Eats

There is a must visit restaurant in this former security cabin

Sam Ridgway Sam Ridgway - 11th February 2020

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.

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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.

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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.

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.

Kampus Manchester

“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.”

KAMPUS is Manchester’s new garden neighbourhood, featuring 533 apartments across 5 individual buildings, with the first apartments launching in Spring 2020.

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

Three of Manchester’s best eateries are moving in under one roof

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

A new food hall is set to open on Manchester’s Peter Street this year, adding three new kitchens and two new bars to the area’s already thriving food and drink scene.

Put together by the team behind the aperitivo and coffee bar Haunt, opened in the same building last summer, the new opening Exhibition will bring together three of Manchester’s best chef operators inside the iconic St George’s House.

Hosting three new kitchens from the Michelin-recommended Osma team, the Michelin-trained Carlone Martins of the Sao Paulo Project, and Ramsbottom’s lauded Basque fire cookery restaurant Baratxuri under one roof, this already sounds like it will blow every other local food hall out of the water.

Diners will be able to tuck into fine Brazilian-British fusion, Scandinavian and Basque dishes as part of the new dining experience, whilst elsewhere Exhibition will also boast two new bars, fresh beer straight from in-venue Manchester Union lager tanks, and a number of exhibition spaces for local artists. 

Caroline Martins, Great British Menu chef and Manchester’s Chef of the Year nominee, will be launching the Sao Paulo Bistro, serving popular dishes from her popular fine-dining residency in Ancoats in a more relaxed setting.

At her Bistro, you’ll find daintily-plated oysters, hand-dived scallops in creamy cassava, Lancashire ribeye steak sandwiches with Garstang blue, and a showstopper chocolate dessert made using liquid nitrogen and specially-imported cocoa beans from Brazil.

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Keeping local suppliers at the heart of her menu whilst exploring her fusion theme, chef Caroline will work closely with Platt Fields Market Garden, Dormouse Chocolates, Northern Cure, The Flat Baker and more to promote quality produce.

She will be joined by a team from Ramsbottom favourite Baratxuri. The specialist fire cookery restaurant will also move in, serving a selection of lunchtime pintxos alongside its classic Basque dishes – available as a mixture of small and large plates.

Think big cuts of meat and whole fish with a mix of large sharing dishes, such as its famed Capricho Oro’ Txuleton (a 1kg bone-in rib steak), alongside various nibbles like boquerones and the finest grade jamon Iberico de bellota, sourced from free-range pigs that roam the oak forests between Spain and Portugal.

Elsewhere, Prestwich favourite Osma will bring a new relaxed edge to its Scandinavian concept serving open sandwiches, fresh salads and hearty soups during the day before switching its menu offering to something a little more sultry come nightfall.

Think tempting small plates like Avruga caviar pots with toasted brioche, whole lobster with herb butter, sashimi with caper and shallots, and a dish of roasted and pickled beetroots with raspberry and rose,

Elsewhere, the bar operation will be headed up by the award-winning Gethin Jones (formerly of Ducie Street Warehouse and Cottonopolis) with a specialist cocktail bar menu focused exclusively on brandy throughout autumn.

The bar offering will also include a dedicated rotational line for Manchester breweries like Sureshot, Cloudwater and Pomona, and a carefully chosen wine list designed to complement the kitchens stellar food offering.

Due to open in Manchester this autumn, a date has not been set but we’re expecting it will be some time in November. To keep up to date until then, make sure to follow Exhibition on Instagram here.

Feature image – Supplied

Eats

A retro arcade gaming bar is opening in Stockport ready for Christmas

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

Stockport is set to get its first retro gaming bar this winter as the former Mama Sanctuary spa on Princess Street is transformed into an arcade haven.

Spreading across two floors, it comes from partners Joseph Patten and Amy Fletcher and will.

Already established in the local hospitality scene. Joseph has already made a name for himself in Stockport with venues including Cracked Actor, The Glass Spider and Dr Feelgood.

Now, he and Amy are workig together on a new venture that will celebrate some iconic arcade games from their childhoo,d including Super Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and Donkey Kong – all playable using tokens that can be collected from the bar.

Called Glitch, in an interview with the Manchester Evening News the pair described the new gaming bar as an “interactive museum for vintage arcade lovers”.

However, they also revealed that it won’t just be about retro games here.

The modern crowd of gamers will be equally well catered to, with 11 different high-tech gaming booths – all bookable by the hour – kitted out with 40 inch screens, Xbox, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, SEGA Mega, and Nintendo 64.

Elsewhere, the team is working on creating an experiential Star Wars ‘duelling room’ with light sabers available to rent. Although it doesn’t sound like this will be ready before its pre-Christmas opening, it’s something we’re happy to wait for.

Drinks-wise, gamers can expect to find a wide array of themed cocktails that nod to Glitch’s playful theme alongside a selection of local beers from Siren Brewery.

The pair also said that they hope the bar will “change the lay of the land massively for more bars of this type to invest in Stockport Town centre.

Read more: A bar in Manchester is throwing a 2000s-themed Myspace party

They continued: “It’s certainly the first of its kind in Stockport but it’s where the bar world is heading.

“We believe it’s the next big push needed to bring immersive interactive bars to Stockport, in the same way they do in the cities. It’s a chance to provide more than just a sit down with a beer, people want more of an experience when they hit the town now. GLITCH provides that.

Read more: This Indian takeaway in Prestwich has just been named the best in the UK

“It’s a hit of nostalgia like a interactive museum for vintage arcade lovers, whilst also offering the look into the future with all the latest consoles for groups to book out. I think it’s the perfect time of year to be opening with Christmas around the corner.”

Feature image – Google maps / Slackers

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