workplace.
The programme focuses on creating mentally healthy workplaces and bridges the gap in leadership knowledge on workplace mental health which is crucial, particularly in the hospitality industry.
We work hard to ensure Cin Cin is a positive work environment, we like our staff to feel valued, respected and secure which is why we are continually looking for opportunities such as this apprenticeship, that help make Cin Cin an attractive workplace.
Vegan potato & mint Curlugiones with tomato fondue
These rustic Sardinian pasta dumplings look a lot like Cornish pasties and are just as delicious and versatile – perfect for Veganuary. This recipe serves 3-4.
Ingredients
Filling
350g yellow potatoes
2 tablespoons of extra virgin oil
1 glove of garlic, grated
Handful of mint leaves, finely chopped
Sea salt and cracked black pepper, to taste
Dough
150g semolina
1 tablespoon of extra virgin oil
1 pinch of sea salt
To serve
1 tin of good peeled tomatoes
1 tablespoon of extra virgin oil
1 pinch of sea salt
Handful of basil leaves
Method
1. Start with the filling. Boil the potatoes in well salted water, drain well and peel them by hand while still warm. Pass them through a ricer or mouli (or use a masher if you do not have either). Mix through the EVO, mint, garlic salt and pepper. Cover and cool in the fridge for at least 30 mins.
2. Next make the dough. Mix all the ingredients by hand or using a stand mixer, this will take a good 5 mins of firm kneading to get a smooth, even dough. Wrap in cling film and leave to rest for 30 mins.
3. Roll out the dough with a pasta machine or rolling pin, adding a little flour if needed, to get to 1-2mm thickness. Use a highball glass to cut discs in the dough then take a walnut sized piece of the filling and place it in the centre of the disc. Pick up the disc in your left hand and use your right hand to fold and pleat the dough to encase the filling – lots of videos on YouTube if you get stuck on this bit! Once made, these will keep in the fridge for 2 days if needed and freeze well too.
4. For the tomato sauce, slowly cook the tomatoes with the extra virgin oil and salt until they have collapsed – use the potato masher if you like or you can blitz in the blender if you prefer a smoother finish.
5. When ready to cook, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, gently drop the curlugiones in and cook for 2-3 mins until they rise to the surface. Remove with a slotted spoon and place into the warm tomato sauce. Stir to coat and serve with basil leaves.
Happy New Year and welcome to 2022 – we made it!
It did feel a little touch and go there didn’t it?! This year will be better/crazier/harder than 2021 (delete whichever do not apply) BUT one thing we can promise here at Cin Cin is that each year is tastier than the last.
We kick off 2022 with our Italian take on Veganuary for those looking to rebalance after a heavy Christmas schedule or wanting to give a little back to our environment. Read on for a sneak peak at our January Vegan menu and our Vegan event later this month.
And later in January we’ve got some great ragu recipes to share for Slow Cooking Month AND don’t forget it’s Burns Night on the 25th… who said January had to be boring and blue?
Cin Cin Dine At Home
After a very busy Christmas and New Years Eve set of delivery days – thanks to all you lovely people ordering our festive At Home products – it’s time to give our hard working team a well earned break this week.
So Cin Cin At Home will be back next week and available to order from the 10th January for collection and delivery across Brighton and Hove on 13th to 15 January.
Our chefs have created an incredible menu especially to help blow away those January blues. Stay tuned!
Veganuary
We are very proud to be kicking off Veganuary in the UK’s most vegan-friendly area – Brighton and Hove – with our own Italian take on vegan dishes.
January has long been considered a month of change and resolutions, a time where we reflect after a heavy end to the year that often comes with December. It’s no wonder then that for many, it is also synonymous with Veganuary, a month-long initiative to omit or reduce animal derived products and produce in favour of a plant-based diet.
Head Chef Jamie Halsall has created an indulgent four course vegan set menu that stays true to our authentic Italian roots and will be available for just £35 per person throughout the month of January – BOOK NOW:
Nocellara del Belice olives marinated in lemon, chilli & garlic
Rosemary house focaccia, Valdibella EVO & balsamic
Salad of celeriac, pear, grumolo & hazelnut
—
Roasted cauliflower, radicchio, pickled golden sultana, kale pesto
—
Culurgiones of sweet potato, January king cabbage, tomato fondue & roasted chestnut
—
Pear & almond cannoli, polenta & olive oil cake
Salt Cod Mousse
The perfect appetiser to whip up at home over the festive period!
