The people's voice of Greater Manchester

X

Eats

Manchester pizza legends Nell’s confirm plans to take over former Croma site

This is the BEST news.

Daisy Jackson - 10th April 2024

The team behind local pizzeria Nell’s have confirmed plans to take over the former Croma site in Manchester city centre.

Famed for their enormous 22-inch pizzas, cooked on New York-style crusts that don’t collapse down your arms, Nell’s is the brainchild of the founders of Common and The Beagle.

Since launching inside the kitchens of Common in the Northern Quarter, Nell’s has become something of a household name and now has a large restaurant at Kampus too.

And now they’re moving into one of the most glaringly vacant sites in the city centre, promising to transform the former Croma restaurant.

Croma had long been a family favourite Italian restaurant (and still is with its remaining sites in Chorlton and Prestwich) but suddenly shut down its city centre site in 2022.

ADVERTISEMENT

The beautiful space on Clarence Street, just off Albert Square, has been vacant for more than two years.

In that time, Piccolino Caffé Grande has undergone a refurb, a huge Malmaison hotel has opened next door, and Albert Square itself is still… well, still covered in scaffolding.

ADVERTISEMENT

Manchester pizza legends Nell's confirm plans to take over former Croma site — Credit: Nell’s

Nell's is taking over the old Croma site in Manchester — Credit: Nell’s

A planning application has now been submitted by A Place Called Common to turn the old Croma restaurant into a Nell’s pizza joint.

You can expect their usual menu of 22″ pizzas and 14″ slices, plus ice cream sandwiches, cocktails and beers.

This will mark the fourth location for Nell’s, which currently operates from Common on Edge Street, The Beagle in Chorlton, and Kampus.

Nell’s on Clarence Street is set to open this autumn.

Read more

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by THE MANC EATS 🥡 (@themanceats)

Eats

Inside Great Northern Market, the huge new food hall at Manchester Airport T2

Inside Great Northern Market, the huge new food hall at Manchester Airport T2

There’s a brand-new food hall in Manchester, and you won’t believe where this beauty is… it’s only at Manchester Airport (!).

The food hall craze has travelled all the way to Terminal 2, bringing a whole host of kitchens for you to enjoy before your flight.

You can tuck in to everything from full breakfasts and brunches (with the obligatory 7am pint, because time isn’t real in an airport), to burgers and street food.

Essentially, you can travel around the world before you’ve even boarded the plane.

It’s all part of the terminal’s wider £1.3bn transformation, which now includes a first-of-its-kind market hall-style food and drink offering, with six kitchens around a central dining area, plus a Gooey kiosk and a takeaway hatch.

Behind the scenes, Great Northern Market is powered by a community of Northern talent. All menus have been crafted by Manchester-born executive chef Amy Tomkinson.

Here are all the new traders who have moved in to the Great Northern Market.

Gooey

Gooey at Great Northern Market

Gooey at Great Northern Market

This one surely needs no introduction – Gooey is one of Manchester’s top (and most popular) bakeries, famed for its chunky cookies, fluffy doughnuts, and cinnamon buns.

It’s the first thing you’ll see as you enter the Great Northern Market, a pretty tiled kiosk with its signature neon sign overhead.

As well as fresh bakes and their limited-edition specials, this is the spot to grab a pre-flight coffee too.

La Casita

La Casita at Great Northern Market

This Mexican street food spot has been created with the help of Madre’s Sam Grainger, and is serving a menu of burritos, loaded nachos, and salads.

A highlight is the beef birria nachos – authentic Mexican corn tacos loaded up with refried beans, pink pickled onions, guacamole, cheese sauce, salsa norteña and jalapeños.

Nashville Hot House

Nashville Hot House

There’s another local name involved with Nashville Hot House – Yard & Coop have brought their fried chicken prowess to Manchester Airport.

At the Great Northern Market, you’ll find classic buttermilk chicken burgers, a spicy little K-pop thigh burger, and chicken tenders.

There’s also salt and pepper loaded fries and absolutely loads of different dips.

Napoli Street Pizza

There’s been a real lack of pre-holiday pizza at Manchester Airport until now.

Napoli Street Pizza makes its Neapolitan pizzas using a a 55% hydration method, and a biga dough that is fermented and used to create the dough daily.

