Walls of Jericho
Julian Rosser knows a good restaurant site when he sees one. He snapped up a property for his first restaurant venture two years ago in the Jericho area of Oxford, only to be offered "a sum I just couldn't refuse" by Richard Branson and Raymond Blanc, who called it Petit Blanc - doing nicely now, thank you.
Rosser has waited two years for a similar site, which eventually came up right opposite the first. Branca, a chic 110-seat Italian-style eatery, opened at the beginning of the year in a former locksmith's.
Rosser isn't exactly new to the industry. More than two years ago, he opened a cocktail bar and lunch hot-spot, the Duke of Cambridge, in Oxford city centre with business partner Paul Petrillo. They also run a couple of upmarket sandwich bars. The pair spent £650,000 transforming the Walton Street site, which has dark walnut floors, baby crystal lights, a stainless-steel bar top with a limestone front, dark wood chairs with red leather seats, and dark red nightlights - "the ones you see in Italian cemeteries," says Rosser.
The Guardian criticised Branca for being "a little too consciously cool - starkly showy rather than simply Starck", but Rosser reckons this is unfair. "We've deliberately moved away from anything overdesigned," he says. "You just don't feel comfortable, and we didn't want to intimidate." So much so that wine glasses were substituted by squat Duralex tumblers. "We've had no complaints - well, maybe one in 50," he admits.
Petrillo and Rosser decided to go for an Italian theme because they "saw a gap in the market for a good, affordable Italian". And, of course, Petrillo is Italian. The chef isn't, though - until recently, Jamie King was sous chef at the Fifth Floor at Harvey Nichols in London. Not that his genealogy worries him - King has fun turning out his own interpretation of regional Italian dishes in the first-floor kitchen with a brigade of 11.
Best sellers so far include crab risotto with chilli gremolata (£5.95/£9.95); rare beef salad, truffle Caesar dressing (£4.50/£8.95); roast hake, mash with squid ink and pepper oil (£12.45); slow-roast belly pork with sweet potato hash, aubergine salsa (£8.75); and the four pizzas - buffalo mozzarella, tomato and basil; pepperoni, fontina cheese and smoked chilli; roast peppers, rocket and pecorino cheese; wild mushrooms and San Daniele ham (all at £7.50). The best-selling dessert is the lemon tart - "the best I've ever had," boasts Rosser, who recruited a consultant pastry chef, the Dorchester's Thomas More, to work on desserts. The menu changes with the seasons, and average spend is £20 with wine.
Because of the fine wine-unfriendly Duralex tumblers, the wine list is simple, cheap ("I prefer ‘affordable'," says Rosser) and short. There are just five whites and five reds, all Italian, including a prosecco and a pudding wine (Recioto di Soave le Sponde Coffel 1998, at £3.95) and all available by the glass.
Branca, 111 Walton Street, Oxford OX2 6AJ. Tel: 01865 556111
