Union Jacks, the highly-anticipated new concept from high-profile chef Jamie Oliver, will offer wood-fired flatbreads featuring Great British flavours.
As revealed by M&C Report in July, the new concept will be overseen by Oliver and award-winning US chef Chris Bianco, with the first site under the Union Jacks name set to open this November in the Central St Giles Piazza development in London’s West End. Bianco operates Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix, Arizona, and is renowned in the US for his wood-fired pizzas.
The concept’s menu is set to combine Bianco’s technical expertise and artisan dough-making with Oliver’s love of top-quality ingredients.
Union Jacks will place significant emphasis on locally-sourced produce, which is underlined on the concept’s just launched website www.unionjacksrestaurants.com, that features a number of YouTube clips highlighting all things British from Delia Smith to Morecambe & Wise.
It states: “Nearly all of the ingredients for the toppings are unabashedly local. We take a lot of pride in our sourcing philosophy, and look to our own back garden first in order to celebrate the wonderful growers, farmers and winemakers we have here in this country.”
Talking about how the link up with Oliver and concept came about, Bianco said: “It started out as a conversation between Jamie and myself about doing something that was a little bit of both of our work. I thought it would be interesting to celebrate the bounty of Britain. After a trip to Borough Market, a trip to Neal’s Yard, a chat with Jamie about his past, like growing up in the pub and his journey. I just thought it would be a lot of fun. Fun I think being the first part. It’s delicious we are really happy with it, but the biggest thing about this project is that continues to unfold.”
It is thought that Jamie Bianco Ltd, the company set up to oversee the new brand, is already looking at a number of other sites to rollout the format and had previously looked at a unit in Richmond.
