A free-to-enter festival celebrating Italian food, drink and culture is coming to Manchester this summer.
Now in its fourth year, Festa Italiana will once again take place on Cathedral Gardens, after being forced to take a year off in 2020.
Over the August bank holiday weekend, there will be a programme of workshops, demonstrations, book signing and banquets, alongside stalls selling Italian street food and produce from a range of Manchester vendors and restaurants.
Top Italian chefs attending the event include Jamie Oliver’s mentor and TV chef Gennaro Contaldo, San Carlo’s chef consigliere Aldo Zilli, former diabetic chef and creator of low-carb Italian recipes Giancarlo Caldesi and Maurizio Cecco of Salvi’s in Manchester, who founded the festival.
Gennaro Contaldo with Maurizio Cecco of Salvi’s
There will also be workshops from Maurizio’s 12-year-old daughter Sienna Cecco who launched her own YouTube channel during lockdown providing cooking tutorials for families. She will be hosting free kids cooking classes throughout the weekend, as part of a larger programme of family-friendly activities.
Pasta specialist, Carmela Sereno Hayes, will be running pasta making workshops, too, teaching people how to make her signature multi-coloured handmade pasta.
Salvi’s will host a pop-up deli at the festival with a range of authentic Italian produce, alongside a selection of street food traders which are yet to be announced.
Peroni will host a bar with a pop up cinema
For drinks, there’ll be bars from leading Italian drinks brands. One of the bars has been confirmed as a Peroni beer bar and pop up cinema, where they will have bean bags, deck chairs, popcorn, aperitivo boxes and Peroni on tap for viewings of classic film screenings like Cinema Paradiso, Romeo and Juliet and La Dolce Vita.
Festa Italiana is taking place from 27 to 29 August on Cathedral Gardens.
We’ve missed live events. We’ve missed sporting events. We’ve missed the buzz of watching these live sporting events with a crowd of people – in the sun, with beers. I can almost taste it.
Well, group sport watching is set to return this summer as plans have been announced for outdoor screenings of various sporting events at First Street.
Returning to Tony Wilson Place on First Street, the ‘Summer of Sport’ will see a large screen take over the square, broadcasting various live sport events and matches.
Kicking off with Wimbledon on 28 June, the screen will be in place until the middle of August, and will also show the Tour de France, F1 British Grand Prix and the Tokyo Olympic Games, alongside other sporting highlights.
Matches for the 2021 Euros or any other football matches will not be screened at the Summer of Sport.
Summer of Sport at First Street
There will be food and drink available to enjoy while watching the screen from a variety of pop up traders and bars.
Sophie Stephenson, state Manager for the First Street estate said:
“We are looking forward to kicking off the summer season at First Street. Putting on such open and inclusive events is a great joy for the team at First Street and we love welcoming residents, occupiers and the wider Manchester community.”
“After the devastating effects of the pandemic, the ability to safely host the Summer of Sports programme is all the more exciting this year as we return to celebrating First Street’s dynamic community, whilst still respecting the need to take precautions to prevent the spread of Covid-19.”
The Summer of Sport is taking place at First Street from June 28 to August 13.
The easing of restrictions this week saw the reopening of the much anticipated Ticket Hall at Escape to Freight Island – the cavernous interior of the Mayfield depot.
The Ticket Hall originally opened at the end of October last year for just a few days before it was forced to close in the second UK lockdown in November.
Alongside the existing food operators Baratxuri, Madre Tacos, Voodoo Rays, Patty Queen and KRUM, the space now houses five new food traders and a total of five bars, as well as plenty of seating and a stage.
The first new food trader to open with the Ticket Hall is Belzan Pasta Kitchen whose original restaurant opened in Liverpool four years ago. Fusing Italian recipes seasonal with British produce, the monthly changing menu of pasta dishes and small plates at Freight Island focuses on locality and seasonality.