Ingredients
50g Cod
Rocksalt
1/4 of 1 White of a leek
1/4 of 1 Onion
1/4 of 1 Banana shallot
1/2 of 1 Garlic clove
1.5 Bronze gelatine leaves
60ml Milk
100ml Double cream
Chopped chives
Salt & Pepper
Method
1. 24 hours prior to preparing the mousse, cover the cod in rock salt for 24 hours, washing the salt of prior to preparing the mousse
2. Start by finely dicing the vegetables
3. Add the vegetables to the pan and sweat them for 5 minutes in a little oil, salt and pepper
4. Add the cod and milk to the pan, cover in cling film and bring to a simmer
5. Leave covered for 5 minutes, in the meantime soak the gelatine in cold water
6. When ready, add the gelatine leaves into the cod and milk mixture and blend everything on high for a few minutes
7. Pour the mixture into a bowl to set
8. Once set, whip the cream to soft peaks
9. Beat down the set cod cream
10. Fold the whipped cream into the cod mixture
11. If you would like to add chives, add them now
12. Season with salt and pepper
Enjoy!
Beef shin ragu with pickled onions & focaccia crumb
Ingredients
Ragu
1 x Carrot
1 x Onion
1 x Celery stick
1 x Garlic clove
2kg Beef Shin (no bone)
660g Blended tomatoes
660g x Beef Stock
170ml x Red Wine
Bouquet garni of 4 springs of thyme, 2 springs of rosemary, 3 bay leave
70g Mascarpone
Lemon
Pasta of your choice
Crumb
200g x Focaccia
20ml x Olive oil
10g x Finely chopped rosemary
Salt and pepper
Pickled Onions
1x Red onion (peeled, sliced into wedges)
100ml Red wine vinegar
60ml Red cooking wine
20ml Water
70g Sugar
Method
Ragu
1. Start by finely dicing the carrot, onion, celery and garlic
2. In a medium size pan, heat a little olive oil and add in the chopped ingredients
3. Sweat on a low heat for 8-10 minutes until very soft and translucent.
4. Season the beef. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large oven proof pan
5. Sear the beef on all sides
6. Add the softened vegetables, blended tomatoes, red wine, beef stock and bouquet garni. Stir to combine and bring to a boil
7. Transfer to a 90 degrees c, preheated oven and cover in tinfoil or a lid
8. Cook for 10 hours
9. Remove the beef from the pan and shred
10. Reduce the sauce on a medium heat
11. Whilst the sauce is reducing shred the beef
12. Add the beef back to the sauce once reduced
13. Cook your pasta
14. Prior to serving, finish by stirring in 60g mascarpone, a squeeze of lemon juice and season to taste
15. Combine the ragu with your pasta
16. Serve with a sprinkling of crumb & pickled onions
Crumb
1. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees C
2. Dice the focaccia and bake for 45 minutes
3. Once cool, blend into crumbs
4. Heat a pan and toast the crumbs along with the oil and the finely chopped rosemary
Pickled Onions
1. Add the red wine vinegar, red wine, sugar and water to a saucepan over a medium heat
2. Bring the liquid to a boil
3. Add the red onion wedges
4. Simmer for 2-3 minutes
5. Strain the onions and reduce the liquid by two thirds
6. Pour the reduction back over the onions
Chef Ollie – BITE Sussex Rising Star Awards
Our very own Ollie Geering, supreme sous chef of our Hove restaurant, was nominated to take part in the BITE Sussex Rising Star Awards. It’s recognition of the contribution that young people make to the incredible food, drink and hospitality sectors of Sussex.
We are extremely proud to announce that Ollie was highly commended for his work at Cin Cin during the ceremony.
Ollie is a highly dedicated part of our team, a very talented chef with a keen eye for detail and an all round lovely guy to have on our side. I am sure many of you will have been greeted with his infectious smile and giggling laugh over the pass at Cin Cin Hove.
Well done Chef from David, Jamie and all the team at Cin Cin Hove.
Christmas Negroni is baaaaaack!!
Back again in 2021 by popular demand, Negroni drinkers rejoice!
Our Christmas Negroni takes the Cin Cin classic recipe to the next festive level and is now on sale for delivery to your door or collection from Hove or even as the perfect Christmas aperitivo gift for that special someone!
Starting off with Regal Rogue organic Wild Rose vermouth, Malfy Originale gin, Campari & Fee Brothers rhubarb bitters, we add our own mix of winter spices & fruits – orange, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, figs, cherries & sultana – allowing the batch to rest for 15 days before sealing in our recyclable 500ml pouch. ?
Perfect for sharing and quaffing over the festive period, our Cin Cin Christmas Negroni pouch will serve 6-7 Negronis over ice or even more served as a Negroni Sbagliato topped with Prosecco or soda. Don’t forget a slice of orange! Buon Natale! ?
