Five of Manchester’s finest and best-loved restaurants are battling it out in a unique cooking and cocktail and service competition on Wednesday 20 October.
As part of Edrington UK’s ‘CREATE’ project – an advocacy programme highlighting the strength in collaboration between the kitchen, the front of house, and the bartender teams – the chefs and bar staff at Australasia, Tast, Tariff & Dale, The Alchemist, and New World Trading Company – who own The Botanist – have been prepping and practicing ahead of the brand-new competition that’s challenging them to think differently about spirits.
The chefs and bar staff have been tasked with coming up with some tasty dishes and cocktails that each use a different brand of spirit, and these will then be expertly presented by the front of house to an exclusive, industry-leading judging panel on Wednesday.
Forget wine, the chefs taking part in CREATE will be cooking with Highland Park single malt whisky, Roku gin, and more.
CREATE is focusing on the importance of food pairing and service when creating the perfect consumer experience.
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It may be a competition, but this one-of-a-kind project has also given the participants one-on-one time with CREATE’s industry experts to allow for mentorship and coaching ahead of the big day.
CREATE’s founders say the project is about “crafting the spirit in food, together”.
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The restaurants and bars have been tasked with coming up with some tasty dishes and cocktails that each use a different brand of spirit / Credit: The Manc Group
The Manc’s very-own Food & Drink Editor, Georgina Pellant, will be on the judging panel at the competition – which is taking place at the neutral venue of Hilltop Country House in Macclesfield.
And our presenter and food-enthusiast, Joe McGrath, was also lucky enough to get to chat with two chefs and one bartender last week to find out how they were getting on in preparation for the big day and even get to sample some of the amazing food and drinks they’ve created and perfected using their chosen spirit.
The lucky winner of the competition will get some amazing prizes that will benefit the team at the restaurant, with features in CLASS Magazine, bespoke bar kits, and first-class butchery courses all up for grabs.
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Edrington UK will also be taking five of the winning accounts front of house staff through WSET Level 1 in Spirits.
All the restaurants taking part will get to make valuable connections and build long-lasting relationships with Edrington UK’s committed customers too.
CREATE kicks off at 9am on Wednesday 20 October at Hilltop Country House.
Featured Image – The Manc Group
Food & Drink
A pub in Stockport has launched a full Scotch egg menu
Daisy Jackson
It’s one of the world’s greatest snacks, especially when paired with a decent pint – and now a local pub is doing a whole Scotch egg menu.
The Davenport Arms over in Stockport is running a ‘Scotch Egg Week’, with a whole host of different Scotch eggs.
There’s even a dessert one, made with a Creme Egg instead of a real one.
The historic pub, which is known locally as The Thief’s Neck (and displays both names on its signs), is filled with cosy corners and snug rooms.
It’s an independently-run pub that operates under the Robinson’s Brewery family, with beers brewed just down the road in Stockport.
And now the local boozer is doing a full menu of homemade Scotch eggs, for one week only, each served with the perfect condiment.
There’ll be ‘The Classic’, where pork meat is wrapped around a perfect jammy-yolked egg, served with house piccalilli.
The Manchester EggA classic Scotch eggThe Davenport Arms, known locally as The Thief’s NeckInside the pub
Or you can get the much-loved Manchester egg, which features black pudding and a pickled Scotch egg, served with mustard mayo on the side.
Fish fans can grab a smoked haddock Scotch egg served with a curried mayo.
And for vegetarians, there’s one made with cheese and onion instead of meat, served with a house tomato relish.
There’s even a sweet one – a Creme Egg encased in brownie mix, and then wrapped in a Biscoff crumb, served with ice cream.
And if you really can’t decide, The Davenport Arms will do you a full platter of all of the above, for £29.95.
The Scotch Egg menu is available from Monday 30 March until Saturday 4 April and you can see more HERE.
One of Manchester’s grandest restaurants has finally reopened TWO YEARS after fire
Daisy Jackson
One of the most historic restaurants in Manchester has reopened at last, two years after a fire forced its closure.
Mount Street Dining Room & Bar – which many of us may remember as Mr Cooper’s – stands within the Grade II-listed Midland Hotel.
The grand dining room dates all the way back to 1903, when it opened with the hotel as the Grill Room.
The restaurant was at the epicentre of the Industrial Revolution and was frequented by railway travellers, perhaps best-known for hosting a lunch between Charles Rolls and Henry Royce in 1904, who went on to form the world-famous Rolls-Royce brand.
The Midland’s restaurants has gone through several changes in the decades since, undergoing a major £14 million refurb in 2020 to relaunch as Mount Street Dining Room & Bar.
Its interiors are inspired by the hotel’s early 1900s art deco and railway heritage, with a menu that focuses on locally-sourced British produce.
But the restaurant has been shut since early 2024, when a fire damaged the entrance and trellising around its main entrance on Mount Street.
The beautiful bar areaA glimpse of the menu at Mount StreetCocktails and British food
The Midland has finally managed to get the restaurant back open again this month, with a new food and cocktail menus, which aims to offer refined but simple British dining.
Expect dishes like pork and black pudding bonbons, white onion soup with crispy potatoes, smoked British salmon with lemon gel and dill mascarpone, and slow cooked beef daube with confit garlic mash.
Plus desserts such as rice pudding with Anise glazed pearsand Bakewell pudding with cherry syrup.
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen inside this beautiful, storied dining room – and it looks just as beautiful as we remember.
Emily Sergeant -
19th October 2021 
