Manchester restaurant creates cheeky £69 per head Valentine’s menu
Intimating its innocence in the joke, Kala replied with the haloed face of an angel - but let's be honest, there's no way they didn't do this on purpose.
Top Manchester bistro Kala has revealed its Valentine’s menu for 2023 and it’s equal parts naughty, raunchy, and (if you’re a little immature like us) downright funny.
No, we’re not referring to the chef’s dishes (although they do sound absolutely stunning). Rather, the thing that caught our eye was the price: with loved-up diners being charged exactly £69 per head to enjoy the romantic supper.
Surely someone’s got to be having a laugh on this one, and we’re absolutely cackling. Their followers clearly think it’s funny too, that is if the comments on the restaurant’s recent Instagram post are anything to go by.
Shared with the simple caption “Love is in the air. Valentine’s Day bookings now open”, the original menu post on the restaurant’s page makes no reference to the tongue-in-cheek price.
Mini doughnuts with dark chocolate sauce, honeycomb ice-cream and a nice slab of home made honeycomb. / Image: Kala Bistro
Chicken liver pate, farmer’s chutney and wholemeal sourdough toast – a Kala classic. / Image: Kala Bistro
However, fans were quick to pick up on it and quickly commented with a mixture of amusement and approval – with one person simply sending a trio of crying-laughing emojis, followed by a set of clapping hands.
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Intimating its innocence in the joke, Kala replied with the haloed face of an angel – but let’s be honest, there’s no way they didn’t do this on purpose.
After all, a quick look at the Valentine’s page on its website reveals this little nugget: “We always say people who love to eat are our kind of people, so HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY to all you lovers out there!”
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Read into that what you will.
The newly-revealed Valentine’s menu at Kala Bistro is priced at exactly £69 a head. / Image: Kala Bistro
One of Kala’s most recent specials, made with tuna tartare, pickled cucumber, sesame, and salt and vinegar crisps. / Image: Kala Bistro
As for the menu itself, for that £69 it offers some really good value with a total of five courses including bread and butter pudding with ‘burnt toast’ ice cream and a giant rack of lamb, salad, meatballs and gnocchi ‘to share’ as a main.
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With bread and snacks to be enjoyed before starters, followed by mains including a huge roasted lamb rack ‘to share’, desserts, and a signature sweet to finish, it all sounds more than tempting.
Think nibbles like rosemary and thyme focaccia with olive oil and sea salt or seaweed crackers with oyster emulsion, followed by starters of BBQ Hispi cabbage with romesco brown shrimp dressing and salted almonds, confit duck leg with savoury pancake, crispy rice and cucumber relish, and burrata with truffled honey, rocket and hazelnut pesto, grilled sourdough and pickled grapes.
Dark chocolate mousse, coffee caramel, hazelnut praline mousseline, vanilla ice cream. / Image: Kala Bistro
Roast rump of lamb, Shepherds pie, watercress and spinach purée. / image: Kala Bistro
For mains, choices include the aforementioned roasted rack of lamb to share with salad, lamb meatballs and gnocchi marinara, or for the couples that want their own dish, there’s roasted chicken breast, poached halibut loin, and pan-fried potato gnocchi.
And for pudding, Kala’s rhubarb and pistachio trifle is served with white chocolate and a lemon thyme cookie, whilst elsewhere on the menu you’ll find sour cherry bread and butter pudding with Maraschino and burnt toast icecream, and a blood orange choux bun filled with salted dark chocolate custard, vanilla cream and hazelnut brioche.
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Last but not least, you can also each enjoy a marshmallow Krispie to finish before heading home to enjoy a little naughty dessert of your own (or not, whatever floats your boat).
One of Manchester’s best restaurants is opening a ‘bread kitchen’ in Exhibition food hall
Daisy Jackson
A Michelin guide restaurant in Manchester is branching out with a new project, and this time it’s all about bread.
The team behind Another Hand will be taking over one of the kitchens in food hall Exhibition, launching Jaan, which will specialise in Persian cooking.
The new bread kitchen will focus on Wildfarmed House Flatbreads, which will come with an array of seasonal toppings.
And a lot of the produce heading to the Jaan kitchen at Exhibition will be taken from what’s not used at Another Hand around the corner.
For example, a whole sirloin that’s used for Another Hand’s ex-dairy sirloin dish will provide meat trimmings that will be turned into Jaan’s beef tartare.
The tail and trim from Another Hand’s seared trout will head to Jaan to be used in a fire-roasted sea trout fatoush salad.
And the two restaurants will share other bits of produce too, like a squash that will go into both a Winter Squash small plate at the main restaurant and a scorched summer squash dish at the food hall.
Another Hand’s famous flatbreads will be the staple on the menu at Jaan, which is moving into the beautiful kitchen on Peter Street hot on the heels of the departure of Rigatoni’s.