Belzan Pasta Kitchen
This month’s menu includes 12-hour lamb ragu with papperdelle, Braised ‘nduja rigatoni and Mushroom and truffle fazoletti with cured yolk. Small plates include deep fried rabbit with salsa verde, burrata with raspberry vinegar and bone marrow topped with pesto and pickled fennel.
The plates are uncomplicated, beautifully crafted and delicious.
Bone marrow from Belzan Pasta Kitchen
Authentic Vietnamese food has now come to Freight Island too with the arrival of Northenden favourite Mi and Pho.
The menu includes traditional Pho, summer rolls, salads, salt and pepper chicken wings, crispy squid and more.
Summer rolls from Mi and Pho
Next, Maison Breizh is serving a slice of Brittany with a menu of savoury and sweet galettes and crepes. The toppings include regional produce from across North West England including Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire curds, smoked ham and free range eggs from Cheshire.
Dessert crepes include crepe beurre (just Breton salted butter), salted caramel, caramelised banana and melting shards of chocolate.
Serving ‘delicious food that just happens to be vegan’ is Plant Grill, from the brains behind Firebird Hope and KRUM.
Plant Grill
There’s a spicy fried tofu ‘pinger’ burger with kimchi and ‘pinger’ mayo, celeriac shawarma, crispy charlotte potatoes and black cardamom gravy.
A new low intervention bistrot, Forever Changes is serving speciality wine and small plates with an 100 bottle strong wine list and a menu of artisan cheeses, meats, bread, olives and small plates.
Cocktails from The Jane Eyre
Upstairs, in their mezzanine bar is The Jane Eyre cocktail bar serving classic and signature cocktails. There’s also a Pomona Island craft beer bar and a Koppaberg bar.
The Ticket Hall has greatly increased the capacity at Freight Island which has tables available to book for both its indoor and outdoor spaces.
From this week, every venue in the city has been able to open its doors for the first time in over half a year. People will be able to sit inside, outside, wherever they damn please (probably still at a table though, guys).
It’s the burst of life that we’ve all been waiting for. But as ever, behind that pint, that slice of pizza, that beautiful of plate of food, is a team of servers, bartenders, chefs, cocktail whizzes, wine buffs, managers, and the washer-upper.
For venues, it’s been challenging to find the people with the right skills and experience. After 12 months of furlough and a lack of new jobs, the demand for great talent in restaurants and bars has sky-rocketed. This means that for people searching for jobs or careers in hospitality, there are some great opportunities to be had.
With these venues Common & Co is on a mission to ‘re-invent the pub and pizza’ and they want the best people to join them on the journey. They are currently looking recruiting for various roles at their sites, including a position as the General Manager at Cornerstone.
Jonny and Charlotte Heyes from Common & Co with some of the team
Unlike in other countries, working in hospitality isn’t necessarily treated as a career in the UK, something that Common & Co owners, Jonny and Charlotte Heyes say is down to many factors.
Jonny said: “We had predicted that recruitment was going to be a challenge this year with the pandemic combining with Brexit. Over the last year we’ve accelerated our plans to address this, such as adopting the real living wage, realigning our business model and introducing more technology (app ordering etc.). Nevertheless it’s still a very tough climate out there, good staff are hard to find and pay is on the up fairly rapidly. However, this could prove to be an important adjustment for the industry in regards to pay and conditions. There are myriad issues within the industry which have long been overdue for reform; pay, tipping, service charge, business rates, VAT rates all among them.
“I believe hospitality to be an industry where people with passion will find a career which develops a unique set of skills and experiences and an opportunity for personal growth. This message needs to get out there to counter some of the negativity I’ve been seeing from people who I don’t think really understand the industry. It will always require you to be hard working, willing to work at weekends, willing to work evenings, however it can offer one of the most exciting, creative, social, flexible and entrepreneurial jobs of any industry.
“Margins in this business can be small and any improvements in pay and conditions will inevitably be passed on to the customer, now is as good a time as any to be honest with customers about what our service truly costs.”
