Eats

Ornella’s Kitchen, the tiny Italian where people wait MONTHS for reservations, teases new restaurant

STAY CALM EVERYONE.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 21st February 2025

Ornella’s Kitchen, the tiny Italian restaurant where people will happily wait months to book table, has teased the arrival of a new restaurant.

The cosy spot has been doing a roaring trade in Denton, where just a handful of tables are squashed in around the deli counter.

Here you’ll find arguably the best pasta dishes in the region, from pistachio carbonara to short rib and parmesan gnocchi.

And Ornella’s Kitchen has become so popular it’s now nigh-on impossible to get a booking unless you like to plan really, really far ahead (or do what we did and eat lunch at 11.30am).

Today, the beloved Tameside restaurant has teased an expansion and a new location, with a post debuting ‘Ornella’s Little Kitchen’.

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That’s pretty much all the info they’re willing to part with at this stage, promising more details next week.

Ornella's Kitchen has teased a new restaurant
Ornella’s Kitchen has teased a new restaurant
The size of the existing Ornella's Kitchen
The size of the existing Ornella’s Kitchen

But fans are very quickly speculating on where the new Ornella’s Kitchen could be.

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Many are calling for the restaurant to open up in popular foodie neighbourhoods like Stockport, or Prestwich.

And others (us included) don’t care where they go, as long as it gives us twice as many chances at booking a table.

Ornella’s Kitchenall started as a lockdown project for Ornella Cancila, where customers would come and collect carefully-made Sicilian dishes from a bench outside her home.

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And now it’s grown to be one of those local spots that Tameside residents are proud of, and everyone else in Greater Manchester is jealous of.

Watch this space…

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Featured image: The Manc Group

Eats

‘Classy, clever, confident’ – New Manchester restaurant receives glowing Guardian review

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson British classics at Winsome, Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group

Winsome, one of the newest restaurants on Manchester’s dining scene, has gone and received a seriously glowing review in The Guardian this weekend.

Legendary restaurant critic Grace Dent said that the British bistro ‘may well be my new favourite restaurant’, lauding chef patron Shaun Moffat’s ‘elegant but plentiful modern cooking’.

She said that there’s even a teeny touch of Toby Carvery in their Sunday offering, with meaty and saucy dishes and ‘cartoon-esque XL yorkshire puddings’.

Winsome opened back in March under the steer of three hospitality heavyweights – ex-Edinburgh Castle chef Shaun Moffat, former Schofields head bartender Tom Fastiggi, and Belzan founder Owain Williams.

It’s a beautiful, stripped-back space at the foot of the Whitworth Locke aparthotel and Moffat’s first venture as a chef patron.

Based on this Guardian review, he’s doing a pretty good job so far…

Grace Dent said of Winsome’s nostalgic yet modern menu (featuring dippy eggs and puddings that sound like school dinner puds): “This is Cool Britannia wearing a napkin bib with a side portion of rhubarb jelly and custard for pudding.”

Novelty crockery at Winsome. Credit: The Manc Group
Novelty crockery at Winsome. Credit: The Manc Group
Chef patron Shaun Moffat at Winsome. Credit: The Manc Group
Chef patron Shaun Moffat at Winsome. Credit: The Manc Group
Dippy egg and asparagus. Credit: The Manc Group
Dippy egg and asparagus. Credit: The Manc Group
Inside WInsome on Princess Street. Credit: The Manc Group
Inside WInsome on Princess Street. Credit: The Manc Group

She also wrote that it’s ‘far from a novelty restaurant’ in spite of its animal-shaped crockery.

And Dent added that while there’s an element of fine dining, it’s unpretentious enough that you’re happy to smear it all over the tablecloths and, indeed, yourself.

‘Deeply nostalgic’, ‘forward-thinking fine dining without any of the faff’, is how she described her Winsome experience.

“This is confident, clever cooking that stays just the right side of earnest, or at least as earnest as a chef can be when he also serves up a dessert that is essentially a 1980s school sponge pudding with a scoop of milk ice-cream flecked with multicoloured sprinkles, or hundreds and thousands as they will for ever be known in my heart,” she wrote.

Grace Dent’s Guardian review concluded with: “Winsome may well be my new favourite restaurant, and it’s the new, big, generous beating heart of Manchester hospitality. It’s classy but come-all – bring your gran, bring your baby, no one need feel conspicuous.

“There’s something about the place that makes me want to use it as a canteen, not least out of sheer curiosity as to what Moffat will put on the menu next. Great cooking, and forward-thinking fine dining without any of the faff.

“Bring your appetite and don’t wear pale colours. Aaah, Manchester, you have so much to answer for. Winsome will seriously impact your waistline.”

Winsome said in a post on Instagram: “It doesn’t get much better than that! We’re over the moon, full of pride and could not be more grateful to the team who’ve worked so hard to help us deliver this dream.”

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Featured image: The Manc Group

Eats

Hidden Manchester bar Mala to offer unique ‘movie night’ experiences inside private cabins

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia

You can have your own private film experience inside little wooden cabins at a popular Northern Quarter bar this summer.

Manchester city centre secret garden spot Mala is hosting an event where you and your friends can enjoy a private movie night with food, themed drinks, and bucket loads of free popcorn.

Listed as the ‘Cabin Movie Night’, get ready to sit back, relax and watch a cult classic, all from the comfort of your own personal wooden hut.

The film you’ll be watching is very on-brand too, as it’s none other than none than ‘Labyrinth’.

This secret garden spot is hiding right in plain sight over on Dale Street in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, and as well as hosting events such as these, they’re also home to some top tier eateries too.

Currently El Jefe, Doodles, Wok Bros, Christakis, D&X Caribbean, and Gulf are all serving up some cross-continental delights for you to enjoy in this marvellous space.

Their most recent vendor, Gulf, is taking the title for the city’s best kept secret, expanding from their cute Middle-Eastern structure hidden inside the neighbouring Chapter One Books into this secret garden location.

Some mouth-watering scran from El Jefe.
Some mouth-watering scran from El Jefe.
Wok Bros have some delicious noodle boxes.
Wok Bros have some delicious noodle boxes.
Credit: The Manc Group

The Cabin Movie Night’ is the perfect way to round up your friends and watch a classic with a cocktail in hand.

There’s a handful of group packages available too at an additional charge, ranging from £30 to £50, which includes themed cocktails for each guest in the booking, and the cost of the ticket.

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The ‘Cabin Movie Night’ is coming to Mala on Monday 2 June from 7pm, and tickets are already on sale now HERE.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Image – The Manc Group

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