Eats

Roman kitchen Bar Caput replaces Stockport’s only Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant

Cantaloupe is Caput

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 4th September 2026

Stockport’s only Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant, Cantaloupe, has closed its doors – but the team have quickly pivoted to launch a brand-new concept in its place.

If Cantaloupe was simple Mediterranean small plates and great wine, Bar Caput is all cocktails, pizza… and still great wine.

The new concept from the same team behind the original restaurant is inspired by ‘the drinking and aperitivi culture of Rome’.

The intention is that while Cantaloupe was a real destination restaurant – especially after earning a Michelin Bib Gourmand earlier this year – Bar Caput will be a more return-to-time-and-time-again neighbourhood haunt.

On the menu, you’ll find brilliant, bright cocktails, like the ‘Bicycle Thief’ made with gin, Campari and grapefruit, and the refreshing ‘Calindri’ (named after the legendary Italian actor).

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Then for the food, the bulk of the menu centres around Roman-style pizzas, with thin, crispy bases and fantastic quality toppings.

Roman pizzas, snacks, and fritti
Roman pizzas, snacks, and fritti
Cantaloupe has become Bar Caput
Cantaloupe has become Bar Caput
Chocolate sorbet at Bar Caput
Chocolate sorbet at Bar Caput

There’s currently one with zucchini flowers, and thick anchovy fillets, finished with fior di latter.

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If you don’t like the punchy salty flavour of anchovy, give that one a swerve and instead grab a Friggitelli, which has crispy guanciale and vibrant green peppers on it.

There are also plenty of nibbles and snacks if you’re not coming in for a full meal, from house-pickled market veggies to a cacio e pepe fritto which is, as the name suggests, cheesy, peppery, and fried.

Cantaloupe’s sort-of closure was a sad blow for Stockport, particularly after the restaurant had earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand earlier this year and a place in the Good Food Guide’s Top 100.

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The team said at the time that they were proud of everything they had achieved at Cantaloupe, from filling tables with industry names to ‘doing it all from a kitchen measuring just 75cm by 3m 15cm, with subpar equipment’.

The tiny kitchen at Bar Caput
The tiny kitchen at Bar Caput
It's taken over the Cantaloupe site
It’s taken over the Cantaloupe site

But they were equally keen to thank the people who had supported them along the way.

“We’re so grateful for the support we’ve received from Stockport and the wider community,” they said. “We’ve been blessed with great guests, many of whom have become regulars.”

They also thanked their suppliers and the staff who had helped make Cantaloupe what it was.

And while saying goodbye to Cantaloupe might have been a blow, Bar Caput feels like a pretty exciting replacement.

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With Roman-inspired pizza, aperitivi and cocktails now taking over the space, the team are keeping their place in Stockport’s food scene – just with a slightly different flavour.

Featured image: The Manc Group

Eats

The family-run gem doing tapas, craft beer, cocktails and live music just outside Manchester

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Katie Jackson outside Gin & Brews

A good neighbourhood restaurant should be somewhere you can pop in to at any time of day, for just about any occasion. 

Whether it’s coffee and a bake after the school run, a tapas night with your mates, a cosy cocktail with your partner, or even somewhere to end the night listening to live music, Gin & Brews is one such neighbourhood gem.

This brilliant family-run venue opened in an old bank in Garstang in 2023 and quickly spilled over into the unit next door, expanding its offering as it went. 

It’s gone from a cosy bottle shop and microbar to a true neighbourhood haunt, with fantastic deals (like two pizzas and a bottle of wine for £25 on Thursdays) and cocktails made with their own distilled spirits. 

The food is a big part of the appeal, particularly the tapas.

There’s bread and oils, chorizo and prawns, goat’s cheese and loaded potatoes, with plenty designed for sharing – you might want to order more than you think you need, but at £12 for three dishes, that’s no hardship.

You can get three tapas dishes for £12
You can get three tapas dishes for £12
Lemon curd French toast
Lemon curd French toast

Then there’s the homemade honey and sea salt butter. It’s the sort of butter you try once and immediately want to tell everyone about. 

For daytime visits, the brunch menu brings out perfectly poppable eggs and seriously good French toast, with the lemon curd a particular must-try.

