Black Milk Cereal is opening up a new cafe inside a former cinema
Manchester dessert heroes Black Milk have revealed plans to launch a new gelato range in signature flavours like Biscoff and hazelnut cream, and hinted at releasing a new baked goods menu in the near future...
Manchester’s favourite ‘cereal’ cafe, Black Milk, has revealed plans to open a new dessert spot next month inside Macclesfield’s Picturedrome.
Set to open in early February, its new cafe will serve up all of Black Milk’s signature sweet treats alongside some brand new baked ones as it takes on its own unit inside the former cinema.
It will join the likes of Reserve Wine x Tender Cow, Honest Crust, Savages Mussels Terroni and Rubens inside the Picturedrome, an old early 20th-century cinema re-imagined by the team behind Altrincham Market, Market House Alty and Mackie Mayor into a thriving independent food hall.
Having previously held successful pop-ups at sister site Mackie Mayor last year, when an opportunity arose for Black Milk to permanently join the site in Cheshire it seemed like a no-brainer.
The Black Milk team announced the move on its Instagram page over the weekend, adding that they were looking for a pastry chef to join them – suggesting that the menu here may well take a turn into new territory in the coming months.
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Its full menu and the Black Milk shop will both be made available at the new site, as well as a range of delicious baked treats. These new treats are being kept close to its chest for now, but we’re promised all will be revealed soon.
In a first for Black Milk, it will also begin to offer luxury Italian gelato at Picturedrome in its signature flavours of hazelnut cream, pistachio, Biscoff and cookies & cream.
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Visitors to the new Macclesfield site can expect milkshakes, loaded freak shakes, alcoholic milkshakes in flavours like espresso martini and white Russian, plus heaped ice cream sundaes and Biscoff and red velvet cheesecakes.
Its current Manchester cafe, which is found on Oldham street, is currently shut for a kitchen refurbishment – leaving fans without their usual Black Milk fix.
However, the team reassured Manchester locals that this will not be for much longer – promising that their city centre kitchen will be open again mid-February once an upgrade to its kitchen is completed.
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Black Milk also has another site in London.
In a post shared to Instagram, the cafe wrote: “ANNOUNCEMENT. We are delighted to let you know that we will be opening at @picturedromemacc in Macclesfield in early February.
“We will be serving up our signature treats alongside new baked ones!
“If you are based in Macclesfield, we are looking for a pastry chef to join the team. To apply please send your cv to [email protected]
“P.S. Black Milk Manchester will be back mid-February after a kitchen upgrade.”
Black Milk opened the city’s first ‘cereal cafe’ in Manchester city centre in 2015, with just five tables crammed into a small space inside Affleck’s.
In these early days, it drew inspiration from Momofuku’s Milk Bar in New York and Cereal Killer in London, serving up breakfast cereals from around the globe with a huge range of different kinds of milk – including one infused with squid ink, from which it takes its name.
Seven years on and its menu has come a long way, with popular items today focused more around indulgent desserts, freakshakes and lavish hot chocolates.
Customer favourites include Bailey’s hot chocolate and Kinderella milkshakes, but Black Milk sells all sorts from a huge varied menu.
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An Instagram page bulging with pictures of loaded pancakes, cookie pies and cheesecakes, all made using the various spreads and sauces sold as part of Black Milk’s shop, is enough to make anyone drool.
Speaking on the new opening, Andy from Black Milk said: “We are delighted to be moving into such an incredible venue. It will be the first of our adventures into Cheshire where we see a great opportunity to serve our treats to a whole new audience.
“We’d like to thank the team behind Picturedrome for asking us to join an incredible group of independent food and drink brands in Macclesfield.
“We look forward to meeting everyone within the next few weeks.”
Jake from Picturedrome added: “We are delighted to welcome Black Milk to Picturedrome Macclesfield after a series of popular events at our partner venue Mackie Mayor.”
To find out more about what Black Milk has in store ahead of the new opening, make sure to follow them on Instagram here. To shop their at-home treats, visit the shop here.
Manchester’s viral sandwich shop Ad Maiora is selling HUGE butties for only 9p through Deliveroo
Daisy Jackson
Ad Maiora, the Italian sandwich shop that’s loved by Manchester City stars (and everyone else who’s sunk their teeth into one), is selling butties for only 9p this week.
The local business is famed for its authentic sandwiches filled with quality imported Italian ingredients, and for its super-sized versions of its delicious lunches.