“Now’s time to be honest with customers about what our service truly costs.
In the attempt to make their venues an enjoyable and fair place to work, Common & Co offers employees a living wage, leadership skills development and management training, multi-site progression opportunities and company wide discounts on food and drink.
A work-life balance is encouraged with 45 hour weeks and two days off for managers. There is a competitive annual salary and a 10% bonus, as well as four week payroll and a workplace pension.
The team at Common & Co say their vision is centred around caring: “As a people centric hospitality and events operator we care a lot about people, our team, our customers and our community. Our purpose is to help people be happy and have a good time so that they can build their relationships and make new ones.”
Common & Co is recruiting for a full team at their new pub Cornerstone
As well as the General Manager role at Cornerstone, Common & Co is recruiting a full team for the new pub, and there are also jobs available across their other venues.
This includes bartenders, front of house staff, supervisors, pizza captains (what a title) and pizza makers.
As well as searching for hospitality professionals who they can support in the development of their hospitality career, Common & Co are also interested in speaking to ‘inexperienced wannabees’ with the right attitude
Above all, they are looking for good, kind, nice people whose values align with theirs.
If you’re interested in applying for any of the roles at Common & Co, visit: commonandco.co.uk/careers.
It’s been 197 days since we could last sit inside a restaurant or bar.
Over the last few weeks we’ve been able to eat and drink outside of the house but only in places with outdoor spaces.
Now – finally – all restaurants, bars, pubs, cafes and every other kind of dining and drinking establishment can for the first time open their doors to customers.
Here are all the places that are reopening in Manchester city centre this week – from brand new openings to restaurants that will be able to accept diners for the first time since November.
This list doesn’t include places that have already been open with outdoor seating.
Blues Kitchen serves American soul food like ribs and fried chicken
Located in the fully beautifully-restored former Victorian eye hospital on Quay Street, Blues Kitchen comprises a restaurant, bar and 500-capacity concert hall, set over two floors. There is a menu of American soul food like ribs, fried chicken and mac and cheese, and an extensive whiskey collection and 80 different bourbons, alongside cocktails, beers, wines and spirits.
The first couple of weeks are fairly booked up but there is the odd table available during the week and in the daytime. Book a table here.
Housing a salad bar, juice bar and health studio, The Green Lab is opening this week for the first time, having done takeaway and delivery over lockdown. They’re open ‘softly’ now with express lunch options available and will be fully operational from this Wednesday.
The menu includes ‘build your own’ nutrition bowls, smoothie bowls, wraps, sweet treats, as well as fresh juices and smoothies. Find out more here.
The team behind Crazy Pedros has opened a new bar in the Northern Quarter, taking over the former Eat New York site on Oldham Street. Set over two floors, Lost Cat is a neighbourhood bar with live music upstairs and will eventually house a rooftop cinema too. The food will be provided courtesy of Triple Bagels with a menu of Reuben bagels, loaded fries and more.
They aren’t taking bookings so just rock up. Open from midday every day until midnight on Sunday to Wednesday and until 3am Thursday to Saturday.
Next door to Lost Cat, Junior Jackson is a basement dive bar and ‘crazy cousin’ of Bunny Jackson’s. They’re serving a sliders from £1 including Buffalo Chicken, Fried Tofu and a Salt Beef Bagel slider (£1.50). The bar stocks over 100 American whiskeys, American beers and cocktails.
Happy hour is from 12 to 5pm every day with £3 pints, £5 frozen daiquiris and you can get an Old Fashioned for a fiver from 5 to 7pm on Fridays. No bookings, just walk ins.
Located in the former Pitcher and Piano site in Barbirolli Square, Society will house five independently-owned kitchens, a cocktail bar and specialist craft beer taproom, hosted by Hebden Bridge brewery Vocation. Traders include burger vendors Slap & Pickle, pan-Asian specialists Manzoku Street Food and Dokes Pizzeria (Elnecot’s new pizza concept).