And if you have dietary requirements, Gin & Brews is unusually well set up for gluten-free diners, with almost everything on the menu gluten free – even the beer – plus a generous selection of gluten-free bakes.

The drinks offering is where things get particularly interesting.

The team make their own spirits under the Garstang Gin name, with the distillery growing from just three spirits to an impressive 46.

It’s a natural progression for the owner, who previously worked in the drinks industry before leaving to set up her own gin distillery.

They distill their own Garstang Gin spirits for cocktails
They distill their own Garstang Gin spirits for cocktails
Inside Gin & Brews
Inside Gin & Brews

Those spirits now make their way into the cocktails at Gin & Brews, giving the bar plenty of its own character and making it a particularly good shout if cocktails are your thing.

There’s also a constantly changing selection of craft beer, with the range switching up regularly, alongside the bottle shop, so there’s always something new to discover.

For somewhere that has grown so quickly, Gin & Brews still feels firmly rooted in its community.

Much of what goes onto your plate is sourced from businesses on the high street, including local butchers and egg suppliers. Even some of the cakes and cookies are made by one of the members of staff.

It feels fitting for a venue in Garstang, which is recognised as the world’s first Fair Trade Town.

Bakes at Gin & Brews are made by a member of staff
Bakes at Gin & Brews are made by a member of staff
Bakes at Gin & Brews are made by a member of staff

And while Wednesday and Thursday evenings are already busy, the team are keen to bring more people through the doors during the day. They certainly have the offering for it.

There are coffee-and-cake afternoons, brunch dates, tapas lunches, craft beer, cocktails and plenty of gluten-free treats to take away.

Then, when the sun goes down, the music comes on, with live performances at weekends and regular events bringing the place to life.

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If you’re looking for a reason to venture out of Manchester for something a little different, this might just be it.

Gin & Brews has only been around for a few years, but it already feels like one of those places that has been part of the local scene forever.

And if the homemade butter doesn’t convince you, the cocktails probably will.

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Featured: The Manc Group

Eats

You can go back to school to learn about wine in Manchester

Kristen MacGregor-Houlston Kristen MacGregor-Houlston You can go back to school to learn about wine in Manchester

There are worse ways to spend a day than sitting around drinking wine – but at The Manchester Wine School, you can actually come away knowing what you’re talking about too.

The team here can talk you through the very basics up to the finer points of wine, so you can impress at your next dinner party or confidently pick up the heavy wine list on a date.

If you’re wondering what it’s like to go back to school as an adult, where the main subject is wine, let us fill you in (and fill your glass, while we’re at it).

We headed along to take on the WSET Level 1 Award in Wines, a one-day introduction to the world of wine designed specifically for people with little-to-no previous knowledge. So, thankfully, there’s absolutely no expectation that you’ll arrive knowing your Chardonnay from your Chablis.

The day takes you right back to basics, starting with how grapes are grown and what actually happens during the winemaking process. You learn how different climates affect grapes, how white, red and rosé wines are produced, and why all those little differences eventually have such a big impact on what ends up in your glass.

Then, obviously, comes the fun bit – drinking wine the tasting and pairing.

Rather than simply deciding whether you like something or not, you’re taught how to properly taste wine, looking at its appearance before moving onto aromas, sweetness, acidity, tannins, alcohol, body and flavours. Suddenly, swirling your glass and having a good sniff feels considerably less pretentious when you actually know what you’re looking for.

You’ll also get familiar with some of the big-name grapes – think Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir – as well as wines like Champagne, Prosecco, Rioja, Chianti and Port.

There’s even a section on food pairing, explaining how things like sweetness, salt, acidity, fat and chilli can completely change the way a wine tastes.

It’s informative without feeling intimidating, and genuinely fascinating even if you’ve never taken wine particularly seriously before.

The day finishes with a 30-question multiple-choice exam, with 70% needed to pass – meaning you can leave not only considerably more knowledgeable about wine, but potentially with an internationally recognised WSET qualification under your belt too.

Whether you’re looking to gain knowledge to enhance your career or just want to have a fun afternoon finding a bit more out about what you do and don’t like, this is the course for you.

You can find out more HERE.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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