Cirencester’s getting another great food place from the people behind Roots + Seeds Kitchen Garden – in the form of a brand new pizzeria.
Cattivo – which means ‘Bad Boys’ in Italian – has opened its doors at the The Old Kennels on the edge of Cirencester Park, just next to where Roots + Seeds is. It will offer classic Neapolitan pizzas topped with ingredients that champion seasonality and provenance.
Cattivo is the brainchild of old school friends Toby Baggott and Sam Lawson-King – the same team behind Roots + Seeds and previously The Scenic Supper. But they’ve enlisted help from Mike Robinson, champion of sustainable wild food and game and the man behind restaurants like the Harwood Arms in Fulham, London, The Woodsman in Stratford-upon-Avon and The Elder in Bath.
Cattivo’s handmade pizza dough will be made using specialist pizza flour from local mill, Matthews Cotswold Flour, to create its 24-hour slow fermented starter which will ensure slower fermentation, firmer texture and delicious nutty flavour.
All pizzas will be cooked in Cattivo’s newly built Gozney wood-fired pizza oven heated to 450°C using dry-aged oak sourced from the neighbouring Bathurst estate.
The menu offers just six classic (two meat, two veg and one fish-based, plus one seasonally changing) 12” Neapolitan-style, sourdough pizzas garnished with locally-sourced, foraged and home-grown produce. Every pizza will be made to order by award-winning pizzaiolo, Farncesco Fotia.
Ingredients include honey from Mike’s own hives and his home-made venison Nduja, using deer raised on the Bathurst estate. Other locally-sourced ingredients include Glastonbury Fior di Latte Mozzarella, foraged herbs and freshly-picked produce from Roots + Seeds’ own ¼ acre on-site kitchen garden.
Cattivo will also be using top quality Italian ingredients such as Mutti Passata, Burrata, aged Parmesan cheeses, Single Estate Extra Virgin olive oil and San Marzana tomatoes. There’s also a choice of two dips and two desserts, Nonna’s Tiramisu and Panozzo (pizza sandwich) with Nutella, wood roasted fig and peaches served with homemade Madagascan vanilla ice xream.
Drinks will include two premade and bottled cocktails made in-house by drinks supremo Sam Lawson-King, including a Spicy Margarita and an Old Fashioned, a small but carefully curated wine list, consisting of independent Italian wines served by the glass and the bottle, along with locally produced beers, ales, and soft drinks – all stored in Cattivo’s help-yourself fridge.
This is the first time Mike has collaborated on such a simple dining venture and in his hometown of Cirencester. He said: “I’m so excited to be working with Sam and Toby on Cattivo and am very much looking forward to partnering with incredible local suppliers to help make Cattivo’s sourdough pizzas the very best in the Cotswolds.”
Toby added: “We are incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved in the 12 months since opening our restaurant and kitchen garden and are incredibly excited about our collaboration with Mike Robinson for the next step in our hospitality journey. We very much look forward to welcoming locals and those from further afield to Cattivo.”
All Cattivo Pizzas cost from £14 – £17 with all orders taken at the counter. No bookings or phone orders.
