A gigantic new music, food and drink venue is opening in a former Manchester factory this summer, bringing a whopping 64 different frozen daiquiri combinations and the city’s biggest warehouse kitchen to Back Piccadilly.
Called Diecast, it comes from the team behind popular Swan Street venues Ramona and The Firehouse and will officially launch on Thursday 6 July behind Piccadilly train station.
Lining itself up as a competitor to neighbouring hospitality behemoth venue Escape To Freight Island, next month sees the venue’s first phase ‘The MachineWorks’ AKA ‘Leno Ex Machina’ unveiled after two years of intense anticipation.
Situated between Ducie St and Store St, Diecast will boast one of the biggest frozen drinks menus in the city, with a dedicated daiquiri bar featuring 20 different frozen daiquiri machines as well as classic servings.
As for its giant open warehouse kitchen, pizza fans can expect something a little different as chefs merge ‘the best bits’ of NYC and Neapolitan pizza to create something ‘with a stronger hold, more toppings, and a crispy base.’
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Fresh and zesty Italian small plates, wood fired piadino and Leno burgers will also feature on the menu here.
Classic, artisan and 64 frozen combinations of Daiquiri will pour from 20 frozen daiquiri machines dominating its huge central bar and stage, in a celebration of all things rum, whilst its huge new beer garden is flanked by a perimeter of reconditioned trailer park caravans, or ‘rum caravans’.
Elsewhere, party goers can marvel at Galleria – an immersive vertical stage party performance inside the venue.
Here, a network of vertical stages, stairways and platforms creates one of the biggest immersive, art house, dance parties the city has ever seen.
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Diecast sold out its opening parties in quick time, so now, the team has dropped free early bird tickets for its Thursday, Friday and Saturday night launch events.
Phase one, ‘Leno Ex Machina’. will be the first food and drink concept with a series of free parties in July, across the summer.
Speaking ahead of the launch, owner and director Dan Mullen said: ‘We’ve been dreaming, planning and preparing this project for years.
We’ve done bars, restaurants, clubs and festivals before, but this is something different. It’s hard to describe because it’s multiple experiences under one roof.
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“But no, it’s not a food hall. Manchester has plenty of those. This is an immersive food, drink and clubbing experience on an industrial scale.”
Featured image – Supplied
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Family behind Salvi’s launch new concept, weeks after iconic restaurant closure
Daisy Jackson
Just weeks after the closure of its iconic, 16-year-old Italian restaurant in the Corn Exchange, the family behind Salvi’s have revealed a brand-new concept.
And this time, the reins are being handed over to the next generation.
Salvi’s founder Maurizio Cecco has helped to shape Amò, but it’s all the brainchild of his daughter, Sienna.
Sienna will run the business out of a unit up on Deansgate Mews, serving fresh pasta dishes, pizza sandwiches, tubs of tiramisu, and two-for-£10 spritzes.
The deli aspect of the original Salvi’s has been carried over to Amò too – you’ll find shelves almost to the ceiling filled with Italian pasta, wine, olive oils, pistachio spreads, and more.
Sienna has grown up in restaurants, with her parents launching Salvi’s when she was just two years old.
She said she wants the space to be a livelier, fresher version of the Italian restaurant that has been so loved by Mancs for so many years.
Sienna outside AmòFresh pasta dishesInside Amò by Salvi’sTheir viral frozen crema di caffeLemon granitaInside Amò by Salvi’sTiramisu pots
Amò, which is Neapolitan slang for ‘my love’, will have loads of fresh Italian dishes, including arancini, gnocchi, and hearty pasta plates.
At lunchtimes, guests can order from a £10 lunch menu, with dishes changing daily depending on the best produce the kitchen can get – it could be a pizza sandwich with proscuitto and tomato, a spicy pasta, or a gnocchi bake, always served with your choice of soft drink.
With its position on Deansgate Mews, Amò basks in the sunshine at lunchtimes.
And while it’s definitely a different concept to the original Salvi’s, Amò looks set to carry the family’s Italian food legacy into its next generation.
Award-winning Didsbury bakery La Chouquette reveals incredible new site
Daisy Jackson
La Chouquette is one of Greater Manchester’s top bakeries – an award-winner, with queues down the street every weekend for its authentic French pastries and loaves.
And now they’re ready for a new chapter, revealing a major expansion today.
Owners Catrina and Flo have painstakingly expanded the bakery into the unit next door, creating what feels like a true French bakery.
And in the midst of this huge renovation project, they’ve welcomed a tiny new baby boy – quite the summer for the couple.
Catrina and Flo launched La Chouquette in lockdown, and in a time where people could only get their hospitality fix from takeaways, immediately became one of the most popular spots in the region.
Their success has been so great, you’ll still consistently find queues down the street every weekend, for their top sellers like their authentic almond croissants.
Then in October 2024, they grew the business and launched Piqniq, a new deli in Didsbury village, serving freshly-baked baguette sandwiches, breakfast butties, toasties, tiramisu pots and their legendary pastries.
The new-look La Chouquette features beautiful details like mosaic floors, rich blue walls, wooden shelves, and brass light fixtures.
La Chouquette’s best-selling almond croissantsInside the stunning new La Chouquette in DidbsuryNew savoury bakesThe chausson aux pommesThe counter stuffed with artisan French bakesChocolate chip cookies and cinnamon buns
The huge new counter displays more pastries and breads than ever before, like a hearty chausson aux pommes filled with apples that will be perfect for autumn, plus seasonal treats like a rhubarb creme brulee pastry, and homemade quiche.
Speaking at the grand relaunch today, Catrina said: “The layout has changed, it looks so much more chic, it looks like a traditional French bakery. We’re really excited about it.”
As for what’s on the counter, Flo reassured fans that their beloved almond and pistachio croissants remain, but with some new savoury editions, like a truffle croque monsieur made with croissant dough.
La Choquette has reopened today, and will be open seven days a week from 7am until 5pm.
Georgina Pellant -
19th June 2023 
