Eats

A posh wine and crisp pairing night is coming to Manchester

Think chef-made crisps and dips alongside six different European wines - with more nibbles on top.

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant - 25th May 2023

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.

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Read more: Gail’s confirms opening dates for TWO new Manchester bakeries

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. 

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Read more: ‘It’s not easy being green’: The Manchester cafe turning discarded supermarket food into hearty lunches

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

The Lawn Club closes temporarily after bar brawl at event leaves ‘trail of blood’ on floor

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson

The Lawn Club has been temporarily instructed to close after a fight last weekend left a trail of blood on the floor outside.

The popular Spinningfields sun-trap bar has said that it’s cooperating fully with Greater Manchester Police and Manchester City Council while the incident is investigated.

A report from GMP said that ‘a large group of people’ were fighting at the city centre bar, one of whom reportedly was seen with a gun, which was thankfully not fired.

At 10.25pm on Sunday 4 June, North West Ambulance service reported that a male had been stabbed in the leg but ‘the knife was no longer in his leg and they didn’t know where it was’.

The victim got up and walked away, and has still not been traced.

The incident happened during an event that was organised by a third party promoter.

The Lawn Club provided CCTV footage to officers, which showed two males arguing before a third appeared with a black handgun.

A spokesperson for the venue said: “On Sunday 4th June, an incident occurred at The Lawn Club, the premises operated by Hardman Bars. This was during an event organised by a third party promoter.

The Lawn Club is temporarily closed. Credit:The Manc Group

“As a result of this incident, we have been instructed to close the premises temporarily. We also recognise and fully comply with the request by GMP and Manchester City Council, received at a hearing on 07.06.23, for a temporary suspension of our licence while the incident is investigated and reviewed in full.

“We are cooperating entirely with GMP and Manchester City Council to provide any information they require in relation to the incident.

“We’d like to reassure our customers and the community that this is an isolated incident. But nevertheless, the safety of our team, customers and the community is of the highest importance to us. As such, during this period of closure, we will be actively working with the authorities and relevant parties to review all policies and procedures in place at the premises.”

Featured image: The Manc Group

Eats

The Stockport farm supper club where you eat outside in the fields

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

There’s a supper club on a community farm in Stockport where you can dine outside in the very fields where your food has grown.

Hosted by Manchester food waste cafe Open Kitchen in partnership with The Kindling Trust, the journey from plot to plate has never been shorter.

The pair have joined forces to celebrate local, seasonal and sustainably produced food in the most delicious way possible – with a three-course vegan menu designed to show off the organic produce grown at The Kindling Trust’s site in Woodbank Memorial Park.

The supper will be served outside in the fields as part of a unique ‘pop-up restaurant’ experience, accompanied by paired organic wines designed to complement each dish.

Full bar service will also be provided, with provisions made for cover from the ‘Manchester weather’ if required.

Corin Bell, Exec Director of Open Kitchen said, “Messages about sustainability can sometimes feel like
they are all about going without…. Don’t fly, don’t drive, etc.

Image: Supplied
Image: Supplied

“We want to focus on positive messages about sustainability, that focus on shifts in behaviour that are kinder to planet and people.

“The event with Kindling will showcase beautiful food and drink, and also be supporting local, sustainable, independent and ethical business, all of which are really core values for both open Kitchen and Kindling”.

Chris Walsh from the Kindling Trust said: “Events like fine dining in the fields are really important to us,
because they open up the farm to members of the public, and help to really bring the message home
about why local and sustainable produce is so important for our planet and our local economy”.

Read more: An Aldi billboard dispensing free rosé wine has appeared in Manchester

Located just a mile east of Stockport town centre, Woodbank Community Food Hub is an urban horticulture hub co-ordinated by the Kindling Trust that joins up inclusive community gardening with commercial organic food production.

The size of one and a half football pitches, it includes several large polytunnels for under-cover veg growing as well as three field blocks, apple trees and a community garden.

Read more: ‘It’s not easy being green’: The Manchester cafe turning discarded supermarket food into hearty lunches

As well as hosting the dinner in the fields, it is also a place to collect fresh organic veg bags delivered by the Veg Box People, who make sure farmers get regular demand and a fair price for their produce.

Taking place from 6 to 9pm on Wednesday 21 June 2023, to find out more about the dinner and purchase tickets click here.

Featured image – Supplied

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