Eats

Brewski set to open viral pizza concept American Pies in Ancoats

Yay finally some opening news in Ancoats!

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 12th June 2024

The team behind legendary restaurant Brewski have submitted an application to open a pizza restaurant in the heart of Ancoats.

A licensing application has now been lodged for a new branch of their deep-dish pizza concept, American Pies.

It’s set to open in the former Second City site just on the corner of the bustling Cutting Room Square.

Here, it’ll be just across the road from Rudy’s but will offer a very different style of pizza.

While Rudy’s is all about the ultra-floppy Neapolitan base, at American Pies they’re gunning for proper Chicago-style ‘pizza pies’ with serious depth.

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As it comes from the minds behind Chorlton’s Brewski, you can expect gargantuan portion sizes and no shyness when it comes to the cheese.

Each pizza starts with a garlic butter parmesan crust, then is stuffed with an ‘unthinkable’ amount of mozzarella and topped with chunky marinara sauce (that’s right, cheese before sauce, get over it).

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Toppings then include birria lamb shoulder, pepperoni and hot honey, and buffalo fried chicken with blue cheese sauce.

Also on their menus you’ll find garlic bread focaccias, dirty tots, 24-hour slow-cooked ribs, and deep-dish garlic bread.

Brewski has applied to open an American Pies pizza restaurant in Ancoats. Credit: The Manc Group

If we’re lucky, they might even bring their deep-fried calzone to this new Ancoats pizza site…

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This will be the second restaurant for American Pies, which is already based on West Mosley Street.

It’s finally some good news for Ancoats, which has suffered a couple of high-profile closures of late with the disappearance of Trove and Rigatoni’s.

According to the American Pies licensing application, their Ancoats pizza restaurant will have space for 90 dine-in customers plus a small bar area.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

Eats

Manchester’s most exclusive restaurant, serving omakase sushi to just four customers a week

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Sushi Pod is serving an omakase sushi menu above Grape to Grain in Prestwich

At a time when sushi restaurants are opening in Manchester more often than I open my fridge, it’s becoming difficult to stand out from the crowd.

But boy oh boy have we found a newcomer that will change all of that, and a new favourite Japanese spot has entered the region.

Sushi Pod is quite possibly the most exclusive restaurant experience in the entire country, seating just four guests per week.

Those lucky few who manage to secure a table (and at the time of writing, you can still book in for dinner in the coming weeks) will be whisked through a whopping 20 courses in a full omakase experience.

Omakase loosely translates to ‘I’ll leave it up to you’ – you just pull up a seat and watch the chef work their magic on the finest quality seafood available.

At Sushi Pod, tucked upstairs above the brilliant Grape to Grain wine bar on Bury New Road, you sit mere inches away from chef Artur Wacewicz.

You have a true front-row seat as he delicately slices tuna, deftly rolls sushi rice into nori sheets, and blow-torches sugar onto exotic fruit.

Artur Wacewicz working his magic at a Sushi Pod omakase night
Artur Wacewicz working his magic at a Sushi Pod omakase night
Sushi Pod are serving above Grape to Grain in Prestwich, Greater Manchester
Sushi Pod are serving above Grape to Grain in Prestwich, Greater Manchester
Artur Wacewicz
Artur Wacewicz

Artur has teamed up with Grape to Grain founder Tom Sneesby for the Sushi Pod omakase nights – while one is plating up perfect bites of world-class fish, the other is topping up your glass with perfectly-paired wines from downstairs.

And while the experience truly is world-class, it’s not remotely stuffy or formal.

Can’t use chopsticks? Don’t even worry about it – Artur will make you up his special ‘baby chopsticks’, wrapping a napkin around one end so they basically turn into a giant pair of tweezers.

Never eaten uni before (it’s literally the gonads of a sea urchin…)? Again, Artur will talk you through every ingredient, even happily whipping out his phone and flicking through his pictures to show you exactly what part of the animal you’re eating.

