Manchester’s giant food hall and music venue Escape to Freight Island is switching things up this spring by moving in a host of new food traders.
Dessert shops Choo Choo eclairs and Soft Boi are going, as is Baratxuri’s basque country-inspired grill from the award-winning Ramsbottom restaurant and burger joint Patty Queen.
In their places will come some exciting new additions – such as Carnival, a brand new meaty grill concept from Hawksmoor co-founder Richard Turner; and Lucky Foot, a chargrilled and deep-fried chicken offering from the same team behind popular Liverpool spots Belzan and Madre.
With all the new traders due to all be in place by mid-May at the very latest, the revamped food market will open five days a week from Wednesday to Sunday.
Keep reading to find out who’s moving in – and what to expect from their menus.
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Carnival
Image: Escape To Freight Island
Carnival is a new collaboration concept from food writer, butcher and restauranteur Richard Turner, a co-founder of some of the best grill restaurants in the country including Hawksmoor, Pitt Cue Co, Blacklock and Meatopia Festival.
Turner and the team will be taking over the grill of what previously was Baratxuri, following the departure of Rachel Stockley at its Ramsbottom site. The brand said on its departure: “After almost two years we have decided it is the time to move on to explore some new opportunities for our family-run restaurant so watch this space.”
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Using the finest produce from a single producer farm, Carnival menu highlights will include fine cuts of premium rib, porterhouse and T-bone steak, as well as pork chop with apple tamarind ketchup, lobster with wild garlic, smoked beef short ribs, crispy fried scampi and potato gratin with anchovy and parmesan.
There will also be a limited ‘Front Row Seat’ chef’s table-style tasting menu available to those who like to see all of the action. Bookings will open later this month.
The team behind Belzan refresh their current counter this month with a brand-new deep-fried and charcoal-grilled chicken offering called Lucky Foot. Serving first-class birds, there’s no need to feel guilty about where your chicken is coming from here.
As for what’s on the menu, think fried chicken burgers, different salted fries (chicken, spicy, seaweed and plain), plus massive chicken tenders and sweet potato chunks – and that’s just for starters. We’ve had a little sneak peek, and already can’t wait to go back.
Gooey
Gooey’s most recent cookie special was inspired by Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. / Image: The Manc Eats
Known for their outrageously rich (not to mention ginormous) cookies and doughnuts, Manchester bakery Gooey will move into Freight Island as part of a new 2022 dessert offering.
Fans can expect to find specials like hot cookie dough and ice cream here, as part of an exclusive offering for the market, alongside the other tasty products they’ve become so well known for.
Batard
Image: Batard
Manchester bakehouse Batard will join Gooey this April in catering to Freight diners with a sweet tooth, serving up dessert pies and ice cream to the masses.
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Pitching up outside the Plant Room, the bakehouse will have its very own diner in partnership with Wildfarmed, a community-led farming system on a mission to fix soil through regenerative farming co-founded by Andy Cato of Groove Armada.
Burgerism
Image: Burgerism
The one and only Burgerism will take over from Patty Queen at Escape to Freight Island in May, bringing what are widely considered to be the best smashed burgers in town to this corner of Piccadilly.
Fans of the brand can look forward to the famous ‘Cheesed’ burger with two smashed patties, cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion and Burgerism sauce in a brioche bun, alongside the mouthwatering chicken burger.
Escape to Freight Island’s opening hours are Wednesday and Thursday (from 4pm to 11pm), Friday (from 4pm to 1am), Saturday (from 12pm to 1am) and Sunday (from 12pm to 10pm).
Feature image – The Manc Eats / Batard / Burgerism
News
Fans are preparing to pay tribute to Mani from The Stone Roses ahead of his funeral service
Danny Jones
Stone Roses fans and Greater Manchester locals alike are getting ready to pay their respects to the late, great, Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, following his tragic passing last month.
As well as details surrounding his funeral being announced earlier this week, the iconic Manc musician’s cause of death has also finally been revealed.
While Hatton’s service featured a high-profile cortège which started all the way from his hometown of Hyde, past multiple landmarks and ending at the Etihad Stadium, those local to Mani’s family home on the edge of Stockport are also being welcomed to help send him off.
It's the funeral of Mani of the Stone Roses on the 22nd. He lived locally. This poster is asking people to line the route of his funeral cortege to "show that he truly was adored". pic.twitter.com/X0DYHl10Hp
He had been struggling with emphysema for some time; he was declared dead at his home in the suburb of Heaton Moor, and is said to have died peacefully in his sleep.
