The Manchester Food and Drink Festival (MFDF) has just announced the shortlists for its 2022 Awards as it opens up voting to the Manchester public.
This years’ shortlists have been chosen by a judging panel of local food critics and feature a total of 113 nominees split across 16 categories, including a newly-created award designed to recognise great service.
Following a slight change of format caused by the pandemic, this year, winners will once again be decided by the public and MFDF judging panel.
With voting open from now until 16 September, the city’s food and drinks fans are being invited to vote for their favourites over on the MFDF website.
Image: Supplied
This year’s MFDF shortlisted venues are as follows:
PLANT-BASED OFFERING OF THE YEAR
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Four Side Pizza
Herbivorous
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Otto Vegan Empire
Ruyi Chorlton
Sanskruti
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The Walled Garden
Wholesome Junkies
INDEPENDENT DRINKS PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Bundobust Brewery
Cloudwater
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Hip Pop
Into the Gathering Dusk
Stockport Gin
Steep Soda
Track Brewing
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INDEPENDENT FOOD PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Polyspore
Dormouse Chocolates
Great North Pie Co
Holy Grain
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Long Boi’s Bakehouse
Yellowhammer
La Choquette
FOODIE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE YEAR
Ancoats
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Chapel Street, Salford
Monton
Prestwich
Ramsbottom
Sale
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Stockport
COFFEE SHOP OF THE YEAR
Cafe Sanjuan
Factory Coffee
Grind and Tamp
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Grapefruit
Just Between Friends
Station South
Pollen
FOOD TRADER OF THE YEAR
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Burgerism
House of Habesha
The Little Sri Lankan
Lovingly Artisan
Mira
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New Wave Ramen
Pico’s Tacos
AFFORDABLE EATS VENUE OF THE YEAR
Aunty Ji’s
Bahn Mi Co Ba
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Cafe Sanjuan
Levenshulme Bakery
Go Falafel
Mama Flo’s
Salt & Pepper MCR
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POP UP OR PROJECT OF THE YEAR
Platt Fields Market Garden
Sao Paulo Project
Suppher
Eat Well MCR Spring Festival
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Bungalow at Kampus
Heart and Parcel
Foodie Friday
PUB OR BEER BAR OF THE YEAR
Bridge Beers, Staylbridge
Heaton Hops
House of Hops
The Kings Arms
Nordie
Track Taproom
Station Hop
BAR OF THE YEAR
Blinker Bar
Flawd
Henry C
Ramona
Schofield’s Bar
Speak in Code
10 Tib Lane
NEIGHBOURHOOD VENUE OF THE YEAR
Baratuxi Bar
Bar San Juan
The Easy Fish Co.
Nilas Burmese Kitchen
Ornella’s Kitchen
Osma
The Perfect Match
FOOD AND DRINK RETAILER OF THE YEAR
Ad Hoc
Chorlton Cheesemongers
Hello Oriental
Coopers Lets Fress Deli
Le Social
Out of the Blue
Wandering Palate
GREAT SERVICE AWARD
Sponsored by Manchester Evening News
Bull & Bear
Dishoom
Hawksmoor
Flawd
Schofield’s Bar
This year, winners will be announced at the MFDF Gala Dinner and Awards sponsored by Bruntwood and taking place at Escape to Freight Island on 26 September.
Some categories will be decided entirely by public vote and some made up from the public votes alongside a mystery shopping visit from members of the judging panel.
The Independent Drinks Producer of the Year and the Independent Food Producer of the Year Awards will also be judged by a panel taste test.
Alexa Stratton-Powell, Director of MFDF said:“This is an incredible list of brilliant businesses that we are proud to celebrate. As we look forward to our 25th year it’s all about the talent that has shaped this last quarter century and made the city’s food scene the world-class destination that it is today. Please get involved, vote for your favourites and visit the amazing venues on the shortlist for yourselves!” Charlotte Wild, Head of Retail & Leisure at Bruntwood commented: “We’re proud to become headline sponsor for these important awards. Manchester’s hospitality scene is phenomenal and the industry is absolutely central to our vision of creating thriving cities. We’re excited to celebrate 25 years of the Manchester Food and Drink Festival this Autumn, alongside all the talented nominees and winners at the Awards on 26th September. Congratulations to all those shortlisted!”
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…
Police appeal after serious crash between car and taxi in Bolton leaves four dead and five others injured
Emily Sergeant
Police are appealing to the public after a fatal crash in Bolton yesterday.
At around 12:45am yesterday morning (Sunday 11 January), Greater Manchester Police (GMP) were called out to reports of a collision on Wigan Road in Bolton, where a Seat Leon was travelling down the road and collided with a Citroen C4 Picasso – which was a taxi.
The driver of the Seat, and two passengers – who were all aged between 18 and 19 – have tragically died following the collision.
The driver of the Citroen was also sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
According to local funeral notices, as reported on by BBC News, the three teenagers have been named as Muhammad Danyaal Asghar Ali, Farhan Patel, and Mohammed Jibrael Mukhtar, all from Bolton, while the taxi driver was named as Masrob Ali from Blackburn.
#APPEAL | Our Serious Collision Investigation Unit are appealing for information after a fatal collision between a Seat and Citroen on Wigan Road, #Bolton on 11/01/26
On top of these tragic deaths, police have also confirmed that five other passengers were involved and injured during the incident, and were rushed to hospital where they are currently being treated.
At this time, a scene remains in place as officers continue their investigation, but GMP’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit (SCIU) are now appealing for information and witnesses, and are urging anyone that may be able to help to come forward.
This includes anyone who saw the vehicle driving before the collision, witnessed the incident itself, or has dashcam / CCTV footage.
Georgina Pellant -
28th July 2022 