Are you ready for some festive feasting?
You better be quick off the mark this festive season as our Christmas Dine at Home boxes sell out quicker than Glastonbury! Our wonderful chefs have again pulled out all the stops this year to ensure that you and your loved ones enjoy a festive feast to remember.
Who wants turkey on Christmas Day when you can tuck into Cin Cin?!
Our Dine at Home boxes keep perfectly in the fridge up to two days – if you can hold off that long! (Wink Emoji) Choose from our 3 course box for two or go all out for our 5 course Chef’s Menu, both available with vegetarian options.
DO NOT MISS OUT! These are on sale now so place your order for collection or delivery across Brighton and Hove on the 23rd and 24th December.
Read more of the many winning plaudits our Fitzrovia restaurant has received from the press since opening this summer…
Toast of London: the Cin Cin pair on their London debut
Brighton & Hove-based Italian restaurant group Cin Cin has opened a London outpost off the back of a successful, pandemic-born delivery service.
This gorgeous and intimate neighbourhood Italian restaurant in Fitzrovia has just opened with 20 seats inside and 20 plus outside on a south facing corner with lots of afternoon sun, it’s perfect for alfresco dining. Service is utterly charming and the food is classically Italian but with lots of clever twists like a rich arancino of crab on a basil emulsion and a gnocchi which has had the Cacio e Pepe treatment. For dessert, they have the creamiest Zabaglione, one of Italy’s ancient Venetian specialities.
Service is utterly charming
THE LUXURIATE LIFE GUIDE TO A NIGHT OUT IN LONDON
No particular regional affiliation in Italy, and the menu bounces happily around Sicilian seafood and Roman pasta dishes — ‘just things we like’, says our waiter. When we visit that includes burrata with red pesto and asparagus, crab arancini, sea bream (crispy skinned and perfect), and a plate of Cuore di Vesuvio tomatoes — part of the antipasti, but so good if they’d been served as a dish in their own right we’d have still been heart-eyed over them.
There aren’t any lowlights, tbh. We reckon the would-order-again prize goes to the courgette cacio e pepe, with gnocchi, rather than pasta — bits of al dente Trombetta courgette scattered in there, velvety sauce, gnocchi soaking it up thirstily. And the tomatoes (see above in their no filter, eye searingly bright glory), with just a slick of pepper-laced vinegar across them, tasting about as vividly of Italian sunshine as a tomato can. Or the focaccia, with its fluffy, softly elastic springiness.
There aren’t any lowlights.
Cin Cin started life back in 2013 when chef-owner David Toscano launched a pasta van in Brighton as a passion project on the side of his full-time job as a lawyer. Three years later, Toscano ditched his suits for good, donning an apron more permanently and bedding Cin Cin into a bricks and mortar building off thriving North Laine. It soon grew a reputation as the best pasta restaurant in the city, spawning a second site in Hove in 2018. Now, Toscano is bringing his concept to London, opening in the former site of lauded seafood restaurant Bonnie Gull on Foley Street. The intimate restaurant seats up to 30 and focuses on seasonal Italian dishes which may, depending on the time of year you visit, include: crab arancino with warm basil emulsion; ravioli of truffled potato with asparagus and confit yolk; and velvety date ice cream affogato with Tosolini liqueur.
Cin Cin indeed!
Best new restaurants: London 2021’s hottest gastronomic ventures, Culture Whisper
Dine At Home
This week’s menu sees the return of the decadently moreish Burrata with truffled celeriac and rocket.
What could be more in-keeping with the changing seasons than the mighty truffle?
The earthy flavours of the black Autumn truffle have a wonderful heady aroma. Intense & addictive, this truffle has a more intense aroma than its summer cousin.
Having grown through the year under the shade of deciduous trees, harvest season arrives between October and mid March.
And all of this flavour is packed into our Dine At Home menu this week, guaranteed to bring a little autumnal sunshine into your life this weekend.
Pre order your dine at home experience now.
Treat your family, friends, loved ones or colleagues with a voucher for a fun dining experience at our award-winning restaurants in Hove and London or on our Cin Cin At Home delivery service.
Your voucher is beautifully designed and will be emailed to you, ready to be printed from your printer at home or forwarded directly to the recipient.
A Cin Cin voucher is the perfect gift for lovers of Italian food & dining.
Let them enjoy a culinary journey with our ever changing 5 course Chef’s Menu, showing off our chef’s absolute favourite dishes using only the finest seasonal produce. And you have the option to pair this sumptuous menu with our expertly chosen Italian wine flight complimenting each dish – perfect for the food and wine enthusiast in your life.