Manchester’s tiniest tapas bar has found itself a new home in Stretford, just two months after closing its doors at Hatch.
For the next couple of weeks, Abeja Tapas Bar will be popping up at Stretford Food Hall – serving up authentic tapas dishes from owner Ana Villegas’ home region of Granada from now until Wednesday, 30 March 2022.
After that, owners have hinted at opening their own restaurant – although more details are still to be revealed.
First founded in 2019, the southern Spanish kitchen became hugely popular during its time at Hatch, where it carved out a niche for itself as the city’s tiniest tapas bar – having room for just 15 covers.
Image: Abeja
Alongside painstakingly-sourced plates of charcuterie and cheese, Abeja was known for inventive and unusual dishes like aubergine fries with molasses, and also promoted fine wines and spirits from Granada.
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Now, it’s back for a limited time only – giving fans a chance to sample some of their favourite dishes once again.
Staples like croquetas, tortillas and patatas bravas will all be available, alongside more unique Spanish dishes adapted from family recipes passed down to Ana through generations.
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Image: Abeja
Image: Abeja
Image: Abeja
Special dishes from Granada, such as her Olla Gitana – a traditional hometown stew – are what you’re really coming down for though.
You can get a plate of patatas bravas anywhere, after all.
When the team announced plans to close their Hatch site in January this year, they wrote on social media that it had been ‘an incredible journey […] despite opening a few months before Covid’.
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Having begun the business with zero experience in the hospitality industry (Villegas left a career as a research scientist to open Abeja), it was with heavy hearts that they decided it was time to move on from Hatch.
However, they also hinted towards plans for a new site all of their own, adding “this is far from the end for Abeja – we are moving on to bigger and better things… We will be announcing some very exciting news about a new, independent venue very soon!”
More information on the new opening is yet to be released, but in the meantime, Abeja fans should make sure to go and enjoy Ana’s inventive cooking over in Stretford.
Speaking on the pop-up tour, owner Ana said: “Cooking for others brings us closer and creates incredible memories, which is something I’ve always wanted to do with Abeja Tapas – the company is a tribute to the great cooks in my family, especially my grandmother Maria.
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I’m delighted to join up with Foodhalls… It’s the first time we’ve cooked in Stretford or Sale, and I can’t wait to share my dishes with these new wonderful communities”
Maisie Chow, Foodhalls Manager added: “We’re so excited to be welcoming Ana and her incredible Spanish cuisine to our foodhalls this month! The Abeja team are known for their meticulous approach to sourcing ingredients that make their dishes extra special and they are going to bring a true taste of Spain to Trafford this March!”
Feature image – Abeja
News
The Boots recycling scheme where you can get £5 off every shop
Thomas Melia
UK high street retailer and healthcare shop Boots has launched an innovative recycling scheme that entitles customers to £5 off their future shopping trips.
If you’re still struggling to come up with a New Year’s resolution, why not try a spot of recycling and earn some money off your next cosmetics shop while you’re at it?
Started in 2020, the Boots Recycling Scheme allows Advantage Card holders the opportunity to get money while also being more conscious about how we recycle our used health and beauty products.
Their third-party app, Recycle at Boots, uses a ‘Scan2Recycle‘ system where users can upload items from various beauty brands by taking a picture of the empty packaging before identifying its form.
This scheme takes items that can’t usually be recycled at home, such as lotion pumps, toothpaste tubes, lipstick, mascaras, travel minis, make-up palettes and more.
Once you have five items approved, head over to your nearest participating Boots store, drop off your empties and scan the QR code on the deposit box.
After you’ve followed all these steps, a voucher will appear entitling you to 500 Advantage Points when you spend £10 in-store at your nearest location, and not only do you have £5 worth of points with your name on it, you’re also an eco-warrior.
There’s even a dedicated section of the app to recycling empty medicine and vitamin blister packs, which gives customers 100 Advantage Points when they spend £5 in-store.
Brilliant.
Credit: Publicity pictures (supplied)
Items dropped into these deposit boxes are taken to MyGroup, a recycling and waste management service which works around the clock to help divert waste from landfill.
These empties will be washed and traditionally recycled into a material called MyBoard, a construction board material most similar to plywood, with lots of different uses.
Nearest Boots locations in Manchester running the Recycle at Boots scheme:
Manchester Market Street – 32 Market Street, M1 1PL
Salford Regent Park – Regents Park, M5 3TP
Manchester Didsbury – 736-740 Wilmslow Road, M20 2DW
The Trafford Centre – 10 Peel Avenue, M17 8BD
Trafford Retail Park – Neary Way, M41 7FN
If you’re up for getting money off your next Boots splurge while also helping recycle cosmetics containers and more, you can download the Recycle at Boots app and find your nearest HERE.
Manchester United issue statement after Bruno Fernandes’ social media is hacked
Danny Jones
Manchester United were forced to issue an official statement following Bruno Fernandes’ social media being hacked.
The Man United star’s digital profile was hijacked in the wake of the defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion this weekend, which saw the Red Devils knocked out of the FA Cup and, it’s fair to say, quite the flurry of activity online.
As if to add insult to injury, with United‘s exit from the competition, a user then commandeered the club captain’s presence to share several fake posts.
With the official Bruno Fernandes X account being targeted following the game, the club had no choice but to respond after several controversial and/or inappropriate posts, not to mention multiple instances of general anti-ownership sentiment.
In case you didn’t see any of the since-deleted posts, besides one understandably troublesome comment which read, “let’s get rid of INEOS“, others were even more provocative/inflammatory.
The comments ranged from everything between messages @ing darts player and United fan Luke Littler to influencers like KSI and Jake Paul.
Offensive language was also present in many of them.
As for the Portuguese midfielder, he also quickly clarified that he obviously had no involvement in the activity; meanwhile, despite plenty of players coming out to apologise for the defeat on Sunday night, the skipper is yet to address the disappointment directly.
The loss to Brighton confirmed that Manchester United will be playing just 40 games for the rest of the campaign – the fewest since the 1914/15 season (i.e. at the outset of the First World War) – which serves as yet another unwanted record for the club of late.
You can see the highlights for the game down below.
It is also likely to have been caretaker manager Darren Fletcher’s final game in charge of the Reds, with an interim replacement set to be appointed imminently following Ruben Amorim’s shock sacking earlier this month.
His predecessor, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, also looked like the frontrunner at one point – and could still be involved in a backroom setup – but The Athletic now has it that Carrick could be is odds-on favourite to be announced before the Manchester derby.
Nevertheless, plenty of supporters still feel the problems remain deeply rooted throughout the club and that a change of personnel among the coaching staff still may not be enough…
Georgina Pellant -
23rd March 2022 
