Eats

A new luxury hot chocolate cafe with 20 different flavours is coming to Manchester

Artisan chocolate cafe Knoops is opening in Manchester this spring, bringing a huge range of chocolate milkshakes, iced chocolate, hot chocolates and mochas with it.

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant - 23rd February 2023

A new luxury hot chocolate shop with 20 different flavours is coming to Manchester this year.

London brand Knoops will open its first northern store later in Manchester city centre this spring, taking over a vacant unit on the corner of Cross Street and South King Street close to the Town Hall.

Offering twenty different styles of hot chocolate and six styles of rich and creamy chocolate milkshakes, on the menu sweet tooths will find a huge range of different percentage chocolates to choose from.

And that’s not all. Alongside luxury hot chocolates and milkshakes, the new chocolate cafe will also serve a variety of different chocolate milk and mochas.

With twenty different percentages of chocolate to choose from, options will range from a 28% cocoa white chocolate to a 100% extra dark variety with a menu featuring single origin blends from Peru, Congo, Tanzania, Uganda, Ecuador, Venezuela, Columbia, The Solomon Islands and Mexico.

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Image: Knoops
Image: Knoops

Customers will be able to select their preferred chocolate style, choosing between a variety of white, milk and dark chocolates, then watch as it is made into their drink of choice right there and then.

From iced chocolate to indulgent milkshakes made with Knoops ice cream, there really is a chocolate drink for everyone – vegans included.

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For those of the plant-powered persuasion, any chocolate above 54% can be made into a vegan-friendly drink with a variety of plant milk on offer including oat, almond, soya, hazelnut and coconut.

Read more: Three Greater Manchester curry houses named among the UK’s best

To accompany all that liquid chocolate, the new Knoops cafe will also feature a bakery selling fresh pastries and cakes with a counter featuring the likes of cannolis, pastel de natas, donuts, cupcakes, croissants, cake slices and more.

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The move is part of an expansion by the artisan chocolate brand, which also has its sights set on new sites in Knightsbridge and Bath in 2023.

Feature image – Knoops

Eats

A restaurant in Ancoats is serving up plates of crispy fried squirrel

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

A Manchester restaurant is serving up plates of crispy fried squirrel – and their customers absolutely love it.

Taking game dishes to a whole other level, the wild crispy buttermilk fried squirrel at Ancoats restaurant Street Urchin comes served atop a creamy pulled ham hock cassoulet, with hazelnut bread croutons and nettle pesto and costs £22.50.

Sourced from their game supplier in Cumbria, it might sound nutty but owner Rachel Choudhary told The Manc that the dish has proven incredibly popular – and that the team has been ‘really surprised’ at how much of a hit it has become with customers since adding it to the menu.

She said: “We were looking for something new for the game options on the menu. Kev was speaking to our game supplier and randomly asked if he had any grey squirrels. Happily, he did.

“The whole team tried the dish the day it went on and the majority thought it was really good.

Wild crispy buttermilk fried squirrel with creamy pulled ham hock cassoulet, with hazelnut bread croutons and nettle pesto. / Image: Street Urchin
Image: Street Urchin

“We weren’t sure if it would sell, but have been really surprised. So many people have tried it and given good feedback. We’ve recommended that they eat it like chicken wings and pick it up, that way you get most of the meat.

“I’d never tried squirrel before and I absolutely loved it, it has great flavour, rich buttery texture, and it’s wild, free-range meat.”

The gray squirrel currently has an estimated population of 2.5 million in the UK according to the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust and is considered a good sustainable alternative to factory-farmed meat.

It is legal to control grey squirrels by shooting or trapping them in the UK in a humane manner and even helps protect the UK’s endangered native red squirrel population.

Whilst some might find the idea of eating squirrels a tad unappealing, many chefs argue it is better to eat them when culling as it means the meat does not go to waste.

Fresh clams, homemade chorizo, fennel and white bean cassoulet, garlic crouton. / Image: Street Urchin
Whole red mullet, warm red pepper and olive salsa, battered potato scallops. / Image: Street Urchin

English market diner Street Urchin was first opened on Great Ancoats Street in 2019 by husband and wife team Rachel and Kevin Choudary.

Read more: Two Manchester sisters are turning dead squirrels from Heaton Park into stationery holders

Prior to opening in town, the couple ran The Victoria in Altrincham for eight years before deciding that it was time to move on.

Their Ancoats market diner has made its name on being one of the few city centre restaurants specialising in fresh fish, with everything from clams and mackerel to cured chalk stream trout, king scallops, and whole grilled red gurnard regularly available on the menu.

Read more: Manchester rapper Aitch is doing a charity skydive for Down Syndrome awareness

Whilst the fish board is the main attraction, however, there are other dishes to explore on the daily-changing menu too – with game meat a popular choice whenever it is in season.

Featured image – Street Urchin

Eats

Gary Neville comes to woman’s rescue at Manchester restaurant Fazenda

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

Gary Neville has proven himself the utmost gentleman after coming to the rescue of a disabled woman who was struggling to walk to a restaurant in Manchester on Mothering Sunday.

The football pundit spotted Ann Knowles, 67, struggling to walk to Brazilian steakhouse Fazenda in Manchester’s Spinningfields and took it upon himself to come to her aid.

After approaching her and offering a lift, the former Manchester United star helped her into his car and then provided door-to-door service to the restaurant, walking her the last part of the way.

Ann had been on her way to meet daughter Samantha Ward, who was inside the restaurant when she received a phone call to tell her how the ex-footballer had saved the day.

She told BBC News: “I was upset thinking we’ll have to forget dinner, but then my daughter rang and said ‘it’s ok Gary Neville the footballer is taking her’ and I was like ‘what?'”

Image: Fazenda
Image: Gary Neville

“I said the actual footballer? Where did he come from? And she said he just appeared out of nowhere, obviously saw them struggling and said ‘you need help’.

“So he physically picked her up and gave her a lift to the door in this car.

“He delivered her to the restaurant and saved Mother’s Day.

“My dad was with my mum and he was in shock.”

Read more: Manchester to be filled with fresh blooms as annual Flower Festival returns this summer

She added that the family ‘legged it’ across the restaurant to meet her mother, continuing:

“I’ve always supported Gary but this just made my day,” she said.

“My daughter’s boyfriend’s jaw was on the floor. I think he was a bit star-struck.”

“It’s a bit of a crazy story, but ultimately we’re all really chuffed.”

Feature image – Geograph

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