A posh wine and crisp pairing night is coming to Manchester next month with chef-made crisps and beautiful European wines.
Taking place at sustainable riverside cafe Open Kitchen, found inside The People’s History Museum, the one-off event nods to a hit pairing night held last year that saw the team match lunch box favourites like Frazzles, Wotsits and Monster Munch with a host of organic wines.
This time around, things will be a little different as Open Kitchen takes things up a notch with its own chef-made crisps paired with ethical and sustainable wines sourced from across the European continent.
Taking place on Friday 9 June from 630-930pm, those heading down should expect to enjoy six wines iincluding a glass of fizz – all perfectly paired with house-made crisps and dips for £33.22 a ticket.
The ethical cafe, found inside The People’s History Museum, has built its reputation on saving perfectly edible food from rubbish heaps and turning it into healthy, affordable meals.
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Run by Corin Bell, it intercepts food that would have otherwise ended up in the bin and repurposes it into an ever-changing selection of all-day dishes.
First opened in 2021, prior to the cafe’s launch Corin and her team spent the pandemic feeding people in need – putting together roughly 140,000 meals for the city’s most vulnerable residents.
Now firmly installed in the People’s History Museum and working with a huge range of food businesses right up and down the supply chain, the cafe intercepts food that would have otherwise ended up in the bin and turns it into hearty meals.
Working with everyone from farmers and wholesalers, to product manufacturers and big food factories that make products for supermarkets, they’re touching on every point you can imagine – ensuring no food goes to waste.
To find out more about Open Kitchen’s crisp and wine pairing night and buy tickets, visit its Eventbrite page here.
Featured image – Open Kitchen
Eats
Beloved pub and restaurant Mary and Archie announce gutting closure of Didsbury site
Danny Jones
One of Greater Manchester’s most beloved little gastropubs, Mary and Archie, have sadly announced that their Didsbury venue is now “closed for good”.
The popular cafe, bar and restaurant has been open since 2011, though this isn’t the first time they’ve had to shut their doors, suffering closure back in 2018 and then again during lockdown.
Located on the busy Burton Road in West Didsbury, they ultimately reopened for takeaway as the UK began leaving the pandemic and eventually found their feet once again, but it now seems they have unfortunately run out of steam due to growing business rates, energy bills and the cost of living crisis.
Sharing a moving statement on social media over the weekend, Mary and Archie confirmed that the last service has already been carried out, thanking customers for their years of loyal support.
The lengthy message reads: “We write this with a heavy dose of mixed emotions – massive sadness but also huge amounts of gratitude. Mary & Archie Burton Rd is now closed for good. Many regulars will know that we made the decision to put the place on the market some time ago.
“It wasn’t what we wanted, but we just couldn’t carry on anymore. The last 2 years have been impossibly tough for this industry. We hung on as long as we could hoping things would get better and they didn’t, so here we are.
“But, we don’t want this message to be all doom and gloom. We have loved being a part of Burton Road – watching it evolve over the last 13 years, whilst also being a part of that evolution has been a privilege and we have no regrets.
“We have met some of the most wonderful people along the way – many of whom remain firm friends. We have seen romances blossom at 200 Burton Rd and been many a table name or speech-mention at regulars’ weddings. We will take those special memories and cherish them.”
We couldn’t have put it better ourselves: Mary and Archie wasn’t just somewhere to grab a drink and a bite to eat, it was a valuable child and dog-friendly community cornerstone that locals will sorely miss – we’ll certainly mourn the pub quiz.
However, fear not, they went on to reassure fans that “this isn’t the end for us”, urging people to visit their larger second site over in Chorlton and give their sister page a follow.
“You’ll see familiar faces and dishes over there and we will be taking the monthly jazz night over with us too”, they continued, signing off by adding: “I’ll quit rambling now, but lastly and as always, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you to everyone who came in over the past 13 years. BIG LOVE EVERYONE.”
The support online has been truly touching too, with fellow cafe Mercado writing, “We’re sorry that you’re gone. You’ve been a part of this neighbourhood for so long. Times are tough and we hope you continue to rock in Chorlton. Much love neighbour” and many labelling it their favourite place in the area.
But one comment underneath that really moved us was this one: “The first cafe I visited when I moved here. My thoughts were ‘Yep, this feels like home’. Good music and general vibes.” Please do go and give Mary and Archie’s Chorlton some much-needed patronage if you can – they deserve it.
One of the very best chippies in Manchester is making it markets debut and we’re very happy about it. Hip Hop Chip Shop is serving up their perfectly fried, flaky fish and chips from £12 or £15 for a large but, to be honest, even the kids portion at £8 is well worth your money.
The only thing better than the ‘proper chippy chips’ here are the mustard and onion and a lovely chunky curry sauce. Having said that, we’ve now tired battered brussel sprouts (£6) for the very first time and we were very surprised about how much we liked them.
A vegan battered sausage and chips tray can always be snapped up at the same price point as the superb fish supper and they’ve even for beers starting at £5 and costing you no more than £7 for a posh pale ale.
