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Yelp
Along with being caterers, Frizzante is the cafe' at Hackney City Farms and what a delightful place it is! I had been to HCF a number of times before, but never had occasion to have a meal there.
Frizzante uses local, fresh and seasonal ingredients to prepare standard breakfast fare (eggs, bacon, sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes) as well as sweet breakfast items (pancakes, waffles, etc) and delicious Italian dishes (risotto alla milanese, pappardelle with chicken livers and onion, mozzarella salads, lots of vegetarian options and much more). Mind you, on Sunday, due to the large number of customers, they only make scrambled eggs.
A small group of us was there for brunch on a recent sunny Sunday. My companions each had a breakfast dish. One had the vegetarian breakfast (£6.25) and the other had the farm breakfast (£6.75). Both were good sized portions and the samples I had were delicious. I couldn't help myself and had to have the pappardelle (@£8). Very good with lots of chicken livers and perfectly balanced with the onions and grated parmiggiano and freshly cracked pepper. Maybe a tad too much olive oil, but I can overlook that. We also had their Sicilian lemonade - fresh squeezed lemons with just a tad of sugar - and WoW! So good and refreshing. Their cappuccino was very good as well, with a thick and creamy head.
The ambiance was lively, unpretentious, friendly and the clientele varied, but overall everyone was happy to be there. We were lucky in scoring a table on the covered patio, but there are lots of tables inside as well as a few outside. Many of the tables are big, so don't be surprised if you end up sharing with others. Expect lots of families and screaming children - if that bugs you, then don't go. But there were also an equal number of hipsters and just regular folks.
On Thursday nights, Frizzante is open for dinner and every so often, they hold agriturismo dinners (agriturismo are Italian farms open for farm stays where, generally, fantastic slow food meals are prepared for guests with ingredients straight from the farm) with entertainment, roasted meats and all sorts of other delicious sounding food. I would like to check out this event and I'll report back. In any event, I'm looking forward to my next time there. And don't forget to take a wander in the farm itself. It's a great place to spend some time out of the urban setting.