Big Mamma Group has finally announced it’s heading up north, opening a lavish Circolo Popolare restaurant here in Manchester.
These much-loved Italian restaurants are dotted all over Europe at this point, including beautiful spaces in London, Barcelona, Milan and Brussels.
These restaurants might catch your eye with their extravagant interiors but it’s their authentic, homemade Italian food and exceptional produce that’ll keep you coming back for more.
Inside each restaurant in the Big Mamma Group you’ll find maximalist interiors dialled up to maximum – if it’s patterned, colourful, shiny or textured (or ideally, all of the above at once), it’s hitting the Big Mamma interior design brief.
The result is joyful, decadent, escapist restaurants that’ll do their best to whisk you off on an Italian escape without leaving the vicinity of Deansgate.
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Big Mamma’s first foray into Manchester will see them open a Circolo Popolare at St Michael’s, Gary Neville’s landmark £400m development.
Big Mamma is coming to Manchester. Credit: Jerome GallandA Big Mamma restaurant in Hamburg. Credit: Jerome Galland
Expect glinting bottle walls as you make your way into the jasmine-clad, 280-cover trattoria, inspired by the island of Sardinia.
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The decor here will involve masses of antique trinkets, testa di moro (authentic ceramic busts), and even an Italian wishing well.
They say the space will be adorned with festoon lights and a eucalyptus-clad ceiling, so you’ll feel as though you’ve stumbled into an overgrown, lush courtyard.
Big Mamma is embracing the rain and heading to Manchester with Circolo Popolare. Credit: Supplied
Upstairs is the ‘villa hideaway’, a cosy terracotta den where you can see head chef Alfonso cooking British seafood on the grill at the kitchen counter.
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The menu will also feature Neapolitan pizza, which you can order half-and-half with your amici.
Big Mamma has pulled together its largest-ever selection of produce sourced from 170 family-run Italian artisans, ranging from Puglian burrata to Parma prosciutto.
There’ll be a three litre bottle of Amaro roaming the restaurant ready to pour you a shot, plus XL jugged cocktails.
And as for desserts, expect pistachio tiramisu scooped table side (or order the full tray).
Circolo Popolare from Big Mamma Group will open at St Michael’s in Manchester this June.
The cosy Peak District pub serving a pick’n’mix sausage and mash menu
Daisy Jackson
There’s a Peak District pub that’s turned one of Britain’s most beloved comfort foods into a full-on pick’n’mix.
Tucked away in the postcard-perfect village of Castleton, Ye Olde Nags Head is serving up a fully customisable menu of sausage and mash dishes.
We’re talking near-endless combinations of proper pub grub.
You start by choosing your sausages from a daily rotating selection (not a sentence you hear every day, but we’re into it).
Expect classics like Cumberland alongside more adventurous options like venison and mustard, or even wild boar and orange, plus a veggie sausage daily.
Then it’s onto the mash – you can go for flavours like cheese and onion, wholegrain mustard, or even black pudding mash.
Classic cumberland, mustard mash, and mushroom sauceVeggie sausage with cheese and onion mash and classic gravyTucking in
To finish? A choice of rich, hearty gravies and sauces to bring it all together, whether that’s a classic onion gravy, a peppercorn sauce, or a creamy wild mushroom sauce.
And if that wasn’t enough, you can even upgrade your bangers and mash pick’n’mix by having it all served inside a giant Yorkshire pudding.
Ye Olde Nags Head is a historic 17th-century pub, with a roaring fire in every room and cosy bedrooms upstairs.
Inside Ye Olde Nags Head pub in the Peak DistrictYe Olde Nags Head pub is near Mam Tor
It’s one of those flagstone-floored, beamed-ceilinged, mismatched-furniture type pubs that welcomes everyone in every state, whether you’re caked in mud from a hike or popping in on a coach tour.
Another of the pub’s specialties is the Derbyshire Breakfast, a hearty plate of sausage, smoked bacon, black pudding, free range egg, grilled tomatoes, field mushrooms, baked beans and fried bread.
The pub also offers takeaway breakfast butties, so you can use it for both a pre-hike stop and a post-hike pint.
Given it’s just minutes from the ever-popular Mam Tor hike, this is one pub you’ll definitely want to add to your next Peak District day out itinerary.
The hillside farm in the Peak District making its own ice cream
Daisy Jackson
Did you know there’s a 300-year-old farm in the Peak District serving up some of the freshest ice cream you’ll ever taste? And yes, you can meet the cows that made it while you’re there.
Welcome to Hope Valley Ice Cream, a family-run gem where things are kept refreshingly simple: happy cows, proper farming, and seriously good ice cream.
Set in the heart of the Peak District countryside, this place is about as wholesome as it gets.
The ice cream is made on-site in the farmhouse, literally just metres from where the dairy herd are out grazing.
You can watch the animals, wander around the farm, and then tuck into a scoop or three perched on a milk pail stool, or a picnic bench (or even a decorative tractor).
Hope Valley Ice Cream has some amazing seasonal ice creams, like lemon curd, elderflower, and blackberry, alongside all the classics and a rather delicious tiramisu.
You can grab a cone, sit down with a coffee (again, made with milk from the nearby cows), or go all in with a freshly-made waffle if you’re feeling fancy.
Takeaway tubs from Hope Valley Ice CreamYou can get a mini pail of ice creamMeet the newborn calves at Hope Valley Ice CreamTuck into your ice cream on a milk pail stoolHope Valley Ice Cream
And if you’re the type who really loves ice cream? You can actually order a full pail of it, with four huge scoops plus whipped cream and sauce.
The farm itself is run by the Marsden family, who’ve been working this land for generations. It shows in everything – they’ve created a place that feels genuinely welcoming, not just another tourist stop.
Beyond the ice cream, you’ve got plenty of reasons to stick around. There are calves (including the newest tiny arrivals), plus donkeys and pigs to say hello to.
Whether you’re heading out on a hike or just fancy a drive into the Peaks, this is one pitstop that’s absolutely worth it – and honestly, it’s worth the trip on its own.
Daisy Jackson -
4th March 2025 