Society Manchester opens this Thursday 20 May from 10am every day until 12am on Fridays and Saturdays and 11pm other days. For more information visit: societymanchester.com.
Opened in March this year, this week is the first time that diners will actually be able to sit inside Smithfield Social for brunch, coffee and cocktails. The cafe which took over the old Teacup site on Thomas Street is owned by Courteeners frontman Liam Fray alongside some of the team behind the Liar’s Group and TNQ.
Launching this week in Great Northern Warehouse, Lane 7 has opened with 11 ten-pin bowling lanes, as well as ping pong tables and shooting pods. When restrictions ease further, there will also be karaoke pods.
There will be burgers from Fat Hippo alongside soft and hard shakes, “gram worthy” cocktails, craft ales and spirits. Book a space here.
Lane 7 opens at Great Northern Warehouse this week
It’s gearing up to be a great summer. We can go out to eat and drink, we can once again hang out with friends and family and, all being well, the restrictions look set to continue to ease.
And every weekend this summer, you’ll be able to enjoy food from some of the freshest talent on the scene as we’ve teamed up with The Refuge for a collaborative street food takeover.
The terrace at The Refuge will house a rotating selection of street food and baked goods traders, curated by us, which will change every two weeks – serving Thursday to Sunday, 12 noon to 10pm.
First up will be the hangover-curing Birria Brother’s Tacos who pulled huge queues when they first opened at The Koffee Pot during lockdown. Alongside them will be Long Boi’s Bakehouse, the superb neighbourhood bakery in Levenshulme owned by baking duo Jenny Oakenfull and Sarah Bryan.
The Refuge terrace
Next will be noodle queen Pippy Eats, who will be showcasing recipes inspired by East and Southeast Asian cookery for one week, followed by Things Palace, a Pan Asian-inspired concept curated by Lorcán Kan from Where the Light Gets In for another week.
Accompanying both these traders for two weekends will be DGHNT, a bakery launched in lockdown by Sulin Baldwin offering some exceptional doughnut flavours such as Raspberry Pistachio Pavlova and Mango Lassi.
The final two traders announced so far are Bada Bing, the Sopranos-inspired Italian-American style sandwich deli and home of the hoagie, and Batard Bakehouse, the small batch bakehouse located in Withington Public Hall offering ‘well good bread + bangin’ bakes’.
More traders will be announced over the coming weeks.
There’ll be beers from local breweries like Shindigger and Pomona Island, as well as cocktails from batch distilled craft gin maker, Monkey 47; from classic G&Ts to more unusual tipples like Black Forest Negroni.
Luke Cowdrey from The Refuge by Volta said:
“The collaboration with EATMCR is launching so that we can support local independent businesses in Manchester in the wonderful Waterhouse Way courtyard. We look forward to coming together and enjoying the summertime at The Refuge”.
Food at the terrace will be available Thursday to Sunday
Food at the terrace is available for walk-ins and takeaway only. Orders will be made through an app.
It will be open every Thursday to Sunday, from 20 May to 22 August, from 12 noon to 10pm (hours for some traders may vary).
Keep an eye on our socials for the latest updates on traders.
A new food delivery service in launching in Manchester this weekend – promising to be an alternative to the likes of Deliveroo and Uber Eats.
Launching in Manchester on May 15, Foodstuff is a new delivery platform which lists independent restaurants and traders only.
Foodstuff first launched in Cambridge during the first lockdown by two friends, Toby and James.
The service is fully operated on bikes, meaning it is zero carbon. Foodstuff also pride themselves on their rider welfare with fair pay for riders, as well as lower fees for their partner restaurants.
“Restaurants are desperate for an alternative,” says co-founder Toby.
“The delivery industry hasn’t always treated independent restaurants and riders too kindly, so we’re here to flip that on it’s head!”
Instead of the commission-based system used by Deliveroo and Uber Eats, Foodstuff charges restaurants a flat fee per month for using the platform. Then, once the order comes in, 100% of the cost of the food goes to the restaurant, and the full delivery fee goes to the rider.
