Manchester biggest garden neighbourhood, KAMPUS, has its very first resident – and it’s a bloody cool one.
Situated in an ex-security cabin on stilts, opposite Canal Street, developers Capital & Centric and HBD have transformed ‘the Bungalow’ into a flexible, creative space.
Higher Ground, led by Joseph Otway and Richard Cossins, is a pop-up restaurant that will bring together North West ingredients, Manchester brewed beer and natural wines in a chilled out setting.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8DwYtdgise/
Joseph, ex-Head Chef of Where The Light Gets In in Stockport and ex-Relæ in Copenhagen, will be in the kitchen creating a daily changing menu, including an oxtail madras pasty – a homage to his late-night visits to Longsight.
It’s set to open on Friday 21st February, where there will be beer on tap from a local brewery and a wine list to die for.
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Joseph commented: “We were drawn to the Bungalow from the very beginning, and as we learnt more about KAMPUS and the focus on building a community, we knew it was the perfect fit for us.
“It’s a great opportunity to move into a casual space and share what excites us. We want to offer something that’s approachable and easy for everyone to enjoy, whilst also supporting growers and producers we are passionate about.
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“We’ll be serving a small selection of beers from just down the road and we’ve put together a carefully selected list of wines to drink by the glass or bottle. Plates are going to be simple and delicious, nothing complicated, and ideal to share.”
The Bungalow will also become KAMPUS’ very own village hall, supporting community uses and activities as the site reaches completion.
Higher Ground is located in the Bungalow at KAMPUS and accessed via Minshull Street. It opens on Friday 21st February with walk-ins and reservations welcome.
Eats
New Manchester restaurant receives rave review as another is slammed as ‘torture’
Daisy Jackson
Pip, a new restaurant in Manchester, has received a rave national review this week – a review which slammed another restaurant in the same feature.
Food critic William Sitwell wrote in his review in The Telegraph that Pip is charming, refined, and fabulous.
“Bravo, Pip. Pip pip!” he wrote in the glowing write-up on the new restaurant, which stands at the foot of the new Treehouse Hotel and has the acclaimed Mary-Ellen McTague at its helm.
Sitwell’s Telegraph review particularly raved about dishes including Lancashire hot pot (‘fabulously good’), a wild garlic soup (‘a gorgeous thing’), and an apple trifle (‘a gift from heaven’).
But while it was all good for Pip, there were significantly less positive adjectives heaped on another restaurant in Manchester.
In fact, he said that Pip is ‘a great-value tonic’ for the ‘brash (and pricey) torture’ across town.
That restaurant was KAJI, formerly known as MUSU, which he said was ‘all tummies, bald heads, tattoos and heat’.
Sitwell said that while the service and sashimi are good at KAJI, the ‘place is afflicted by some overbearing cooking that cheapens the noble name of Japanese cuisine’.
He wrote: “Lamb chops fail the tender test and are properly wrecked sitting on a vulgar pond of sticky “tomato ponzu”. No beast should die to have that stuff squirted anywhere near it.
“And Kaji is a Japanese gaff without sake. Which is like opening a British pub in Tokyo and forgetting to put an ale on tap.”
Sharing the review, Pip wrote: “Thankyou @telegraph and @williamsitwell for the fantastic feature. We’re so proud of our team here.”
Milk Maids, Bolton – The family-run ice cream parlour on an award-winning farm
Daisy Jackson
Ice cream doesn’t come much fresher than those served at Milk Maids – in fact, you’ll be standing right on the family farm where the cows that produce the milk live, as you tuck into your scoop.
This unassuming dairy farm in Bolton has been in operation for decades, and in the same family for generations.
But it’s when sisters Fiona and Rebecca saw the full potential of all that award-winning milk being produced on their farm that Milk Maids was born.
This ice cream parlour on Dearden’s Farm in Over Hulton is now one of the hottest spots in Greater Manchester, especially when the weather is similarly hot.
Every month they release a whole batch of flavours, all made fresh daily (you can literally see Fiona legging it across the yard with buckets of milk to make fresh batches), with May specials including white chocolate and sea salt caramel, raspberry cookie, and passionfruit pavlova.
Milk Maids, Bolton – The family-run ice cream parlour on an award-winning farm
Cones can be filled with molten chocolate or pistachio creme before your ice cream is scooped and pressed into the cone.
Or you can have your chosen flavour whizzed up into a milkshake, served in a milk bun, or presented in an insulated take-home box for later.
We could wax lyrical about how good this ice cream is, but the queues really do speak for themselves, and you should go and get in it right now.
Sam Ridgway -
11th February 2020 