The Flat Baker, Piccadilly Gardens
At its main site in Ancoats, The Flat Baker always pulls in the queues, and its spot at the Manchester Christmas Markets is no different.
After last year’s runaway success, they’ve got a bigger unit and a proper queue system, bringing back hits like croissants served with warm dipping sauce (pistachio, dulce de leche, Nutella and Oreo, and Kinder) which are £7.50 each.
There’s also new items like a Brazilian mince roll ice cream (£6.50), and an indulgent hot chocolate served in a cookie cup (£7.90).
Oi Dumplings, Piccadilly Gardens
Oi Dumplings are back with a disco ball shed at the Manchester Christmas Markets. Credit: The Manc Group
One of our favourite restaurants and street food traders ever, the lovely Oi Dumplings are back at the Manchester Christmas Markets.
Head here for delicious, handmade steamed dumplings (£8 snack size, £12 meal size, £13 with rice) and the friendliest faces in town.
Fillings include pork cabbage and ginger, Chinese chicken curry, and vegan peanut, with sauces to go on top.
El Gato Negro, King Street
Meatball sandwich at El Gato NegroTapas and spanish sandwiches at the Christmas Markets
El Gato Negro has always found itself in the midst of the Manchester Christmas Markets, thanks to the fact its award-winning restaurant is slap-bang in the middle of King Street. So it was only a matter of time before they joined in with their own stall.
Now back for a second year, they have small tapas-style plates like chorizo in cider, lamb meatballs, and patatas bravas (all £6).
There are also fully loaded bravas topped with chorizo, cheese, sriracha mayo, crispy onions and aioli (£8), and meatball sandwiches (£8).
This legendary Spanish spot is even doing a mulled margarita (£6)
We ran faster than a Manchester run club the second this gorgeous food stall dedicated to all things crumble opened at the Christmas Markets because honestly is there anything more warming to the soul than a pot of home made crumble?
Choose your base – apple and cinnamon, winter berries, or chocolate caramel brownie, plus classic crumble or granola, then add on vanilla custard or whipped cream.
It’s £7, then for an extra quid you can add in toppings like toasted marshmallows, salted caramel, and pistachio sauce.
We couldn’t think of a better way to keep your hands warm as you browse the festive wooden huts.
Waffle Kart, King Street
Waffle Kart are back at the Manchester Christmas Markets 2024
Stop what you’re doing right now and look at the above food p*rn. Just look at it.
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‘What if KFC and a Chinese restaurant made a baby?’, they ask on their blackboard above the door – if this is the result, we’re all for it.
Tender buttermilk chicken with an outrageously crunchy batter is served alongside fluffy waffles, with pickles and maple syrup for drizzling (£13.95); or you could get the prawn toast waffles (12.50), an unconventional twist on a family recipe. It’s all great.
Cheezy Bandits, King Street
There is never a season I don’t want to eat a big pot of melted cheese and carbs – and if you whack a bit of cranberry sauce on top too I’ll be there faster than Santa down a chimney.
Cheezy Bandits has a full menu of mac n cheese (£8), with toppings including Buffalo fried chicken and blue cheese sauce; bourbon BBQ pulled pork; and a ‘Festive Pig’ with maple glazed pigs in blankets, sage and onion stuffing and cranberry sauce (all £11).
You’ll find them tucked in amongst the festive scenes on King Street.
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La Bavette, New Cathedral Street
You just can’t go wrong with steak, can you? Treat yourself to a seasonal steak sandwich stuffed with rocket, mustard mayo and topped with crispy onions for a a tenner – or, go one even better like we did and get a helping of freshly carved, melted Raclette cheese on top for an extra £4.
They do healthily portioned plates of steak frites too, which we topped with peppercorn sauce for an extra couple quid and it definitely levelled up the already well-seasoned carbs and the protein too.
Steaks are served medium rare as standard but you can ask for less/more cooking time if you like.
Yard & Coop, St Ann’s Square
Yard and Coop at the Manchester Christmas Markets. Credit: The Manc GroupYard and Coop at the Manchester Christmas Markets. Credit: The Manc Group
If you don’t yet know of Yard & Coop – where the hell have you been, loca?
This Northern Quarter institution is back at the Manchester Christmas Markets with a menu full of its usual comfort food with a festive twist.
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There are huge trays of loaded fries, like the salt n pepper tray or the Dirty Santa (£11), plus chicken in a waffle cone (£7) and the Buff Daddy burger (13).
BangGa BangGa, Piccadilly Gardens
Another insanely viral hit from a couple of years ago, and familiar face from the Piccadilly Street Food Markets, here you’ll find Korean hot dogs with so much mozzarella stretch you need two people to reach breaking point.
There are a few combinations of hot dog, potato, and cheese, with the option to roll them in a delicious salt and sugar blend before topping them with gochujang and mayo or whatever sauces you fancy (between £5.50 and £10.20).
There are also super spicy ‘Tteokbokki’ rice cakes (£5).