Madre, that exceptional Mexican restaurant at Kampus, has just launched a new Sunday feasting menu with an usual star attraction.
Diners at the Manchester restaurant can now tuck in to a whole pig’s head, served to the table with ears, teeth and snout still in tact.
It’s not every week you sit down to eat your Sunday dinner and realise your dinner is looking back at you – but here we are.
It’s nose-to-tail dining in the most literal, perfect sense, and if your dinner arriving with a face freaks you out, there are plenty of other options.
One is that the restaurant will actually just carve your pork cut in the kitchen and bring it to you ready to eat.
And there are plenty of other mains too, like a whole chicken cooked on an open grill, a Cochinita Pil Bil (pig shoulder), and spit-grilled cauliflower.
For us, it has to be that pig head special. A slightly shocked-looking pig is surrounded on our table by a whole host of Mexican sides and trimmings.
There are crispy fried potatoes, with slithers of spud so skinny they end up like crisps, or chip chop scraps.
Elote – corn on the cob smothered in chipotle mayo, lime and queso fresco – is a sweet and fresh antidote to that ultra-rich pork.
The Madre pig head once it’s been carved Roasted cauliflower at Madre’s Sunday feastThe Sunday feast at Madre
So too are the pickled slices of onion and jalapeno, ready to lay down on top of the corn and wheat tortillas.
There’s a pot of refried beans with a twinge of heat throughout, topped with a sprinkling of feta.
Cabbage is carved in half then grilled so its edges blacken, before it’s topped with a spread of pistachio pepian, where nuts and spices are blended into an earthy and vibrant sauce.
And in place of Yorkshire puds and gravy, you’ll get fresh tortilla and a pot of Birria jus.
Once you get over the novelty of your meat maintaining better eye contact than your Tinder date, you’ll have some very happy feasting indeed.
The Madre Sunday feast is £24 per person and available at their Kampus restaurant from now.
Hotel Chocolat to open viral chocolate Velvetiser Cafe in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Hotel Chocolat is set to open a Velvetiser Cafe in Manchester city centre, and it’ll be absolute paradise for chocolate lovers.
The popular chocolate shop, which has stores across the UK selling delicious chocolate bars, boxes and more, is now preparing to branch out in town.
Hotel Chocolat then hit a new level of fame with its Velvetiser, an invention that creates velvety smooth hot drinks at the touch of a button.
They’ve been so popular, Hotel Chocolat is now opening Velvetiser Cafes across the UK – and Manchester is up next.
If it follows in the footsteps of the Meadowhall cafe in Sheffield, visitors will be able to customise their perfect hot chocolate from thousands of combinations.
There are 18 flavours, different milks, and a whole variety of toppings available.
Then you drink can be served hot, over ice, or as a choc shake.
Colourful hoardings for the Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser Cafe have now appeared on Cross Street, just next door to the new Joe & The Juice.
A planning application has also been lodged with Manchester City Council.
Drake-backed fried chicken brand Dave’s Hot Chicken is opening in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
The huge LA-based fried chicken brand backed by Drake is heading to Manchester for the very first time this summer.
Dave’s Hot Chicken is set to open in the Printworks this August – the first UK branch outside of London and Birmingham.
The cult chicken brand has said that its new venue will feature an ‘industrial design inspired by Manchester’s rave scene’ (if we had a pound every time a new venue used that design style, we’d be as rich as Drake…).
Dave’s Hot Chicken is famed for its signature Nashville-style hot chicken, which is served in seven different spice levels from No Spice to Reaper.
Expect sliders, tenders, ‘next-level’ top-loaded shakes and slushes.
It’s grown so quickly that in 2021, it caught the eye of none other than rapper Drake, who is a ‘significant investor’ in the brand.
The fried chicken spot will be moving into the large corner unit at Printworks, which has previously been Busaba Thai, and Floripa, with 139 covers.
Dave’s Hot Chicken is coming to Manchester
Inside, it will feature towering ceilings, exposed steelwork, and laser lights, claiming to be a ‘full-on sensory trip, where music, light and fried chicken will come together to create a high-voltage experience’.
There will also be custom graffiti inspired by L.A.-based street artists Splatterhaus and Dehm.
Dave’s Hot Chicken still has hour-long queues down in London, several months after opening on Shaftesbury Avenue – next up will be a Birmingham branch in July before Manchester opens later this summer.
And this is just the start of a nationwide expansion.
Jim Attwood, Managing Director of Dave’s Hot Chicken UK, said: “Printworks Manchester is the ideal setting for our next UK site – right at the heart of one of the country’s most exciting cities.
“The new restaurant pays homage to Manchester’s legendary warehouse rave scene, with an industrial-inspired design and bold, high-energy atmosphere to match our signature flavours.
“We can’t wait to bring something fresh to this iconic venue and its vibrant mix of entertainment, food and culture.”
Dave’s Hot Chicken will open at Printworks Manchester on 8 August.
Daisy Jackson -
8th October 2023 
