An Altrincham-based chef, who is proudly “made in Manchester”, is set to represent our region in the latest series of Great British Menu.
Ashwani Rangta is currently the executive chef at GupShup in Hale.
Originally hailing from Shimla in northern India and now a respected name in the Greater Manchester food scene, Ashwani was the chef in charge at the award-winning restaurant of the luxury ITC Gardenia hotel in Bangalore, and was headhunted to run much-loved Manchester city centre-based Indian restaurant, Asha’s, before assuming his role at GupShup in the affluent Trafford suburb.
He has won multiple food awards throughout his career, including City Restaurant of the Year 2017, Best Indian Restaurant in Manchester, and in 2018, he won Best in North West Asian Curry Awards at Asha’s.
Ashwani’s style of food is said to be pan-Asian with modern British influences.
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And he’s set to showcase this style of food as the smash-hit BBC show Great British Menu returns to our TV screens for its 16th series – which is tipped to be the most inventive one yet – next week.
Taking inspiration from early inventors in the world of computing – with 2021 marking the 30th anniversary of Sir Timothy Berners-Lee creating the world wide web – right through to modern-day medical pioneers and more, this series’ competing chefs will be demonstrating their culinary creativity through dishes that celebrate British innovation.
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There will be three episodes a week for the next eight weeks, covering each regional heat, and the chefs will have to prove their originality and technical flair to be in with the chance of serving their creations at thebanquet in the final.
In the North West heat, Ashwani will be up against Blackburn-born Kirk Haworth from Plates in London, Dan McGeorge from Rothay Manor in the Lake District, and Dave Critchley from Lu Ban in Liverpool.
Ashwani has described his time on the competition as an “exhilarating experience”.
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Speaking on the return of Great British Menu, chef Rachel Khoo – who will join long-standing judges Matthew Fort and Oliver Peyton OBE on the judging panel this year, alongside a different guest judge each week – said: “I am delighted to be taking on the role of judge at the Great British Menu.
“We have some extraordinary chefs in the UK and the programme does a great job of showcasing that homegrown talent.
“I’m so proud to be part of the series and I can’t wait for viewers to see what’s in store”.
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Great British Menu returns to BBC Two on Wednesday 24th March at 8pm.
Food & Drink
Electrik Bar in Chorlton is giving away 100 FREE frankfurters to celebrate their latest kitchen collab
Danny Jones
We all love a freebie, so we thought we’d spread the good word of the scran lords by letting you know that Electrik over in Chorlton is giving away 100 free frankfurters to celebrate their newest menu takeover.
The popular neighbourhood bar and kitchen on Wilbraham Road in the South Manchester suburb has had a couple of different foodie collaborations over the past couple of years, with local residents Paramogeddon and Four Side Vegan Pizza being the most recent, but now they’re doing hot dogs.
Welcoming their latest vendors Tisch Und Teller, Electrik will be giving away a total of 100 free frankfurters to the first century of people there this evening.
Bringing a taste of Berlin, Bavaria, Frankfurt and more (with a Manc twist, of course) to the popular pub for the Thursday launch party, all you need to do is order a drink upon arrival to get your hands on a free frankfurter sandwiched between a lovely fluffy roll.
Who doesn’t love a hot dog? Especially when they’re giving them away.
As for Tisch Und Teller (TuT), they’ve been serving up German-inspired favourites from the likes of The Shakespeare in Manchester city centre and Nip and Tipple in Whalley Range since September last year, including some very impressive brunches and Sunday roasts.
But the brand just keeps gaining more traction and now they’re setting up shop in Electrik, we’re sure the word will continue to spread – and fast.
Better still, as advertised on the promo poster, not only will TuT now be serving up their delicious food from Electrik every Thursday-Sunday for the foreseeable but the launch party will also live music by local legend and DJing veteran, Abigail Ward of Ghost Assembly.
Free food, pints and top tunes – what more could you ask for on a random weeknight?
The offer will be available from 6pm tonight and, once again, you have to be among the first 100 people to buy a pint to be eligible for a free frankfurter.
Manchester’s new Instagrammable coffee shop is giving away FREE drinks tomorrow
Emily Sergeant
One of Manchester’s newest Instagrammable coffee shops is giving away free drinks tomorrow ahead of the bank holiday weekend.
With another long weekend right around the corner, and much of Greater Manchester and the UK fortunately looking set to bask in the springtime heat, popular coffee chain, Blank Street – which is one of Manchester city centre’s newest residents, with two sites in Piccadilly Gardens, and on the corner of King Street and Cross Street – has decided it wants to help the country “beat the 3pm slump”.
Ahead of the upcoming bank holiday weekend, the chain is inviting Mancs to “meet for matcha” tomorrow afternoon (Friday 3 May).
The exciting freebie offer is all said to be “inspired by data” that shows that almost half of office workers aren’t taking a break from their desks during the day, even despite research showing that this can boost productivity.
Hundreds of iced matcha lattes will be served up at Blank Street‘s Manchester branch on the corner of King Street and Cross Street between 3pm and 4pm tomorrow.
For anyone “ice cold pick-me-up ahead of the long weekend”, but keen not to tip their employers off, the coffee shop chain has created an online tool to allow workers to discreetly add a matcha moment to their diary.
The brand-new online tool will apparently help to “distract calendar snoopers” by creating a cleverly-named meeting and adding it automatically to Outlook, Google, or Apple calendars – with potential meeting titles that include plenty of corporate jargon to “provide the perfect alibi”.
So, all matcha fans need to do tomorrow afternoon is show the Blank Street team at their chosen branch a meeting in their calendar, and in return, they’ll receive a free small iced matcha latte of their choice from the chain’s delicious spring menu.
Blank Street’s popular matcha offering includes the Classic Matcha, the viral Blueberry Matcha, the silky-smooth White Chocolate Matcha, and the brand-new sumptuous Golden Matcha, so there’s something to “inspire every matcha lover to take a little time out”.
As matcha allows a slow release of caffeine, Blank Street says it’s the “perfect drink” to keep energy levels up throughout the afternoon when you’re stuck at your desk on a Friday.