There are loads of different flavours to choose from, like a hot honey and pepperoni, plus flatbreads, Caesar salads, and more.

Kouzina

Kouzina is importing flatbreads from Greece for the most authentic possible souvlaki experience, like a lamb kofta souvlaki with chopped tomatoes, pink pickled onions, cucumber, zhoug, tahini, garlic mayo, and coriander.

You can also order big salads here, mezze platters, halloumi fries, and flatbreads with dips.

ADVERTISEMENT

You’ll feel like your in Santorini before you’ve even stepped on the plane (… okay, that might be a stretch).

Black Iron Grill

Smash burgers and skin-on fries are up for grabs at this next Great Northern Market trader, Black Iron Grill.

These burgers are served in glazed brioche buns, with melt-in-your-mouth beef patties topped with a number of different options.

You can also order a side of mac and cheese or some filthy fries loaded with crispy bacon bits, crispy shallots, and garlic mayonnaise.

Palms Cafe

That pre-flight pint just got FANCY

Last but not least – and definitely not something we thought we’d ever see in Manchester Airport – is Palms Cafe.

ADVERTISEMENT

They’re whipping up big bowls of ramen, and other noodle dishes, with toppings like satay chicken, sweet chilli king prawn, crispy tofu, pulled Korean beef, crispy fried chicken, and miso roasted sweet potato.

Noodles include hearty ramens, katsu curries, Pad Thai, and sides like prawn crackers.

Read more

Featured image: The Manc Group

Eats

Michelin-recommended Greater Manchester restaurant announces imminent closure

Restaurant Orme in Urmston has announced its shock closure. Credit: Instagram, @littlemcrhouse

A neighbourhood restaurant in Greater Manchester has announced its imminent closure, in a real blow for the local food scene

Restaurant Orme, a restaurant in Urmston that had made its way into the prestigious Michelin Guide, notified followers that with ‘great sadness’ they are intending to sell the business.

In their statements the team acknowledged the ‘significant economic pressures’ facing the restaurant industry, writing: “We find an increasing disparity between perceived value and the true cost of operations, rendering long-term sustainability unfeasible.”

But they also detailed that a break in their lease has allowed them to ‘thoughtfully consider’ their circumstances and make the ‘right choice for our growing families’.

The business was founded and operated by a trio of friends, Jack Fields, Tom Wilson, and Rachel Roberts.

Restaurant Orme has said that it can’t yet confirm its final date of service but has encouraged diners holding restaurant vouchers to make use of them in the coming months.

They also wrote: “It has been a pleasure serving this wonderful community and beyond. We have had so much to celebrate over the last three years and will cherish the memories and experiences we have shared.”

Restaurant Orme has been the subject of rave reviews and critical acclaim since launching in 2023, with the Good Food Guide writing that the team were delivering ‘ambitious food while staying true to its local roots’.

Michelin-recommended Greater Manchester restaurant announces imminent closure. Credit: Instagram, @littlemcrhouse

It described Restaurant Orme as a ‘youthful and breezily energetic’ restaurant with ‘lively but serious’ cooking.

And the Michelin Guide hailed it as a ‘pleasantly welcoming’ space with ‘appealing menus’.

Restaurant Orme wrote: “It is with great sadness that we announce our intention to sell the restaurant.

“It is well published that our industry is facing significant economic pressures. Addressing the real impact on trade, we find an increasing disparity between perceived value and the true cost of operations, rendering long-term sustainability unfeasible

“This has impacted our decision, however as we approach a break in our lease, we have been presented with an opportunity to thoughtfully consider our circumstances and reflect on what lies ahead. We need to make the right choice for our growing families, right now that means stability.

“As we navigate through this process, we can’t yet declare an official date of closure, therefore if you have exsiting vouchers with a valid expiry date, we urge you to book in within the next six months. New voucher sales have been suspended.

“It has been a pleasure serving this wonderful community and beyond. We have had so much to celebrate over the last three years and will cherish the memories and experiences we have shared.

“Thank you for everything. We will keep you posted when we have clarity on our final farewell.

“Don’t be sad it’s over, be happy it happened!”

And that’s further proof that even the best-loved, most critically-acclaimed neighbourhood restaurants just can’t make the figures stack up in the current climate.

Read more

Featured image: Instagram, @littlemcrhouse