And this week only, you’ll be able to pick up a hefty sandwich, called the Scran-wich, for only 9 English pence.
The limited-edition Schiacciata will have nine different components and weighs in at a whopping 500g (though it’s nothing on their 1kg beast we’ve tried before…)
Owners and couple Enrico and Daniela have spent weeks developing the perfect balance of flavours.
Each ingredient is sourced in Italy but inspired by places and sayings from Manchester.
So you’ll find spicy ‘supersonic’ salami, nowt better N’duja, mozzarella ‘footballs’, sliced Haçienda heritage tomatoes, ‘r kid Italian wild rocket, 0161 olives, lashings of mad fer it mayonnaise, ‘buzzing bee’ basil leaves and ‘let’s ave it’ red onions – all sandwiched between fresh homemade Scran-worthy Schiacciata bread.
The Scran-wich and its 9p sale have been created to celebrate Deliveroo’s ninth birthday, and there’ll be 300 available to order through Deliveroo.
Enrico and Daniela, owners of Ad Maiora, said: “We’ve had so much support from the local community since we launched, so we were very excited when Deliveroo asked us to create a special Ad Maiora sandwich dedicated to the city of Manchester in celebration of their 9th birthday.
“We hope our customers love the limited-edition ‘Scran-wich’ – we’ve really enjoyed creating a sandwich that celebrates our city which makes this SUPER limited edition and special!”
Steffi Morel, Deliveroo city manager for Manchester, said: “It has been an absolute honour connecting Manc foodies to the best local restaurants at the click of a button for the last nine years.
“To celebrate, we’ve partnered with one of Manchester’s new local favourites, Ad Maiora, who’ve created the ultimate birthday ‘Scran-wich’, which pays homage to the city with every delicious bite! Deliveroo customers will need to be quick, as there are only 300 available!”
Ad Maiora’s Scran-wich is available for just 9p from Tuesday 30 April until Thursday 2 May through Deliveroo.
Medlock Canteen receives rave Guardian review from Jay Rayner just one month after opening
Daisy Jackson
Medlock Canteen, a new Manchester restaurant, has received a rave review in the Guardian just weeks after it opened.
National critic Jay Rayner has heaped praise upon the restaurant at Deansgate Square, describing it as ‘so special’.
The restaurant only opened its doors at the end of March, taking its inspiration from opposite sides of the pond – the laid-back style of American diners and the hospitality of Parisian bistros.
Rayner said it’s ‘a welcome haven for all’ and applauded its menu packed with ‘appealing, familiar dishes that are the best versions of themselves’.
Medlock Canteen comes from the team behind Madre (the Mexican restaurant at Kampus) and Belzan (one of Liverpool’s top restaurants).
But unlike those two restaurants, things are much simpler at their newest venture – this is a restaurant where you can order a fried egg with any meal, drink bottomless coffee, and even order the day’s ‘staff dinner’ for just a tenner.
Rayner dedicated almost an entire paragraph of his review to Medlock Canteen’s gravy (‘dark and sticky and deeply savoury’), which he said is so good you should just ‘order that and pour it over everything. Pour it over a friend’.
He also waxed lyrical about their rotisserie chicken (there are rows of the things rotating in the city’s first in-restaurant rotisserie chicken oven), of which he said: “It is everything those words promise and don’t always deliver. No special rubs or sauces. Just roast chicken, rested long enough for the meat to start shrugging itself off the bones. The skin is crisp and salty.”
Inside Medlock Canteen in Manchester, which just received a rave review in The Guardian. Credit: The Manc Group
Other dishes that were celebrated in the Guardian’s review of Medlock Canteen included a rhubarb pie, charcoal-grilled fish of the day, duck rillettes and pistachio frangipane tart.
The restaurant itself said there were ‘happy faces’ after the review was published over the weekend.
Medlock Canteen wrote on Instagram: “Manchester may be grey this Sunday, but let us tell you, there are a few happy faces both on and behind the scenes as we enjoy our morning brew, reading through the kind words of @jayrayner1 in the @guardian.
“Thanks go to our team and our guests for all the hard work, dedication, and pure passion that has made Medlock Canteen ‘a welcome haven for one and all.’
“Anyway, enough of that. Just another day. Just another ‘set of appealing, familiar dishes that are the best versions of themselves.’
“Caution: gravy jus may be thrown. Let Sunday service commence.”