Local celebrity Simon Wood has called out a recent group of no-show customers that failed to turn up to his city-centre restaurant this past weekend.
The 48-year-old behind the self-titled WOOD Manchester didn’t hold back when criticising the no-show guests who had reserved the chef’s table on Saturday night, one of the most exclusive and expensive experiences for any restaurant.
Wood won MasterChef back in 2015 and remains one of the best chefs in the city but with everyone in the hospitality industry still being hit hard by the cost of living and crisis, rising business rates and energy bills, any bookings are important – let alone a chef’s table.
Addressing the absentee diners’ decision to not only skip out on the table but make no effort to let him and his team know they wouldn’t be making the meal online, he signed off by simply saying: “What a way to support a small business. Much appreciated, you tw**ts.
An Actual image of my Chefs table at 8pm last night
I’d like to say a huge thanks to the Table of 5 that no showed, not even a phone call or a courtesy so I could try and resell the table
As you can see, the chef-owner felt rightly aggrieved by the no-show, not only offering sarcastic gratitude but proceeding to use some choice language to describe the behaviour.
ADVERTISEMENT
He doubled down in a later post by insisting, “It is not the restaurant’s responsibility to have a policy or contingency in place to accommodate every eventuality where a patron or prospective patron may or may not be an absolute sh**house…. I think that covers all replies to the below thread.”
Wood had no intention of hiding his frustration, also choosing to reshare an old post about the “entitlement” within the culinary scene and service sector as a whole.
ADVERTISEMENT
He even uploaded a clearly loaded image of his ‘song of the day’: ‘People = Sh**’ by Slipknot
Social media was awash with plenty of support from fellow Mancs and diners from all over, at least, with one person writing: “To keep good restaurants in business, we have to change the norm to deposits / buying tickets for seats.
“If it’s accepted in a cinema or at a concert, why not a restaurant where the spoilage of a no-show is the same or likely, worse?” Another went on to add, “I have been twice – lunch and dinner – high quality and impeccably looked after by the staff.”
ADVERTISEMENT
It goes without saying that if you can’t make a booking, what level of restaurant or food spot you might be heading to, then it’s not just common courtesy to let the business know as soon as you can, it can be the difference between them being able to flip the table and whether or not they struggle that month.
As if it needed reiterating at all, it doesn’t matter whether it’s Simon Wood and his fine-dining restaurant or your local pub serving up good honest grub other, just letting them know if you’re going to be a no-show takes very little effort at all…
‘New wave’ pizzeria where every pizza is served with scissors is heading to Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Always a hot topic of conversation around a pizza is how to eat the damn thing – knife and fork, slice and hold, fold it up?
And now a new pizza concept is heading to Manchester, where authentic Neapolitan pizzas are always served with a pair of scissors for cutting up your dinner.
We here at The Manc are firm believers that scissors are a far superior tool for getting your pizza into slices, so news that Forbici (which literally translates as ‘Scissors’ from Italian) is opening in the city centre is music to our ears.
Forbici is taking over a corner unit on Cross Street, not far from the former site of much-loved family-focused Italian Croma.
Claiming to be arriving in town with ‘the world’s most powerful pizza dough’, the restaurant hails a ‘new wave’ of pizzeria.
Its roots will be firmly in Naples, with puffy biga dough handmade fresh daily and proofed for 12 hours. It’ll be made so fresh every day that pizzas will only be available while the dough lasts.
Forbici will serve its pizza the Neapolitan way too – quartered (it’s ‘four ways always’, with scissors, which protects that signature airy crust.
The pizzas are going to be topped with tomatoes from Solania, the only producer of true San Manzarno DOP tomatoes, and Fior di Latte Mozzerella from Vico Equese, a small coastal town where tradition runs deep.
They’ve even imported a pizza oven direct from Sorrento.
And drinks will come from Italian craft beer brand Amarcord, one of the nation’s first independent breweries.
Forbici says it will blend ‘born in Naples’ flavours with ‘rising in Manchester’ influences.
Andrew Garton, CEO of Forbici, said: “Forbici isn’t just another pizza restaurant—it’s a new way of experiencing pizza.
“We are pioneering a new wave of pizza in the UK, with the simple belief that pizza should be better.
“We have brought together the finest master bakers who have spent decades honing their craft in Naples to create the perfect formula for fermenting the world’s most powerful pizza dough.
“Born from centuries of Neapolitan expertise and heritage, Forbici will be rising in Manchester this year.”
Forbici will open its first Manchester pizza restaurant on Cross Street this spring – you can follow them on Instagram HERE for the latest.
Giuseppe’s – the tiny Italian bistro that proves Stalybridge is fast becoming a dining destination
Daisy Jackson
Giuseppe’s in Stalybridge is a restaurant that’s putting in an enormous amount of effort to please just a very small group of people – this teeny tiny bistro has just 18 seats.
With such a small capacity no one would blame them for sitting back and scaling back to a concise little menu of pizza – but Giuseppe’s really said ‘no grazie’ to such an idea and committed itself to a full bistro menu.
It’s yet another exciting addition to the rapidly-booming restaurant scene here in Tameside, where neighbours include Cafe Continental, Gladstone Barber & Bistro, and SK15 Bar & Bistro.
Giuseppe’s arrival on the Stalybridge high street has created a cosy corner for locals, one which could quickly follow in the footsteps of Ornella’s to become a fully-booked-for-months-in-advance destination.
Inside its welcoming navy blue walls you’re welcomed by a room filled with trailing plants, ceramic lemons and a huge doodle map of Sicily.
The menu also hails from Sicily, specialising in wood-fired pizzas but also dipping a toe into pasta and small plates too.
Pizza at Giuseppe’s Italian bistro in StalybridgeA spread of dishes at Pizza at Giuseppe’s Italian bistro in Stalybridge
Giuseppe’s pizza dough is meticulously made fresh with Italian 00 flour, left to ferment for at least 48 hours, before being stretched and topped and cooked in the wood-fired pizza oven until it’s all puffed-up and charred around the edges.
At lunch times, those delicious pizza doughs are folded in half to make Italian panozzi sandwiches, the charred dough encasing fillings like Sicilian fennel sausage and friarelli, and mortadella with stracciatella.
These are strong contenders for the best pizzas this side of Greater Manchester, with a soft and chewy crust that stands up against much bigger names in the pizza game.
Rum baba at Giuseppe’sThe team at Giuseppe’s in Stalybridge
Giuseppe’s pasta bowls include a hearty paccheri with Sicilian sausage AND guanciale, all salty and rich and creamy.
And once you’ve eaten your fill in this tiny little spot, where the windows go all steamed up in winter and you’re nudging up against neighbours chatting over pizzas, you can polish off with Italian desserts too.
There’s a very respectable slab of tiramisu on offer, plus a rum baba soaked in syrup and packed with fresh cream.
Giuseppe’s in Stalybridge may be small in capacity but it’s huge on spirit.
Danny Jones -
30th September 2024 
