|
|
Name:Fran Carroll Titles:
Pizzerias:Bistro Bianconi
Years in the Industry:8 yrs Bio:Bistro Bianconi was first opened in 1993 by Pat Grimes with the assistance of his friends, the Gollino family, who for generations have been baking pizzas in their traditional wood burning ovens in Italy. The emphasis in Bistro Bianconi has always been about good quality fresh ingredients to make authentic gourmet Italian pizzas. It wasn’t until 2001 when Fran Carroll joined the business that Bistro Bianconi extended itself outside of Sligo and got involved in competitions. Dublin is the capital of Ireland and its cosmopolitan population seemed the ideal location to target. Dublin, at the time, was being overrun by American franchises of poor quality processed pizzas. Under the ownership of Fran Carroll, Bistro Bianconi opened its doors in Ranelagh (a suburb of Dublin) in November 2004. Since then the pizzeria has gone from strength to strength and a planned second location (Dundrum, another suburb of Dublin) will be opening in Nov/Dec 2007. Fran is still a novice at pizza competitions but already he has entered over 3 events and in doing so, led Bistro Bianconi’s customer favourite, The Michaelangelo Pizza to 24th in the World at Salsomaggoire in 2006, as well as winning Best Irish Pizza at the event. Fran, along with Dale Barber of the Sligo store, have prepared Pizza on Irish National Television (RTE1 & TV3), as well as appearing in several Irish Newspapers (Irish Times & Irish Independent) and magazines (Food & Wine, Image) on where to find the best pizza in Ireland. He’s delighted to have been invited, by Tony Gemignani, to get involved with the World Pizza Champions. |