Jaan is a new Persian bread kitchen from the team behind Another Hand restaurant in ManchesterJaan will specialise in flatbreads
Since it launched in 2022, the restaurant’s become known as one of Manchester’s best, even earning a place in the Michelin guide.
It’s famed for its sharing plates, as well as the team’s efforts to drive sustainable practices, sourcing produce from across the north west.
Most ingredients used in the restaurant have travelled no more than 40 miles, and the bread comes from Holy Grain while the chocolate comes from Dormouse, both right next door.
Jaan will be moving in to the Exhibition food hall in Manchester
They hope that Jaan will help their sustainable credentials even more, allowing them to use up almost every scrap of produce.
Small plates will all be served with house flatbreads, and toppings will include smoked aubergine, whipper butterbean, black garlic cheese bread, ex-dairy beef tartare, and ras el hanout spiced lamb.
And larger plates will include slow-cooked lamb shank with ancient grains, grilled octopus and nduja, and chermoula chicken rice.
Chef patrons Max Yorke and Julian Pizer said: “We feel extremely privileged to be offered the opportunity to cook alongside Osma and Baratxuri at Exhibition Manchester.
“Over the last few years our small 24 cover restaurant has generated a large waitlist and we are excited to showcase our new concept to a wider audience.
“Most importantly, as we make more steps to improve our environmental standards, our food waste systems showed an obvious area in which we could develop.
“By opening a second kitchen in such a fast paced venue we can take unused produce from Another Hand and even further reduce, and hopefully eradicate, our wastage.”
Jaan Persian Bread Kitchen will open within Exhibition on 8 May, joining Osma and Baratxuri on the venue’s restaurant floor.
Gary Neville lines up Michelin star chef for his Stock Exchange Hotel restaurant
Daisy Jackson
Gary Neville has announced a new restaurant within his five-star Stock Exchange Hotel, which will open almost a year after the previous eatery announced its shock closure.
The magnificent dining room at the heart of the hotel was previously home to Tom Kerridge’s The Bull & Bear, which closed at the end of 2022.
It was then replaced by Stock Market Grill, a restaurant by the award-winning Schofield brothers (who operate officially the best bar in the UK) – but that was open for only a matter of months.
Thankfully, the Manchester United legend and property mogul now has grand plans for the Stock Exchange’s restaurant offering, roping in two-time Michelin star chef Niall Keating.
Niall will be launching Tender this summer, a luxury dining experience ‘named after the tender care put into crafting each dish’.
There’ll be gourmet food for everyday dining within the hotel’s historic dining room, which will undergo a renovation before Tender’s launch.
Its menu will offer weekday brasserie lunches, a la carte dinners, afternoon teas, Sunday roasts, a chef’s table and a special tasting menu.
The Stock Exchange Hotel is home to one of Manchester’s most beautiful restaurant spaces. Credit: The Manc GroupThe Stock Exchange Hotel is home to one of Manchester’s most beautiful restaurant spaces. Credit: The Manc Group
Niall Keating at just 33 years old has already earned two Michelin stars, making him one of the youngest two-time Michelin star chefs in the UK.
His CV has included stints in kitchens at the best restaurants in the world, including Restaurant Sat Bains and Benu in San Francisco (a three Michelin-star spot).
He then headed to The Dining Room at Whatley Manor Hotel, where he earned his first star in 2017 and a second in 2019, as well as a prestigious Green Star in 2021 which recognises sustainability practices.
Speaking about today’s announcement, Gary Neville, owner of Stock Exchange Hotel, said: “We couldn’t be happier to be partnering with Niall Keating for Tender and bringing his culinary expertise to the hotel.
“His vision to create versatile and accessible dining options is exactly what we’ve been looking for, to allow everyone visiting Tender to find the right experience for them.”
Niall Keating added: “From when I first walked through the doors of the hotel into the dining room, I knew this was the place for me and that we could create something really special.
“I immediately felt connected to both Gary and General Manager, Tracy Harrison, and I knew what I wanted to create at the hotel and restaurant. I want a space that feels vibrant, warm and energetic, that brings to life the history of the stock exchange roots of the hotel, while providing an upscale and comfortable brasserie dining experience.
“In addition to the main dining room, we will also be opening ‘The Bank’, which is a beautiful private space for up to 12 guests, where we will be providing a truly exceptional dining experience.”
Gary added: “We will also shortly be announcing a series of events and live music experiences, including a weekly music plan, within Tender, that will really bring the venue to life, making it the heart of Stock Exchange Hotel.”
Tender restaurant at the Stock Exchange Hotel will officially open on 5 June.
Its opening hours will be Wednesday to Saturday, midday to 10pm, and Sundays midday to 7.30pm.
Georgina Pellant -
19th January 2023 
