One of Greater Manchester’s coolest new restaurants has quietly opened in recent months, and if you’re looking in the direction of Ancoats, turn around – we’re off to Stalybridge.
This often-overlooked town in Tameside has welcomed Cafe Continental, a charming little neighbourhood restaurant that feels like it’s been plucked from a pretty Parisian back street.
With its cafe curtains, red leather furniture and wood-panelled walls, it feels like the sort of local hangout that’s been here for decades.
But Cafe Continental is barely eight weeks old, and already firmly finding its feet as one of the region’s most exciting newcomers.
As with all good neighbourhood restaurants, the menu spans breakfast all the way through lunch and dinner and into cocktails, stopping off for an epic Sunday roast too.
It’s also got one of the internet’s most viral sweet treats, a proper Paris hot chocolate, where you dollop thick cream into dainty cups of molten hot chocolate.
Inside Cafe Continental in Stalybridge. Credit: The Manc GroupThe Paris hot chocolate. Credit: The Manc GroupInside Cafe Continental in Stalybridge. Credit: The Manc Group
This place might have caught the attention of the social media food crowd, but it’s far from gimmicky.
On its menu you’ll find classics that will stand the test of time, like giant tiger prawns with garlic butter, ribeye beef, flame-roasted chicken, croquettes and hand-dived scallops.
There’s a lunch menu that will stop you in your tracks – think seasonal soups with wedges of bouncy focaccia, spicy twice-fried chicken buns, and a steak sandwich with fries.
There’s also an excellent cacio e pepe pasta, served with an egg yolk on top that you can pop and twirl into the pasta.
It’s co-owned and created by Ryan Robinson, who’s quick to point out that Cafe Continental isn’t the first restaurant worth travelling for in Stalybridge, which already has a deep-rooted independent food scene.
The fried chicken bun. Credit: The Manc GroupCacio e pepe pasta. Credit: The Manc Group
“We’ve already got some really good food establishments in the area,” he said, “With Gladstone and SK15 and Guiseppes, so the skeleton’s there with Stalybridge, you just need to have some meat on the bones, really.
“And obviously, like we’ve jumped in and hopefully that adds value to the area and then hopefully we see a few more drinking and dining establishments.
“There’s loads of space for development in Stalybridge, and it’s just gonna get better and better.”
Ryan says his inspiration comes from his travels to cities around Europe, and the sort of off-the-beaten-track, full-of-locals restaurants that are so often the most memorable part of a holiday.
“No matter where you are, whether it’s France or Italy or Spain, there’s always that one restaurant you seem to find that’s set in the back streets, and it’s busy and it’s noisy and the food’s amazing, and you end up having such a good time on the off chance, that you just want to tell everyone about it.
Soup and focaccia at Cafe Continental. Credit: The Manc GroupCod bites and a chicken bun. Credit: The Manc Group
“You want to stay there all night, and that was kind of the inspiration for Cafe Continental.
“We just wanted to make a really buzzy local place.”
Ryan, who previously worked as a DJ and across the hospitality industry, has always had a big passion for food.
He’s teamed up with a good friend who is his head chef, and a couple of other friends as business partners, who just ‘believed in the idea and trusted it’.
It seems to be paying off, with Cafe Continental already luring people out of the city centre to visit, and drawing in a decent returning local crowd.
Ryan finished by saying: “Support locally this Christmas – there’s a lot of great restaurants in Stalybridge and the surrounding areas that are working hard to bring people the best Christmas possible.
“So if everyone can support local, that would be amazing.”
Cafe Continental is open now at 5 Melbourne St, Stalybridge, SK15 2JE.
Inside the Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser Cafe in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Hotel Chocolat has today opened the doors to its first Velvetiser Cafe in Manchester, serving up shakes, hot chocolates, sundaes, and loads more.
Part cafe, part retail space, inside you’ll find everything from molten chocolate fountains to a full range of chocolate boxes, bars and hot chocolate powders.
The popular chocolatier has stores up and down the UK selling its ethically-sourced sweet treats, hitting a new level of fame with its Velvetiser, an invention that creates velvety smooth hot drinks at the touch of a button.