As you can see from the posters put in various places around the area, residents wishing to pay their own tributes to Mani before his private funeral service at Manchester Cathedral are encouraged to line the long street leading down from St Paul’s and Heaton Moor United Church as he heads towards the city.
Departing Parsonage Road from 10am on Monday, 22 December, before turning right onto Heaton Moor Rd, then Wellington and eventually on to the Cathedral, you can expect plenty of people to show up.
One of those people will be his former bandmate and another influential guitarist, John Squire, who is one of many famous musical names to have honoured him in their own way over the last few weeks.
Other members of The Stone Roses, as well as Primal Scream (who he joined in 1996), are expected to join the close family and friends at the service itself.
Nevertheless, we have no doubt that plenty will be observing the funeral in their own way.
So, for those of you also looking to honour him, you know what to do; and to quote the poster itself, “together we can show this local legend and his family that he was truly adored.”
Plans to transform Chorlton’s old shopping centre have been green-lit
Danny Jones
Yes, after a prolonged period of uncertainty, the plans put together for redeveloping Chorlton Cross Shopping Centre are now moving forward.
Following an extensive consultation period back in 2023 and planning permission having now been approved by Manchester City Council, the transformation of the long-neglected retail complex has been green-lit, and the project will be moving forward even sooner than you think.
As confirmed earlier this week, Stretford-based construction company PJ Livesey will be working in tandem with the Greater Manchester Pension Fund to deliver the major regeneration, which will see even more living spaces and leisure facilities arrive in the already thriving suburb.
Following an official press release on Thursday, 18 December, we’ve now been given a latest glimpse at what the developers are hoping the new Chorlton Cross district will look like.
Credit: Font Communications (supplied)
Plans for the transformation of both the high street and the old Leisure Centre date back to 2023 and even further when taking into account the Council asking the public for their thoughts on what should happen with the area, but Chorlton Cross, specifically, has been the subject of debate for some time.
The bulk of units in and around the largely forgotten shopping centre are now empty, with just a few hold-outs still clinging on to their space.
Now, following extensive feedback from native Mancs and those who have flooded into the South Manchester town over the past decade, the approved plans have now been revealed.
They include:
A mix of 262 one, two and three-bed apartments, all with access to outdoor space through balconies and gardens
20% affordable homes available through a mix of tenures, with 18.5% of these being available for social rent
Around 3,500 sq metres of public open space, including a fully walkable route through Manchester Rd and outdoor seating areas to encourage people to stop and dwell
A mix of flexible retail spaces, such as a new ‘Makers Yard’ suitable for smaller, start-up businesses
Up to 60 new trees across the site with maximised retention of existing trees
Manc filmmaker, Bernard Leach – who has been making videos about the region since 2007 – shared a longer look at how the vision for this next chapter in Chorlton‘s residential and retail history is currently shaping up earlier this month.
As you can see, some sections of the old Lancashire village and ‘cum-Hardy’ parish could look rather unrecognisable sooner than you think.
Should everything go ahead as scheduled, those involved are hoping to get work underway in the New Year, with the ‘decommissioning’ of all existing buildings, including Graeme House, undergoing demolition by early 2026.
With the majority vacating their premises in recent years, it’s fair to say that it’s been vastly underutilised for far too long.
Posting on social media back in September last year, nearby resident Nigel Woodcock wrote: “Serious question, not just councillor-baiting, but can anyone explain why the retail businesses in Chorlton Precinct were booted out before any decisions were made about what’s going to happen to it?
“It makes no sense to me. No plans have even been submitted, so far as I’m aware, so why kick out those businesses and leave it derelict for so long? The land and buildings are actually owned by the combined GM Local Authorities, so one might expect a modicum of political and business nous to be applied.”
Similar to the new plans being put together for the stretch of land between Castlefield and Salford, most are just glad something is finally happening with the space.
Commenting on the plans progressing, PJ Livesey’s Managing Director, Georgina Lynch, said in an official statement: “This is a landmark moment for Chorlton, marking the transformation of the former shopping centre into a vibrant new hub for the community.
“Working closely with Manchester City Council, we’ve carefully balanced the delivery of much-needed new homes – including 20% affordable – with the creation of lively, welcoming spaces to shop, relax, and spend time.
“This site is at the heart of Chorlton, and we’re bringing it back to life, cementing the area’s reputation as a truly great place to live.”
What do you make of the Chorlton Cross Shopping Centre regeneration plans?
Georgina Pellant -
4th April 2022 
