Bosses behind Ramsbottom wood-fired tapas favourite Levanter have permanently closed the restaurant a week after losing its Michelin plate.
The news comes just months after owners Joe and Fiona Botham made the decision to shut down half of their Ramsbottom site – also once home to their second restaurant Baratxuri – in a bid to battle the challenges brought on by rising energy bills.
Faced with extortionate costs to keep their business going, in January the pair made the call to temporarily shut Levanter’s large bar and dining room; leaving just its main dining room open to the public until the summer.
It was hoped this would be enough to keep the business going until the warmer months, with owner Joe tweeting at the time: “We’ve had to take the hard decision to hibernate the Smithy St side of Ramsbottom – the Bar & the Comedor Dining Room, for the foreseeable future.
Image: Levanter
Image: Levanter
“We’re hopeful this will just be for the quieter Winter months & we can fire it up again once the warmer weather kicks in for Spring/Summer & demand for the outside tables on Square St kicks in too.”
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However, a message posted on Levanter’s website on Tuesday afternoon shows that, unfortunately, the measures Joe and Fiona adopted were not enough to keep things going any longer.
A message on Levanter’s website reads: “Levanter is now closed. Thank you to all our guests who have visited and supported us over the last 9 years. We will miss you.”
First opened in 2014, Levanter made its name as a proper local tapas bar serving authentic wood-fired Spanish plates, alongside fine wines and sherries to foodies from far and wide.
Image: Levanter
Image: Levanter
It proved so successful that a year later its owners then went on to launch the acclaimed sister Pintxos bar and basque enclave Baratxuri, which has since moved from its original north Manchester home into Exhibition on Peter Street.
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That same year, Levanter received a rave review fromGuardiancritic Jay Rayner who described it as “the kind of restaurant so many of us seek, where frill and pomp have been dispensed with in favour of feeding people well.”
Another casualty of the energy bills crisis, we know that many in Greater Manchester – and beyond – will be incredibly sad to see Levanter go. It’s also sad times for foodie hotspot Ramsbottom, which has lost three Michelin-recommended restaurants in recent years.
Featured image – Levanter
Eats
Irish Festival Village returns to Manchester with live music, fry-up pizzas and loads of Guinness
Daisy Jackson
A huge Irish Festival Village has returned to Manchester city centre today to kick off the St Patrick’s Day celebrations.
Over the coming 10 days, there’ll be live Irish music, street food, retail stalls and – of course – plenty of Guinness flowing.
The main event is now open at St Ann’s Square, where a gigantic marquee festooned in green, white and orange has been installed.
Inside here, the bar is being run by the O’Shea’s team, and the stage will host loads of live music and great craic.
Outside you’ll find Birchwood Pizza, who have got a menu of pizzas inspired by the Emerald Isle.
Pizzas include the What’s the Craic (a fry-up pizza with white pudding and Dubliner sausage) to The Black Stuff (black pudding, rosemary potato and streaky pudding).
The Irish Festival Village has opened as part of the wider Manchester Irish Festival celebrations across Greater Manchester.
The Irish Festival Village is back in ManchesterIrish pizzas at the Festival Village on St Ann’s SquareYou can shop Irish treats outside
There’ll also be a Saint Patrick’s Day parade on Sunday 16 March, which will weave its way from the Irish World Heritage Centre all the way onto Deansgate.
The parade will showcase and champion local groups and organisations such as GAA clubs, Irish dance classes, marching bands, and pipe bands, along with a strong representation of the 32 counties in Ireland.
And it handily winds up around King Street, just beside the Irish Festival Village.
The gathering spot will be open from Friday 7 March all the way through to St Patrick’s Day itself – find out more HERE.
There’s a bakery in Manchester where you can decorate your own adorable tiny bento cake
Daisy Jackson
We’ve found a wholesome activity that’ll suit even the most cack-handed of bakers – a workshop where you can decorate your own miniature bento cake.
This Manchester activity has shot to the top of our list of our favourite things to do locally, perfect for a hen do, a birthday, a mate date or a date date.
Bento cakes, or lunchbox cakes, have all the elaborate decorations of a full celebration cake but made miniature, for a treat that doesn’t have to be shared out to dozens of people.
From swirls of buttercream frosting to pretty piped love hearts to cursive writing atop your cake, there are loads of decorations you can add to your own creation.
At Vanilla Ice Cakes in Chorlton, you’ll sit under the expert eye of owner Fiza, a master baker who’s been in the game for more than a decade.
She’ll guide you (and sometimes step in to help you) as you fumble your way through decorating your own cake.
As you arrive for your workshop you’re presented with two adorable vanilla sponge cakes, a classic base for a proper Victoria sponge or a more elaborate celebration cake.
Other cakes at Vanilla Ice CakesYou can mix up your own buttercream icingMaster baker Fiza at work at the bento cake workshopThe bento cake workshop space in ManchesterOne of our creations at the bento cake workshop in Chorlton, Manchester
Each class includes hot drinks, plus a plate full of Vanilla Ice Cakes’ delicious brownie bites.
From here, you’re taught the basics of piping, building a buttercream ‘dam’ before spooning in a filling of choice – jam, Nutella or Lotus Biscoff.
After applying a crumb coat (Great British Bake Off fans will already be on the right page here), the real fun begins.
Fiza will help you to whip up a smooth buttercream in whichever colour you wish, before letting you run riot with a piping bag.
You’ll practice swirls, rosettes, hearts, and even writing in icing ahead of decorating your actual cake.
You can see how we got on below, then book your own spot HERE.
Georgina Pellant -
4th April 2023 