This is a man who has worked alongside the legendary Terry Huang, of former Umezushi fame, which was considered to be one of the best sushi restaurants not just in Manchester but in all of Europe.

Uni (sea urchin) at Sushi Pod
Uni (sea urchin) tamaki
Salmon nigiri at Sushi Pod
Salmon nigiri
Mackerel at Sushi Pod
Mackerel nigiri
The day's catch at Sushi Pod
The day’s catch
A small sample of the 20-course menu

Artur also works with Out of the Blue fishmongers in Chorlton, rising before the crack of dawn to make sure he has the freshest, best-quality seafood ingredients possible.

And because of this ‘what-have-you-got-today’ approach, the omakase menu from Sushi Pod changes all the time.

For our visit, we had (to name but a few) sweet scallops, bluefin tuna, mackerel, eel, different cuts of salmon, caviar, prawn, and so much more.

The first dishes are presented as sashimi, with Artur simply slicing off pieces of fish and placing them in front of you beside a wedge of lime and a scoop of wasabi so that you can tweak each bite to your own tastes.

Then comes the nigiri portion, where expertly-prepared sushi rice spiked with vinegar is rolled up, dotted with wasabi or a soy sauce reduction or lime zest, then topped with different seafood ingredients.

Scallops at Sushi Pod
Scallops
The omakase wine flight menu from Grape to Grain for Sushi Pod
The omakase wine flight menu

And finally comes the tamaki section, when Artur literally hands each course over to you neatly tucked into sheets of nori – no plate.

To go alongside this wonderful sushi journey, there are a few different menus of wine or sake pairings, usually kicking off with a champagne before touring some of the world’s finest white wines.

And again, Tom is on hand to explain exactly what is in your glass and why it’s the perfect match, with no stuffy wine lingo chucked in.

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At £90 per person, it’s a darn sight more accessible than a lot of other Omakase menus in town, but with no compromise on quality.

You can book in for Sushi Pod’s Omakaze Night at Grape to Grain here – but be quick, this one’ll book up fast.

And if you DO miss out, you can always order yourself a grab-and-go sushi selection to collect from either Grape to Grain in Prestwich or Out of the Blue in Chorlton.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

Eats

Joseph Holt pubs are serving £1.75 pints at two Manchester locations for one week only – but there’s a catch

Danny Jones Danny Jones £1.47 pints at Jospeh Holt pubs Manchester

In what we’re pretty sure is the best deal on beer you’ll find anywhere in Manchester, Joseph Holt Brewery is serving up £1.75 pints at a pair of city centre sites next week.

Yes, you heard us right, £1.75 – however, there is a small catch…

The locally based brewery and pub chain has dozens of locations all over Greater Manchester but just two of their city centre boozers will be taking part in this special promotion to mark the well-known brand’s 175th anniversary.

We’ll happily join in the celebrations with pints that cheap!

joseph holt pub manchester
old monkey manchester pub
Credit: Joseph Holt/The Manc Eats

What’s the catch then? Well, not only will you not know which Joseph Holt pub will be handing out the discount drinks until on the day itself, but there’s also only a limited window of time for you to enjoy those £1.75 pints – and we couldn’t tell you when that’s going to be if we tried.

So, with that in mind, you need to keep your eyes on their socials, as the chosen location and the times you’ll be able to enjoy the offer will posted on their Instagram and Facebook each day at 9am sharpish.

That’s us turning notifications pronto.

But once you’ve got all the info, you’re plain-sailing all the way to a crisp £1.75 pint Crystal Lager or their house bitter. It always tastes better when it’s cheap, doesn’t it?

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Having opened way back in 1849 and making a name for themselves from their ancestral home over in Cheetham Hill, the ever-growing Joseph Holt Brewery hits the impressive landmark of 175 years this Sunday (23 June).

They might feel like you can find them on many street corners around here but they’re a Manchester brand and not everyone in the country is so lucky to stumble upon them so regularly.

So what better way to toast to 175 more than with an actually affordable pint – they can be pretty rare these days so make the most of it!

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Joseph Holt/The Manc Group

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