Trove, a popular bakery in the heart of Ancoats, has suddenly closed its doors.
The Murray Street business used to operate as a cafe and brunch spot but removed its indoor seating and switched to a bakery unit early this year.
First founded in Levenshulme in 2011, Trove has become a staple on the city’s food and drink scene.
As well as its delicious loaves and pastries, it’s built a solid reputation for its Scandinavian-style small plates and brunches, often hosting supperclubs.
But now a forfeiture notice has appeared in the windows of Trove in Ancoats, announcing that it has been repossessed by landlords.
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Companies House documents for Trove’s parent company Two Hexagons Ltd show that the business is in more than £1.6m of debt, including owing HMRC approximately £885,000.
Trove also had a cafe within the Bloc building on Marble Street, which closed down in April.
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Inside Trove when it was still a cafe – the Ancoats site now appears to have closed. Credit: The Manc GroupThe forfeiture notice in the window of Trove in Ancoats. Credit: The Manc Group
It appears that its Levenshulme cafe and bakery is still open for business, as is its newest location in Wilmslow.
It’s another blow for Ancoats, which has lost some high-profile names in recent weeks and months and now has a number of empty units.
Just two weeks ago, Rigatoni’s, formerly known as Sugo Pasta Kitchen, announced its sudden closure, shortly after closing its Sale and Exhibition locations.
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The unit formerly occupied by Second City is also vacant, as is Nam, and Lily’s Deli.
Trove has not yet issued a statement relating to the forfeiture of its Ancoats cafe.
New Manchester restaurant receives rave review as another is slammed as ‘torture’
Daisy Jackson
Pip, a new restaurant in Manchester, has received a rave national review this week – a review which slammed another restaurant in the same feature.
Food critic William Sitwell wrote in his review in The Telegraph that Pip is charming, refined, and fabulous.
“Bravo, Pip. Pip pip!” he wrote in the glowing write-up on the new restaurant, which stands at the foot of the new Treehouse Hotel and has the acclaimed Mary-Ellen McTague at its helm.
Sitwell’s Telegraph review particularly raved about dishes including Lancashire hot pot (‘fabulously good’), a wild garlic soup (‘a gorgeous thing’), and an apple trifle (‘a gift from heaven’).
But while it was all good for Pip, there were significantly less positive adjectives heaped on another restaurant in Manchester.
In fact, he said that Pip is ‘a great-value tonic’ for the ‘brash (and pricey) torture’ across town.
That restaurant was KAJI, formerly known as MUSU, which he said was ‘all tummies, bald heads, tattoos and heat’.
Sitwell said that while the service and sashimi are good at KAJI, the ‘place is afflicted by some overbearing cooking that cheapens the noble name of Japanese cuisine’.
He wrote: “Lamb chops fail the tender test and are properly wrecked sitting on a vulgar pond of sticky “tomato ponzu”. No beast should die to have that stuff squirted anywhere near it.
“And Kaji is a Japanese gaff without sake. Which is like opening a British pub in Tokyo and forgetting to put an ale on tap.”
Sharing the review, Pip wrote: “Thankyou @telegraph and @williamsitwell for the fantastic feature. We’re so proud of our team here.”
Milk Maids, Bolton – The family-run ice cream parlour on an award-winning farm
Daisy Jackson
Ice cream doesn’t come much fresher than those served at Milk Maids – in fact, you’ll be standing right on the family farm where the cows that produce the milk live, as you tuck into your scoop.
This unassuming dairy farm in Bolton has been in operation for decades, and in the same family for generations.
But it’s when sisters Fiona and Rebecca saw the full potential of all that award-winning milk being produced on their farm that Milk Maids was born.
This ice cream parlour on Dearden’s Farm in Over Hulton is now one of the hottest spots in Greater Manchester, especially when the weather is similarly hot.
Every month they release a whole batch of flavours, all made fresh daily (you can literally see Fiona legging it across the yard with buckets of milk to make fresh batches), with May specials including white chocolate and sea salt caramel, raspberry cookie, and passionfruit pavlova.
Milk Maids, Bolton – The family-run ice cream parlour on an award-winning farm
Cones can be filled with molten chocolate or pistachio creme before your ice cream is scooped and pressed into the cone.
Or you can have your chosen flavour whizzed up into a milkshake, served in a milk bun, or presented in an insulated take-home box for later.
We could wax lyrical about how good this ice cream is, but the queues really do speak for themselves, and you should go and get in it right now.
Daisy Jackson -
3rd June 2024 
