It’s been one of the most talked-about restaurant openings of the year, and in the run-up to Fenix’s launch, everyone’s been talking about that interior.
The lavish new Greek-Mediterranean restaurant comes from the same team behind Tattu, so we were all already anticipating another impeccably-designed space.
And Fenix is already living up to expectations.
Its inspiration comes from the beautiful island of Mykonos, from the driftwood dining chairs and stunning stone floors to huge plumes of grasses and carved stone walls.
No expense has been spared on making this a world-class venue.
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Cutting-edge lighting transforms the atmosphere from warm, sunlit beach bar to a moonlit restaurant space.
Stonewashed arches soar overheard with a ceiling covered in golden grasses.
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Diners enter the space on the ground floor into the bar area, where clever illusions make it seem as though a wall of fire is flickering above the huge selection of spirits.
The restaurant space at Fenix. Credit: The Manc Group
A spiral staircase surrounds a giant olive tree and leads up to the main restaurant space, with an open kitchen where diners can see the chefs preparing Fenix’s contemporary Greek food.
Also on offer are a wealth of pasta and rice dishes, a ‘Raw’ menu including Sea Bass ceviche and steak tartare, clay pot roasted leg of lamb folded in vine leaves, and Tiger prawns with yuzu sauce.
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To compliment Fenix’s food offering, the site will also be home to one of the city’s best bars, headed up by Will Meredith.
Fenix is opening in SpinningfieldsDownstairs in Fenix, ManchesterDownstairs in Fenix, Manchester
The ground floor will be transformed into a vibrant luxury drinking den, with live DJs and service running into the evening.
Will has drawn inspiration from his Greek heritage and the stories of ancient Greece to create a drinks menu that splits into four sections: Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind.
Each of the 16 innovative cocktails will be served in custom glassware, and the bar team will even be carving every piece of ice into boulder-like shapes.
Fenix will officially open its doors on 30 November, The Goods Yard Building, Goods Yard Street, Spinningfields, M3 3BG.
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.
Daisy Jackson -
17th November 2023 
