Hidden inside a Manchester city centre apartment complex there is a stunning wine bar serving up some gorgeous vintages alongside thoughtfully put-together small plates.
Called The Beeswing, it has been open for over a year but its hard-to-find location means it’s still flying way under the radar.
Accessed via a secret lift in the middle of the Kampus waterside garden – overlooking both the canal and Manchester’s gay village – inside you’ll find a well-run bar and kitchen serving up a carefully selected list of wines alongside a mostly vegetarian menu of sharing plates.
Inside, it’s all sleek gray walls and exposed light fittings with a large suntrap terrace that we’re sure drinkers will be clamouring to once the sun deigns to poke its head out again.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Owner Anna is a real veteran of the wine scene, having worked at the likes of Blossom St Social, Reserve and Hanging Ditch over the years, as well as running her own wine bar at Hatch before the pandemic hit.
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Serving up wines by the bottle and the glass as well as special wine tasting flights, which give customers the chance to sample any three wines from the menu for £15, owner Anna acknowledges she is well versed in the Manchester wine scene but says the most important thing is ‘knowing which wines aren’t sh*t’.
On her carefully put-together wine list, you’ll find a zesty orange Pet Nat Curtido and a ripe and fruity red Dao Cota, both from Portugal, alongside crowd pleasers such as a low intervention Circumstance South African Sauvignon Blanc and elegant Champagne Lallier Grande Réserve Brut.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
On the food menu, meanwhile, discover a fragrant (and perfectly presented) carrot tartare with orange puree, crispy marinated tofu with raw salad, and munchable mini fish koftas served with dill and samphire.
Elsewhere, further plates include the likes of Merguez sausage on flatbread with yoghurt, a spicy chilli jam and finely cut cucumber ribbons, alongside roast new potatoes with oregano, crispy onions, salsa verde, aioli and harissa.
Well worth seeking out, this is currently one of the city’s best-kept secrets – but we don’t expect it will stay that way for long.
Featured image – The Manc Eats
Manchester
One of Manchester’s grandest restaurants has finally reopened TWO YEARS after fire
Daisy Jackson
One of the most historic restaurants in Manchester has reopened at last, two years after a fire forced its closure.
Mount Street Dining Room & Bar – which many of us may remember as Mr Cooper’s – stands within the Grade II-listed Midland Hotel.
The grand dining room dates all the way back to 1903, when it opened with the hotel as the Grill Room.
The restaurant was at the epicentre of the Industrial Revolution and was frequented by railway travellers, perhaps best-known for hosting a lunch between Charles Rolls and Henry Royce in 1904, who went on to form the world-famous Rolls-Royce brand.
The Midland’s restaurants has gone through several changes in the decades since, undergoing a major £14 million refurb in 2020 to relaunch as Mount Street Dining Room & Bar.
Its interiors are inspired by the hotel’s early 1900s art deco and railway heritage, with a menu that focuses on locally-sourced British produce.
But the restaurant has been shut since early 2024, when a fire damaged the entrance and trellising around its main entrance on Mount Street.
The beautiful bar areaA glimpse of the menu at Mount StreetCocktails and British food
The Midland has finally managed to get the restaurant back open again this month, with a new food and cocktail menus, which aims to offer refined but simple British dining.
Expect dishes like pork and black pudding bonbons, white onion soup with crispy potatoes, smoked British salmon with lemon gel and dill mascarpone, and slow cooked beef daube with confit garlic mash.
Plus desserts such as rice pudding with Anise glazed pearsand Bakewell pudding with cherry syrup.
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen inside this beautiful, storied dining room – and it looks just as beautiful as we remember.
Review | Leon Thomas at Manchester Academy – ‘Mutts Don’t Heel’ but this gig healed me
Thomas Melia
American singer-songwriter Leon Thomas visited Manchester Academy last night, performing hits from his deluxe album to a sold-out crowd of more than 2,600.
One year after an exclusive London MUTT Live date, Mr Thomas returns to the UK with the ‘MUTTS DON’T HEEL’ Tour, venturing to five cities, including the music capital of the North: Manchester.
The night started off just how it should’ve done with ‘HEEL’, as the audience were welcomed by the drum-loop and a chill atmosphere from the start.
Now, it wouldn’t be a Leon Thomas gig without at least one Ty Dolla $ign collaboration making the setlist, and there’s plenty to choose from with a new one dropping just over a month ago, ‘miss u 2’.
Leon Thomas performing hits at Manchester Academy (Credit: Audio North)
The funk-influenced musician opted for ‘FAR FETCHED’, and the audience was in the palm of his hand. No matter which of the four link-ups he chose, it was always going to go down well – Manchester never disappoints.
Leon didn’t even have to ask the crowd to bring more energy; they already matched him. When he sings, “For someone who don’t ask for favours, I’ve done way too many favours”, on ‘PARTY FAVORS’, he really meant it.
Last year, Leon Thomas dropped PHOLKS, a project which saw him exploring old-school funk and soul sounds even further and ‘Just How You Are’ had even the shyest dancer pulling out a little two step.
This isn’t the only hit that sent the crowd into a frenzy; ‘Baccarat’ and its impressive psychedelic guitar solo had jaws literally falling to the floor at Manchester Academy.
His songs might not be dramatic or extravagant, but they don’t need to be. Leon’s artistry prevails when he’s softly singing, and you’re still able to detect each instrument.
Leon Thomas brought the MUTTS DON’T HEEL Tour to Manchester Academy (Credit: The Manc)
‘Breaking Point’ is an easy-listening soul track that had all 2,600 Leon Thomas fans in our feelings as we realised we were coming to the end of a phenomenal concert.
And of course, ‘Mutt’ – his biggest single to date: a bouncy and swag-filled number that sticks in your head for weeks on end – sounded even better when backed by a live band as I discovered last night.
There was some insane musicality, distinct bangers and impeccable live arrangements that elevated the original studio recordings. Maybe ‘Mutts Don’t Heel’, but Leon Thomas definitely healed me.
He wasn’t the only cool cat playing last night either:
Georgina Pellant -
20th April 2023 
