The Sheffield Scenester

Brezza’s - the new Italian bistro next to Henry’s on Wellington Street, initially opened selling an extensive range of Italian coffees along with snacks, but now after the successful introduction of Panini’s proprietor Michael Breeze (Breezy to his friends) has now introduced pizzas to the menu. Using genuinely sourced Italian produce, the stone baked pizzas are made fresh to order before your very eyes in an open kitchen enviroment, as I found out when I stopped by this lunchtime.
Breezy took me step by step through the pizza making process from the dough kneading to sauce making, to the final topping of which there is quite a variety to choose from….he made a decadent Parma ham and gorgonzola topped one! His London trained pizza chef Dean Long, who comes with a pedigree of success in competition cooking, made another with fresh vegetables, of course both were delicious and washed down with a cappuccino really hit the spot!

Whilst eating….I asked Breezy what else he had planned for the bistro:
“I’m looking into possibly working in conjunction with Kelham Island to showcase local artists; in fact we are holding our own first exhibition on Fri 8th July with the artist Simon Wigglesworth-Baker. I’m shortly going to be applying for a permanent alcohol license as well as setting up Wifi, but the exhibition evening will be fully licensed. As well as that we’re going to be putting on live music on a regular basis starting Sat 9th July with Ian Britt’s album launch, fully licensed of course!”

So with authentic Italian cuisine and a good dose of culture I’ll happily stop by again!

It had been a while, well nigh on ten years since I’d been to Crystal Peaks….but today was a must since Section 60, one of Sheffield’s most popular bands were due to play an acoustic set down at That’s Entertainment. When I arrived, lead singer Chris Perkins and guitarist Daniel Smith were setting up, though Chris was also trying his luck with some Sudafed since his voice was feeling a bit shakey, but people were beginning to collect at the back of the store eager to hear this free show!

They opened with the sublime yet classic ‘Is This Our Day In The Sunshine’ and finished with ‘See How They Run’, the latter a traditionally effects laden overture, but stripped bare it still retained its majestic power.

We were treated to a new song ‘Stop The World’, the first time it had been played according to Chris, sounded pretty good, can’t wait for the full band treatment! Unfortunately due to concerns over Chris’s voice they had to cut the set short, the remaining songs they had planned were beyond his range at that point and might do more harm than good. The crowd obviously enjoyed it though, one person who definitely loved it was Daniel’s daughter, Amber, who was dancing away throughout!

Asking him afterwards Chris said it went OK and should be alright for later that night, they were playing a UNICEF gig in Nottingham at the Deerstock Festival. There was also talk of another acoustic appearance later in the year, as well as plans for a major gig in Sheffield in the future!