The monthly fees are worked out on a tiered system, starting from £150 per month, which works out at as equivalent of 15% of the revenue from orders, compared to the 30-35% commission rate taken when delivered through Deliveroo or Uber Eats.
Toby and James, founders of Foodstuff
James is from Cambridge but Toby, originally from London, lived in a van outside James’ house during the first lockdown while they launched the platform.
They started out with five restaurants which quickly grew to 10, 20, 30 restaurants. They then opened in their second city – Bristol – in March. Since then, they have taken 18,000 orders for restaurants.
Manchester will be the third location for the platform and will be the largest city that Foodstuff has worked in so far. Toby says:
“We earmarked Manchester as the food capital of the north, the indie mecca if you like. After being so successful in Bristol it gave us confidence we could take on a bigger city and we can’t wait to get started.
“We also know how fiercely independent and proud the people of Manchester are and we couldn’t help be a part of that.”
Each of the restaurants is vetted and tested before joining the platform. The owners are keen to make sure that Foodstuff is filled with quality independents. Chains like Greggs and Pret A Manger have approached them to join the platform but they have been turned away.
Some of the Hatch street food traders are signed up to take part too including Parmogeddon and Mor Mor.
Foodstuff works with independents only
No longer living in a van outside James’ house, Toby is moving up to Manchester for the launch of the platform where he will be looking to hire a city manager who will look after the city and eventually the region. Once this person is in place, there will be more roles available at Foodstuff too.
Foodstuff is launching in Manchester on Saturday 15 May.
The Manchester Food and Drink Festival has announced a special event for its 2021 event – a curry club in partnership with some of the city’s finest Indian restaurants.
The MFDF Curry Club will take place at Hub at Cathedral Gardens, taking over the entire space for the night for an undercover, al fresco celebration of Indian street food.
The meat-free menu will be prepared by some of the best Indian restaurants in Greater Manchester: Bundobust, Dishoom, Aunty Ji’s in Levenshulme, Sanskruti in Burnage and Lily’s in Ashton.
Restaurants taking part include Dishoom, Bundobust, Lily’s, Aunty Ji’s and Sanskruti
The event will celebrate the diverse dishes from across India. Each restaurant will be cooking up the banquet on site, serving their own signature dishes street food style.
There will be curries, chaats, Gujarati specialities, handmade sweets from Lily’s and lots more.
Tarka Dal from Aunty Ji’s
Masala Dosa from Sanskruti
The Desi Jockeys will be on the decks on the evening, playing a mix of Bollywood, Bhangra and British chart sounds.
Set across two floors, the new 3500 sq ft store is located on the ground floor of the recently completed Lightbox development.
The corner shop with a difference, General Store is a place where every day items from big brands sit happily next to craft and artisan produce from local makers.
Alongside essentials like baked beans and loo roll, customers will be able to browse products from brilliant independent brands, like Nell’s bake at home pizzas and award-winning pies from Great North Pie Co.
The shop also has refill stations, where customers can bring their own containers to fill up with grains, nuts and other dried goods, as well as laundry detergent, washing up liquid and other household essentials.
General Store in Media City
There is an on-site coffee counter serving Ancoats Coffee, juices, smoothies and cold brews, and visitors can enjoy dishes from a rotating selection of street food traders.
Plus, there will be freshly baked goods delivered regularly from local suppliers, such as Italian pastries and cakes from Lupo Caffe Italiano and Portuguese custard tarts from Just Natas.
Outdoor seating for up to 30 covers will be opening soon after the launch.
There will be freshly ground coffee from Ancoats Coffee Co
On the first floor mezzanine space, there is an ‘alcohol emporium’ with a tasting area for hosting small beer tastings with local brewers and other tasting events.
Mital Morar, Founder of Store Retail Group said:
“I’m really excited to serve the unique and diverse community at MediaCityUK. It is an amazing place and we’re looking forward to bringing something new to the area. It feels like a really special opportunity to be able to expand the business at such an exciting destination and to be so central to it.