They’ve been so popular, Hotel Chocolat is now opening Velvetiser Cafes across the UK – and Manchester is next.
There are exclusive-to-Manchester-sundaes in store, each one inspired by their most popular chocolates, like a Billionaire’s Shortbread and an Eton Mess.
You can also grab yourself a hot choc shake, with loads of flavours, milks and toppings to choose from.
Hotel Chocolat’s new Velvetiser Cafe in ManchesterThe chocolate boxes at Hotel ChocolatInside the Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser Cafe in ManchesterMix-and-match hot chocolate selection boxesInside the Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser Cafe in ManchesterExclusive-to-Manchester ice cream sundaesCroissant with a molten chocolate potInside the Velvetiser Cafe in ManchesterInside the Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser Cafe in Manchester
The Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser Cafe also has pastries, which you can order with a side of melted chocolate for dipping and drizzling.
As part of the experience inside, there’s a wall of hot chocolate sachets, which you can mix and match to build your own selection box.
And all along the way there’ll be samples, and loads to learn about the chocolate industry.
The Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser Cafe has officially opened its doors today on Cross Street in Manchester city centre, just next to the new Joe & The Juice.
The old fire station in Salford that’s now home to a bakery, brewery and bar
Daisy Jackson
A former fire station in Salford has been turned into a bustling base for some of the North West’s finest baking and brewing talents.
The Old Fire Station, right beside the University of Salford, is now operating as a bakery, brewery, bar, cafe and restaurant.
That means pastries, bread, pizzas and even beers are made within a few feet of where you’ll be eating and drinking them.
The space is beautiful, still boasting those gigantic red fire station doors and the traditional ceramic tiles that would have been here when the space was still home to fire engines instead of bread mixers.
Around half of the pastries coming out of the bakery, headed up by Erick Molero Delgado (his CV includes top bakeries across the USA and Europe), are completely vegan – not that you can tell from looking at their glossy, laminated layers and extravagant fillings.
We’re talking perfectly cubed laminated brioche with sweet maple flavours, mini pizzettes with olives and tomatoes dotted inside a pastry wall, and striped pain suisse stuffed with nuts and chocolate.
Then there are the not-very-vegan-at-all pastries, like a spandaeur, which is like a croissant and pastel de nata hybrid, and thick slices of Basque cheesecake.
There are new signature ‘Salford bagels’ too developed by assistant head baker Scott Shannon, which are a fusion of North American, German and Jewish styles, fermented for up to 48 hours with a crisp outer shell and a chewy centre.
A spandaeur pastry and a pain suisseHeirloom tomato bruschetta on sourdoughThe bakery line-upThe ‘Salford Bagel’ with smoked salmon
We had ours stuffed with smoked salmon, cream cheese and capers and raved about it all the way home.
Erick says: “Our new menu is a true labour of love by the whole team – from early ideas and experiments right through to the final bake.
“If someone has an idea, we run with it. That creative freedom is priceless. It keeps the work exciting, and it means our customers have the opportunity to get something fresh every time they visit.”
As for the beers, they’re all made on site too – on the opposite side of The Old Fire Station is Lark Hill Brewery, headed up by Jack Dixon, who’s able to experiment and explore new flavours in this top-spec microbrewery.
Jack Dixon in the Lark Hill BreweryLaminated briocheThe Old Fire Station bakers at work
There are experimental beers, sometimes made in collaboration with researchers at the University, as well as true-to-style classics like a New England Pale Ale and the Lark Helles, a fresh take on a classic German lager.
Jack said: “Having the autonomy to design and brew what I want, without limits, is rare and exciting,.
“It means every beer we pour here has a story and a personality. We’re proud to bring something new to Salford’s craft scene.”
This summer, they’re launching New York-style pizzas, made on slow-fermented, hand-stretched pizza dough.
And very little goes to waste here – the trimmed-off croissant pastry is now being turned into their own croissant loaf, which they’re whipping into French toast for the brunch menu.
Everything at The Old Fire Station is crafted with talent and love, and you can really taste it.
Daisy Jackson -
31st October 2024 
