Black Milk Cereal is opening up a new cafe inside a former cinema
Manchester dessert heroes Black Milk have revealed plans to launch a new gelato range in signature flavours like Biscoff and hazelnut cream, and hinted at releasing a new baked goods menu in the near future...
Manchester’s favourite ‘cereal’ cafe, Black Milk, has revealed plans to open a new dessert spot next month inside Macclesfield’s Picturedrome.
Set to open in early February, its new cafe will serve up all of Black Milk’s signature sweet treats alongside some brand new baked ones as it takes on its own unit inside the former cinema.
It will join the likes of Reserve Wine x Tender Cow, Honest Crust, Savages Mussels Terroni and Rubens inside the Picturedrome, an old early 20th-century cinema re-imagined by the team behind Altrincham Market, Market House Alty and Mackie Mayor into a thriving independent food hall.
Image: Black Milk Cereal
Having previously held successful pop-ups at sister site Mackie Mayor last year, when an opportunity arose for Black Milk to permanently join the site in Cheshire it seemed like a no-brainer.
The Black Milk team announced the move on its Instagram page over the weekend, adding that they were looking for a pastry chef to join them – suggesting that the menu here may well take a turn into new territory in the coming months.
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Its full menu and the Black Milk shop will both be made available at the new site, as well as a range of delicious baked treats. These new treats are being kept close to its chest for now, but we’re promised all will be revealed soon.
In a first for Black Milk, it will also begin to offer luxury Italian gelato at Picturedrome in its signature flavours of hazelnut cream, pistachio, Biscoff and cookies & cream.
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Visitors to the new Macclesfield site can expect milkshakes, loaded freak shakes, alcoholic milkshakes in flavours like espresso martini and white Russian, plus heaped ice cream sundaes and Biscoff and red velvet cheesecakes.
Image: Black Milk Cereal
Its current Manchester cafe, which is found on Oldham street, is currently shut for a kitchen refurbishment – leaving fans without their usual Black Milk fix.
However, the team reassured Manchester locals that this will not be for much longer – promising that their city centre kitchen will be open again mid-February once an upgrade to its kitchen is completed.
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Black Milk also has another site in London.
In a post shared to Instagram, the cafe wrote: “ANNOUNCEMENT. We are delighted to let you know that we will be opening at @picturedromemacc in Macclesfield in early February.
“We will be serving up our signature treats alongside new baked ones!
“If you are based in Macclesfield, we are looking for a pastry chef to join the team. To apply please send your cv to [email protected]
“P.S. Black Milk Manchester will be back mid-February after a kitchen upgrade.”
Black Milk opened the city’s first ‘cereal cafe’ in Manchester city centre in 2015, with just five tables crammed into a small space inside Affleck’s.
In these early days, it drew inspiration from Momofuku’s Milk Bar in New York and Cereal Killer in London, serving up breakfast cereals from around the globe with a huge range of different kinds of milk – including one infused with squid ink, from which it takes its name.
Seven years on and its menu has come a long way, with popular items today focused more around indulgent desserts, freakshakes and lavish hot chocolates.
Customer favourites include Bailey’s hot chocolate and Kinderella milkshakes, but Black Milk sells all sorts from a huge varied menu.
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Image: The Manc Eats
An Instagram page bulging with pictures of loaded pancakes, cookie pies and cheesecakes, all made using the various spreads and sauces sold as part of Black Milk’s shop, is enough to make anyone drool.
Speaking on the new opening, Andy from Black Milk said: “We are delighted to be moving into such an incredible venue. It will be the first of our adventures into Cheshire where we see a great opportunity to serve our treats to a whole new audience.
“We’d like to thank the team behind Picturedrome for asking us to join an incredible group of independent food and drink brands in Macclesfield.
“We look forward to meeting everyone within the next few weeks.”
Jake from Picturedrome added: “We are delighted to welcome Black Milk to Picturedrome Macclesfield after a series of popular events at our partner venue Mackie Mayor.”
To find out more about what Black Milk has in store ahead of the new opening, make sure to follow them on Instagram here. To shop their at-home treats, visit the shop here.
