The UK’s first dedicated champagne boutique, Portfolio, is finally ready to launch its restaurant experience – and it’s like nothing Manchester has seen before.
The luxury champagne bar on Bridge Street has unveiled a new restaurant concept built entirely around ‘the perfect bite’, with diners able to enjoy up to 18 single-mouthful dishes for £155 per person (or 14 dishes for £135pp).
At lunchtimes, Portfolio will offer a 10 course menu for £75pp, with an optional wine pairing.
The intimate nine-table restaurant is the latest venture from acclaimed chef Julian Pizer, formerly of Another Hand and Edinburgh Castle, who says he wanted to focus on the one bite guests remember long after a meal has finished.
Rather than serving traditional tasting menu courses, every dish is designed to be eaten in a single mouthful, paired with some of the world’s finest and rarest champagnes and wines.
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Diners are encouraged to tackle each course in one go – no matter how tempting it might be to savour it a little longer.
As co-founder Pizer explains: “I’ve always been drawn to the most memorable part of any meal – that single perfect bite, the one you remember long after the meal.
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Beef fat hash, beef tartare, horseradish and Bloody Mary gel, served on top of champagne corks Carrot tart, gooseberry, fresh curds in thin crispy pastryhiso leaf taco with spring shoots, citrus vinaigrette, blackcurrant wood
“This menu is built around that idea: big flavour, perfect balance, all in one mouthful, designed to sit seamlessly alongside great Champagne.”
Highlights include a chicken and oyster tempura skewer topped with sour cream and chives, a carrot tart packed with gooseberries and fresh curds, and a beef-fat hash crowned with beef tartare and Bloody Mary gel, dramatically served on champagne corks.
One standout dish is a decadent lobster roll enriched with pork fat, where crispy brioche provides the perfect contrast to sweet Cornish lobster, cucumber, celery and apple.
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Elsewhere, a refreshing shiso leaf taco with spring shoots and citrus vinaigrette offers a palate-cleansing break before richer dishes including Chinese-style pork belly with white kimchi, and a duck course featuring breast, confit meatball and duck neck sausage.
Some of the paired wines with the Portfolio lunch menu in ManchesterInside Portfolio ManchesterSome of the paired wines with the Portfolio lunch menu in Manchester
Dessert arrives in the form of a kiwi marshmallow-style treat with blackberry, mint and a dusting of icing sugar.
The drinks are no afterthought either. Portfolio houses more than 250 champagnes from over 70 producers, and diners can add carefully matched champagne pairings to either the 14-course (£135) or 18-course (£155) menu.
With only 24 covers available at any one time, the experience is intentionally relaxed. There’s just a single sitting each service, meaning guests can linger over their food and fizz for as long as they like.
For those not ready to commit to 18 bites in one sitting, Portfolio’s bar remains open six days a week, offering a more casual snack menu alongside its extensive champagne list.
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Pizer describes the concept as his chance to experiment freely and, above all, ‘make food fun again’.
Andy Burnham’s favourite Manchester pub, restaurant, neighbourhood and Sunday roast
Daisy Jackson
Andy Burnham’s favourite pub, restaurant, neighbourhood, and Sunday roast have been revealed – and the man’s got taste.
Old footage of now-PM Andy Burnham chatting to content creator Isaac Likes has been doing the rounds again, and while the interview dates back to before Andy left us and headed down to the big smoke, his Manchester recommendations still stand.
From his go-to neighbourhood and favourite pub to where he heads for a Sunday roast, and even the song he likes to play when he gets behind the decks, Burnham gave us a glimpse into his ideal Manchester day.
First up, there’s the Northern Quarter, which Burnham reckons has to be his favourite neighbourhood in the city.
He said: “Got to be the Northern Quarter. It’s the place where it’s all happening.”
When it comes to food, he singled out Firehouse, sitting on the edge of the Northern Quarter, as one of his favourite places to eat. He also gave a shoutout to its sister venue Ramona, where he’s been known to get behind the decks.
Andy said: “On the edge of the Northern Quarter, Firehouse is a place I love to go. Ramona Pizza, I’ve DJ’d there – if the mayor DJs there it’s gotta be alright.”
For a proper pint, Burnham’s choice is a little more traditional, saying his favourite pub is the ‘proper old school’ Peveril of the Peak.
The beautiful tiled pub was recently named the best in the UK, just days before its legendary landlady Nancy passed away.
When Sunday rolls around, Burnham said he has a couple of options up his sleeve. The Wharf in Castlefield gets a mention, as does Edinburgh Castle up in Ancoats.
The Peveril of the Peak pub in ManchesterThe Edinburgh CastleFirehouseSome of Andy Burnham’s favourite places in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
He said: “We love our gravy, we drink it by the pint in Manchester.”
Of course, no conversation with Burnham about Manchester would be complete without talking music.
Asked to name the best Manchester band of all time, he offered a few contenders – The Smiths, New Order, and, ultimately, The Stone Roses.
“The band I think are quintessentially Manchester is The Stone Roses. That was peak Manchester,” he said.
The amazing new doughnut shop that’s opened in a churchyard in Wigan
Daisy Jackson
A brand-new doughnut hatch has landed in Wigan, serving fresh bakes and speciality coffee from inside a beautiful local churchyard.
This is Holy Grounds, the latest independent spot bringing together freshly made doughnuts, excellent coffee and a spectacular setting, right beside the Wigan Parish Church.
The Lancashire-born business expanded to Wigan just three weeks ago, and it’s already proving hugely popular with the locals.
As we’re seeing all over Wigan these days, Holy Grounds have taken on a beautiful characterful space and turned it into a great new independent hangout.
The doughnut hatch is connected to the church itself, with the room believed to have once been an old school space. Today, it’s been given a very different purpose, with the smell of freshly baked doughnuts and coffee filling the building.
And you can still get a very real reminder that you’re sitting inside a church – the bells ring twice a day.
Holy Grounds was set up by Sam, who was previously a vicar, alongside his partner Hannah.
They and their team are making doughnuts fresh every day, using a 48-hour proving process, before transforming them into a monthly-rotating selection of flavours.
This month’s specials at Holy GroundsThe selection of Holy Grounds doughnuts in WiganA peach and almond doughnut, and an OGHoly Grounds stands in the churchyard of Wigan Parish ChurchFreshly-made doughnuts and coffee in Wigan
This month’s flavours include The OG, peach and almond, chocolate cornflakes, and blackberry and white chocolate.
Holy Grounds serves speciality coffee from Clifton Coffee Roasters in Bristol, making the doughnut-and-coffee combination feel less like a quick sugar hit and more like a proper little ritual.
A beautiful old building, fresh doughnuts, excellent coffee and church bells ringing overhead?
We’re not saying we’ve found heaven, but we’re definitely getting closer.
Daisy Jackson -
7th June 2026 