“General Store MediaCityUK will be all about keeping things fresh – it’s a brand-new design for the store, it’s going to look brilliant – and also we’re very much about keeping the offer different and ever-changing too. We see this as an exciting step on our growth journey, as we continue to develop our brand, and we can’t wait to welcome customers to MediaCityUK”
The first floor ‘alcohol emporium’
General Store in MediaCityUK is the fourth store in Greater Manchester for Store Retail Group which opened Ancoats General Store in 2017, and has since opened the Foodhall in Stretford and Groceries and Beer in Sale.
It has also been announced that a General Store will be opening at Deansgate Square this summer and the General Stores Instagram page suggests further upcoming stores in Salford, Moss Side and Castlefield.
Manchester Pride is coming back with a bang in 2021.
The LGBTQ+ charity has announced the line up for two parts of its annual event which will take place from Friday 27 August to Monday 30 August: MCR Pride Live and The Gay Village Party.
MCR Pride Live will take place on the Saturday and Sunday nights. The venue for the festival is yet to be announced but will be revealed in the coming weeks.
Sunday night will see Swedish singer Zara Larsson take to the stage. She will be joined by Ella Henderson, Garbielle, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Eve and Lucy Spraggan. The stage will be hosted by Danny Beard, Cheddar Gorgeous, Anna Phylactic, The Manchester Queens and House of Blaque.
Hosting the stage on Saturday night will be La Discotheque and House of Ghetto with live performances from Sigala, Annie Mac, Katy B and Example.
There is also one more headline act who’s identity will remain a mystery until right up to the event itself. This final artist will be announced on Friday 27 August – the first day of the Manchester Pride festival.
MCR Pride Live 2021 line up
The Gay Village Party will take place across all four days of the bank holiday weekend. A street party atmosphere with performances, markets and parties throughout.
There will be live performances across the Alan Turing Stage in Sackville Gardens, MancUnity Stage, Playground Stage and Superbia presents Queer Music Stage.
Highlights will include Trans Creative presents Trans Pride Rally, as well as Danny Beard and Friends, Black Pride MCR Takeover and Fat Pride.
Also returning for 2021 will be favourites such as the silent disco, sing-along cinema, the marketplace and the fairground rides.
The Gay Village Party will take place across all four days of the bank holiday weekend
Tickets to the Festival went on sale last month and the weekend MCR Pride Live Rainbow Passes sold out in less than an hour. A limited number of weekend and day passes will be released at 12pm on Friday 30 April.
Rainbow Passes, which allow access to MCR Pride Live Festival and four days at the Gay Village Party, start at £55 for a day or £84.50 for the weekend and Gay Village Party tickets are £17.50 for one day or £25.00 for all four days.
New for this year, Pride has announced the introduction of a Low Income Ticket, reserved for those with a limited income. These tickets are at a reduced ticket price of 50% and are sold on a first come first served basis until 30 June 2021, or until they sell out.
To qualify, attendees will need to provide evidence of one of the following: Universal Credit Working Tax Credit, Job Seekers Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance.
Mark Fletcher, CEO of Manchester Pride, said:
“I’m really happy that we are able to share this announcement today. With many artists having decided not to tour this year, my team has worked twice as hard to secure a first class lineup of performers who are each excited to be able to celebrate LGBTQ+ life with us, in person this year. And unless the roadmap to recovery changes we can’t wait to come back together once again.
“MCR Pride Live will be in a new home, with a reduced capacity but the standard of talent on the stage remains exceptional and we know that our loyal and excited audience will love the programming across all of the events. Tickets to MCR Pride Live are very limited now and the Gay Village Party is selling fast, so I urge everyone that wants to come to buy them before they sell out.”
Manchester Pride Festival is taking place from Friday 27 August until Monday 30 August at various venues in the Gay Village and another venue yet to be announced.
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