Viral chicken shop Wingstop is opening inside the Manchester Arndale
Daisy Jackson
Wingstop, the chicken shop famed for its vast range of wing flavours and sauces, is opening another spot in Manchester city centre.
The brand will be taking over the old Yo Sushi site in the Manchester Arndale, which shut down just last month.
It’ll mean there’ll be two Wingstop locations within a few minutes’ walk of each other, with another takeaway already well-established on Piccadilly Gardens.
Wingstop UKI has found viral fame with people taste-testing its wide range of hand-sauced chicken wing flavours, ranging from garlic parmesan all the way up to the eye-watering ‘Atomic’.
As well as chicken wings, it serves delicious tenders and burgers, all cooked to order.
There are also a range of sides, including loaded fries, sweet potato fries, and cajun fried corn, plus dips like ranch, honey mustard, and blue cheese.
Wingstop is also famed for its thick milkshakes – which are a necessity if you order your chicken down the spicier end of the scale.
Established in Texas in 1994, Wingstop rose rapidly to become one of the fastest-growing restaurant chains in the US.
The brand launched in the UK market in 2018, and into Ireland last year, and now operates more than 85 locations.
Wingstop is opening in Manchester Arndale
Wingstop will be moving into the 5,928 sq ft unit upstairs in Manchester Arndale, just opposite Next.
Scott Linard, Portfolio Manager for M&G Real Estate, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Wingstop to our vibrant F&B offer; an addition we’re sure will resonate with our younger visitors.
“With the additions of popular restaurant chains like Wingstop, coupled with the arrival of new retailers such as Arc’teryx, Alo Yoga, Pro:Direct and Sephora, we are strategically creating a destination where people across the North West and beyond want to spend their time.”
Steve Gray, Head of European Retail Asset Management at Global Mutual, said: “Wingstop will join Manchester Arndale’s varied F&B mix, including Popeyes, Sides, Hotel Chocolat, Joe & The Juice and Café Nero.
“In-demand operators like this help create energy and momentum that allows the brands across the scheme to thrive, driving increased footfall, longer dwell times and a more compelling offer for visitors.”
The best cheese tasting party in the North is BACK at a new Manchester venue
Danny Jones
That’s right, one of the biggest and best cheese tasting nights in the entire land is returning to Greater Manchester at a brand new city centre venue.
Not to be over-the-top, but this isn’t just another experience sampling possibly the greatest foodstuff on Earth, it’s a fully-fledged cheese-lovers’ party.
Some of you may have come across Homage2Fromage before, but for anyone unaware of the Yorkshire-born event, it started out as a monthly cheese tasting club and went on to expand across the dairy-adoring North at large.
Relaunching here in Manchester for 2026, all you lactose-intolerant people better watch, because Home2Fromage is coming back with a vengeance and heading to the Northern Quarter. Here’s how it went down the last time we visited one in Leeds:
Leeds, Sheffield, Harrogate, Manchester and who knows where else next.
Posting up in a relatively recent addition to NQ‘s bar and restaurant scene, The Faraday – a pub on Lever St that replaces the old Seven Sins back in October – it looks set to be an ideal venue for the regular evening series.
Homage2Fromage will be making its Manc return this month, and better still, they’re holding a cheeky little giveaway to sweeten the pot.
As in the deal, we mean – not the inevitable bowls full of olives, chutney, oil and various other dips…
To welcome this celebration of all things cheese coming back to Manchester city centre, they’re giving away a bunch of free tickets: 20 pairs in total.
Worth over £50 a piece for each twin set of tickets, you’d be a fool not to at least throw your hat in the ring for this one.
As you can see, the competition closes this Thursday, 19 February, ahead of the full relaunch party next week (Wed, 25 Feb), and all you have to do to enter is fill out this super quick survey.
It really is as simple as that; a few quick words are all that stand between you and a potential mountain of cheese and more.
You can find all you need to know about the event right HERE, and in case you haven’t popped into The Faraday just yet, see more down below.
It’s still somewhat early days, but we can see ourselves spending a fair bit of time in this up-and-coming Manchester watering hole, especially when there’s cheese nights involved.
Georgina Pellant -
24th January 2022 
