{"id":4342,"date":"2021-06-25T13:18:52","date_gmt":"2021-06-25T13:18:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eatmcr.co.uk\/?p=4342"},"modified":"2021-06-25T13:20:05","modified_gmt":"2021-06-25T13:20:05","slug":"how-to-celebrate-anthony-bourdain-day-in-manchester-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eatmcr.co.uk\/featured\/how-to-celebrate-anthony-bourdain-day-in-manchester-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Celebrate Anthony Bourdain Day In Manchester: Part Two"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cYou learn a lot about someone when you share a meal together.\u201d<\/em><\/p>– Anthony Bourdain<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Part One of this piece can be read HERE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The barman informs us the drinks are courtesy of the table across the room, as he produces two hefty double measures of Bourbon, followed, bleakly, by the same measures of pickle brine. Mary-Ellen McTague<\/a>, the well renowned and well travelled chef and owner of Chorlton’s The Creameries<\/a> and my drinking partner for the evening, exhales a doomed sigh of acceptance, like a mobster boxed in by a rival family’s firing squad. We shoot each other an ‘oh shit’ and quickly glug back our fates. Our second round of picklebacks tartly tormenting our stomachs, Mary-Ellen’s friends on the opposite table, the culprits of our incoming downfall, all now sporting the appropriate Cheshire Cat complexions. Fuckers. “In fairness,” <\/em>Mary-Ellen surmises, “top shelf bourbon and pickle juice feels like a very Bourdain round of drinks.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just two days earlier, far away from Hawksmoor’s<\/a> Don Draper demeanour, a bench outside the Northern Quarter’s Wheatsheaf is occupied by India Morris<\/a>, the self proclaimed ‘Professional Bullshitter’ (a job title we should all aspire towards, tbh), ‘Croissant Connoisseur’ and, perhaps most brilliantly, ‘Mother of Whippets’. Chances are, if you’ve spent more than a minute in the Northern Quarter, you will have seen or encountered India, such is her affinity and devotion to the neighbourhood. There are rumours that, on the rare occasions she steps foot outside it’s boundaries, her entire body grinds to a halt, much like when you push a shopping trolley off the car park at ASDA. Her work as Director of Pear COMMS keeps her well occupied with many of the city’s most exciting dining establishments. Add to this mix her penchant for pints in old pubs and street corner butty shops and India was a natural fit to talk about Anthony Bourdain with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d bring Anthony Bourdain to the Wheatsheaf. It\u2019s funny as fuck. You just come and have a pint, everyone\u2019s mental, he\u2019d love it here.\u201d<\/em><\/p>– India Morris<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It’s hard to fuck with that statement. Knowing the frequency with which Bourdain would belly up to a bar, mid-afternoon for a Guinness or four, taking in the locals, unflinching in his dedication to the black stuff and cheap, cold beer, away from the craft ale crowd, the Parts Unknown Powerhouse would have been right at home at The Wheatsheaf, where the conversations transition seamlessly from previous lives selling stolen goods in corner shops to one of the regulars discovering a rogue dildo in their wheelie bin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Just gonna see this off then pints in The Wheatsheaf”. Image: India Morris\/instagram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As one of the founders of the PPA award-winning Restaurant magazine and the 50 Best Restaurants in the World awards, on top of his tremendous work as a speaker, consultant and writer on food and drink and art and culture in the North of England, Thom Hetherington<\/a> is as firmly entrenched in Mancunian hospitality as anyone. Oh, and he also has a previous with Bourdain himself. But more on that a little later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final contributor to this two part series on all things Bourdain is Carl Anka<\/a>. A newcomer to the city as The Athletic’s Manchester United reporter, Carl recently collaborated with Marcus Rashford on the writing of the real leader of the country’s ‘You Are A Champion’ book, which has topped the bestseller charts for the last four weeks now. You will also likely know him from his numerous television and radio appearances, fighting the good fight for Mental Health and writing for the likes of The Guardian, Vice, GQ, BBC and NME. Oh, and he has a podcast with Ian Wright<\/a>. Yes it’s brilliant and yes you should be listening to it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally from London, Carl settled in Manchester last summer, meaning a pandemic ridden 10 months in which experiencing the city’s true culture and identity hasn’t always been straightforward. But as a Bourdain devotee who is experiencing Manchester as a new arrival, armed with the great man’s life lessons about travel and immersing yourself in new places, Carl made too much sense not to talk to on Bourdain Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The bit of Bourdain wisdom that made it easier for me to settle in Manchester was ‘Go and find people’s junk food if you want to understand a people.’ That stuck with me.”<\/em><\/p>– Carl Anka<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Here they are, the lads. Image: Fabio De Paola\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

He would have been 65 today, Bourdain. Sixty five. An Old Age Pensioner here in the UK. Retirement age. Obviously, none of those words would have ever actually applied to him. There was never going to be a retirement for a man who’s appetite for life was so enormous while he was still here. While we may never know why Bourdain chose to end his own life in that Strasbourg hotel room on 8th June, 2018, we do know that when he was with us, he wanted to consume as much of everything as humanly possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But where would our chosen quartet most like to spend their ideal ‘Bourdain Day’ in honour of our favourite consumer of ‘meat in tube form’s’ birthday?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thom’s aforementioned previous with Bourdain is actually the most tragically hilarious ‘Bourdain Day’ in itself, so we’ll save that for dessert. Actually, no, it’s more of a 3am kebab than a dessert. You’ll see why in a little bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With * gestures vaguely towards outside * all this that’s been going on, Carl may not be able to provide a blow-by-blow account of which eateries and drinking dens he would venture in and out of, but he knows exactly where he would have taken Bourdain had the opportunity ever presented itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Lockdown means I haven\u2019t experienced too many places in Manchester since moving, but I would probably take him to Rita\u2019s Reign Street Food<\/a>, which opens on Piccadilly Street Food Market Wednesday to Sunday. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I\u2019d get him a combi box, and make a joke about how serving jollof rice AND rice and peas in the same dish is a diaspora link up and get him an extra dumpling. Then I’d take him on a walk of the canals and ask him about plantain.<\/em>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A post shared by Rita\u2019s Reign (@ritasreignstreetfood)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>