Don Giovanni invites closed local bars to takeover the venue and offer their own menus
“We would like to offer some support to bartending brothers and sisters who are looking at being forced to close from Friday. It could be us next. We need to stick together.”
Don Giovanni is offering a helping hand to any neighbours forced to close due to COVID restrictions – inviting bars to take over the venue and provide their own menus.
Manchester’s oldest independently-owned Italian restaurant has been a fixture of the city for 36 years – and now owners are looking to support nearby pubs by offering up their Oxford Street space for themed evenings.
Tier 3 regulations, which come into effect for all ten Greater Manchester boroughs on Friday at 00.01 BST, require any hospitality venues that do not serve ‘substantial meals’ to shut their doors until further notice.
Data compiled by real estate advisor Altus Group suggests that more 1,800 across the region will need to mothball as a result.
Some are likely to close permanently.
ADVERTISEMENT
But Don Giovanni‘s generous invitation will allow local bars to bring their own drinks menus into the restaurant – with chefs creating specials to complement the signatures.
By hosting collaborations, the restaurant is hoping to ‘give customers from both sides a brand new experience’, enabling bars to keep going during challenging times.
ADVERTISEMENT
A Don Giovanni spokesperson stated: “Hospitality is getting hit hard, now more than ever we need to be doing what we can to help prop each other up.
“We would like to offer some support to bartending brothers and sisters who are looking at being forced to close from Friday.
“It could be us next. We need to stick together.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Don Giovanni has also extended its offer to local breweries – which have been hit particularly hard by COVID-19 regulations.
“We’ve always been keen on working more with local breweries, and now more than ever is the time to support those close to home,” the restaurant’s spokesperson added.
“Manchester is a city that pulls together in tough times – this isn’t any different.
“Collaboration is definitely the way forward.”
If you are a bar or pub owner and would like to collaborate with Don Giovanni on a bar takeover, please contact them through their social media pages or by emailing [email protected]
Eats
Inside Chinatown’s enormous new three-storey restaurant, with futuristic karaoke booths
Daisy Jackson
A gigantic three-storey restaurant and karaoke bar has just opened its doors in Chinatown in Manchester.
Sovereign Clouds is the newest addition to one of the city’s most beloved and ever-evolving neighbourhoods, taking over a sizeable building on Faulkner Street that’s been vacant for 10 years.
Inside the 1,000 sq metre space, you’ll find a glittering restaurant adorned with marble and gold, where you can tuck into a massive menu of dim sum and traditional dishes.
One floor up and you’ll find yourself surrounded by live lobster tanks and the massive kitchen, alongside several flexible private dining spaces.
And up on the top floor are the most futuristic karaoke rooms in town, where you can customise lights, LED ceilings, and even sing through an autotune microphone.
Three roast meats from Sovereign CloudsDelicious dim sumAuthentic Chinese cooking from Sovereign CloudsBlack Gold Lava Buns with salted custard fillingThe massive Sovereign Clouds restaurant
On the menu you’ll find tonnes of steamed dim sum, stir fries, traditional claypot stews, roast meats, and loads more.
There’s seafood like stir-fried lobster with salted egg yolk, and traditional Cantonese steamed grouper; a whole section for abalone (advance orders only) including braised goose feet and fish maw; and a good selection of spicy Sichuan dishes.
The chefs here also have an impressive array of Chinese roast meats, like Peking crispy duck, pork belly, and char siu, as well as three roast meats with rice.
Futuristic karaoke roomsThe main restaurant at Sovereign CloudsFuturistic karaoke rooms
And that’s alongside ingredients you don’t find on a lot of menus in Manchester, like jellyfish, tripe, and century eggs.
It’s all led by Terry Ni, who has been behind the popular Dynasty Chinese and Thai takeaway in Timperley for more than a decade, and has spent years transforming this empty old building into one of Chinatown’s most glittering restaurants.
Come for dinner, stay for a turn on the karaoke upstairs, and tell everyone – Sovereign Clouds is a fantastic addition to Manchester.
‘Surreal’ moment Stevie Wonder dines at Stalybridge restaurant after enormous Manchester gig
Daisy Jackson
Stevie Wonder has stunned a local restaurant in Stalybridge after he popped in for dinner after his massive Manchester show.
The soul icon had performed a huge gig at Co-op Live on Sunday night, performing hits from his illustrious, decades-long career.
And while you might expect someone of Stevie’s fame and stature to dine at one of the city centre’s many Michelin-recommended restaurants, the star instead headed straight for the suburbs.
He was spotted dining at Cafe Continental, an independent restaurant that’s become one of the Greater Manchester’s most-hyped neighbourhood haunts since it launched two years ago.
The stylish spot is famed for its European-style restaurant and cafe culture, aiming to recreate the atmosphere of the sort of place you’d stumble upon down a back street in Rome or Paris.
On the menu they’ve got a rotation of small plates, open-fire dishes, pastas and burgers, along with their divine Parisian hot chocolate, served with a bowl of whipped cream on the side.
Cafe Continental has had a good track record for pulling in local famous faces, but arguably nothing comes close to Stevie Wonder himself.
Inside Cafe Continental in Stalybridge. Credit: The Manc GroupSoup and focaccia at Cafe Continental. Credit: The Manc Group
The night before Stevie’s visit, they’d served his band and daughter – and clearly word got back to Stevie fast, because he returned the next night to test it out for himself.
Cafe Continental posted: “Surreal things happen now and again. This is one of them! Pleasure to welcome Mr Stevie Wonder to the restaurant to close off his tour!”
And according to the MEN, Stevie left a whopping £1,000 tip for the staff.
Not only did Stevie Wonder support a local hospitality business, but he also arrived dressed in Drama Call, a Manchester-based sportswear brand.
The Manc -
22nd October 2020 
