The team behind one of Chester’s best-loved restaurants has revealed plans to open a rooftop restaurant here in Manchester.
Work has already begun to transform the rooftop of Blackfriars House into Climat, a wine-led restaurant and bar space with panoramic views of the city skyline.
It will be the second opening for the creators of Covino in Chester, which recently earned itself a place in the Michelin guide.
The building has already undergone a multi-million-pound refurbishment and now has co-working space, a lounge with a fireplace, a podcast studio/1920s-style reading room, a 70-seat auditorium and an independent coffee shop.
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The company is adding the new restaurant as part of its mission to blend work and lifestyle.
Covino first started life in a 300 sq ft restaurant and bar in 2016 but quickly outgrew it and moved around the corner into a fully-fledged restaurant.
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Bruntwood Works’ Blackfriars House will be home to Climat. Credit: Supplied
With Climat, it will serve a seasonal, daily-changing menu that they say will simply be ‘food you want to eat’, alongside an enormous menu of 250 different wines focused on the Burgundy region.
Charlotte Wild, head of retail and leisure at Bruntwood Works, said: “As we are seeing a big return to the city centre post-covid, it felt it was the right time to launch this extraordinary new dining and drinking space in Manchester.
“Climat will bring a unique experience to this exciting part of the city. With an eclectic wine range and seasonally inspired food in a beautiful new destination dining spot, it’s set to be an inspiring addition to Manchester.
“We’re delighted to be welcoming Chris and his team to our Blackfriars community – they have an amazing vision and will complement this beautiful building perfectly. For us, hospitality is completely central to the workplace of the future and so to have such a high-quality offering at Blackfriars makes perfect sense.”
Christopher Laidler, owner of Covino and Climat restaurants, added: “It’s great to get our foot in the door in Manchester. It represents a big step up for us. The site has so much to offer and we’re going to add something special to a great city. The space will be unique to others with its panoramic views and we can’t wait to share our progress during the build leading up to opening in autumn.
“Ultimately we want our guests to have a great dining experience and come and share our passion for really good food and drink.”
Featured image: Supplied
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Drink prices at Parklife 2025 as festival-goers face £9.50 gin tins
Daisy Jackson
Parklife festival is a bucket list item for a huge swathe of young Manc music-lovers, with a massive line-up of dance, electronic and house music up in the fields at Heaton Park.
As the biggest party in the calendar, tens of thousands save up for tickets and to let their hair down for two days of the summer.
But as with all music and entertainment venues, prices for everything are creeping ever-higher.
And Parklife is not immune to the rising price of drinks, with spirits, beer, wine, and even pre-mixed cans more expensive than ever.
In our opinion… still worth it.
Here are the drink prices across Parklife 2025.
Spirit and mixers
Smirnoff No.21 Vodka- £11.80 for double, £7.90 for single
Captain Morgan Spiced Gold – £11.80 for double, £7.90 for single
Captain Morgan Black Spiced – £11.80 for double, £7.90 for single
Johnnie Walker Black Label – £11.80 for double, £7.90 for single
Gordon’s London Dry Gin – £11.80 for double, £7.90 for single
Gordon’s Pink Gin – £11.80 for double, £7.90 for single
Casamigos Blanco Tequila – £14.80 for double, £10.90 for single
Included mixers: Pepsi Max, Pepsi Max Cherry, 7Up Free, Ginger Beer, Tonic, Soda, Grapefruit Soda
Rockstar Energy drink mixers: Tropical Guava, Peach Zero Sugar, Original – +£1
Free Glastonbury-themed festivals with pizza, tequila, and big screens to take place in Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Glastonbury weekend is upon us, and to celebrate the UK’s biggest music festival in all its glory, Nell’s is hosting its own festivals instead.
Hundreds of thousands of people will be making the trek to the fields of Worthy Farm next weekend, as Glastonbury 2025 headliners Olivia Rodrigo, Neil Young, and The 1975 bring the tunes, alongside a list of other talented names too big to even begin starting to reel off – as is always the case with Glastonbury, there’s something for everyone.
But for those of us not lucky enough to have bagged tickets to what is undeniably the biggest event in the British music calendar, not to worry, as Nell’s is where it’s at here in Greater Manchester.
The beloved New York-style pizza specialists – which now has four sites across the region – is turning two of its most popular restaurants into festival hubs next weekend, bringing all the spirit of Glastonbury to Kampus and Altrincham.
Manchester‘s thriving canalside neighbourhood Kampus will become home to the aptly-named Kampus Fest, while over in the Trafford town of Altrincham, Alty Fest will be in full force.
Nell’s is hosting its own FREE Glastonbury-themed festivals at Kampus and in Altrincham / Credit: Supplied
At Kampus, the gardens will be transformed into a city centre festival site for a free three-day party featuring big screens live streaming the full Glastonbury festival throughout, plus a pop-up market, face painting and hair tinsel stations, an outdoor tequila and margarita bar, happy hours, and of course, lots and lots of Nell’s pizza.
Altrincham is bringing you much of the same – the same big screens, the same tasty pizza slices, and the same happy hours, only over two days instead of three.
Family fun is also at the heart of both Kampus Fest and Alty Fest, so you can expect lots of crafting workshops and bunting making, accessory customisation stations, as well as all-day colouring sessions by Born to be Wild Child and Søstrene Grene.
Kampus Fest will take over the gardens at Kampus from Friday 27 – Sunday 29 June, while Alty Fest will take place at Nell’s Altrincham on both Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 June.
Daisy Jackson -
16th June 2022 
