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
Family behind Salvi’s launch new concept, weeks after iconic restaurant closure
Daisy Jackson
Just weeks after the closure of its iconic, 16-year-old Italian restaurant in the Corn Exchange, the family behind Salvi’s have revealed a brand-new concept.
And this time, the reins are being handed over to the next generation.
Salvi’s founder Maurizio Cecco has helped to shape Amò, but it’s all the brainchild of his daughter, Sienna.
Sienna will run the business out of a unit up on Deansgate Mews, serving fresh pasta dishes, pizza sandwiches, tubs of tiramisu, and two-for-£10 spritzes.
The deli aspect of the original Salvi’s has been carried over to Amò too – you’ll find shelves almost to the ceiling filled with Italian pasta, wine, olive oils, pistachio spreads, and more.
Sienna has grown up in restaurants, with her parents launching Salvi’s when she was just two years old.
She said she wants the space to be a livelier, fresher version of the Italian restaurant that has been so loved by Mancs for so many years.
Sienna outside AmòFresh pasta dishesInside Amò by Salvi’sTheir viral frozen crema di caffeLemon granitaInside Amò by Salvi’sTiramisu pots
Amò, which is Neapolitan slang for ‘my love’, will have loads of fresh Italian dishes, including arancini, gnocchi, and hearty pasta plates.
At lunchtimes, guests can order from a £10 lunch menu, with dishes changing daily depending on the best produce the kitchen can get – it could be a pizza sandwich with proscuitto and tomato, a spicy pasta, or a gnocchi bake, always served with your choice of soft drink.
With its position on Deansgate Mews, Amò basks in the sunshine at lunchtimes.
And while it’s definitely a different concept to the original Salvi’s, Amò looks set to carry the family’s Italian food legacy into its next generation.
Award-winning Didsbury bakery La Chouquette reveals incredible new site
Daisy Jackson
La Chouquette is one of Greater Manchester’s top bakeries – an award-winner, with queues down the street every weekend for its authentic French pastries and loaves.
And now they’re ready for a new chapter, revealing a major expansion today.
Owners Catrina and Flo have painstakingly expanded the bakery into the unit next door, creating what feels like a true French bakery.
And in the midst of this huge renovation project, they’ve welcomed a tiny new baby boy – quite the summer for the couple.
Catrina and Flo launched La Chouquette in lockdown, and in a time where people could only get their hospitality fix from takeaways, immediately became one of the most popular spots in the region.
Their success has been so great, you’ll still consistently find queues down the street every weekend, for their top sellers like their authentic almond croissants.
Then in October 2024, they grew the business and launched Piqniq, a new deli in Didsbury village, serving freshly-baked baguette sandwiches, breakfast butties, toasties, tiramisu pots and their legendary pastries.
The new-look La Chouquette features beautiful details like mosaic floors, rich blue walls, wooden shelves, and brass light fixtures.
La Chouquette’s best-selling almond croissantsInside the stunning new La Chouquette in DidbsuryNew savoury bakesThe chausson aux pommesThe counter stuffed with artisan French bakesChocolate chip cookies and cinnamon buns
The huge new counter displays more pastries and breads than ever before, like a hearty chausson aux pommes filled with apples that will be perfect for autumn, plus seasonal treats like a rhubarb creme brulee pastry, and homemade quiche.
Speaking at the grand relaunch today, Catrina said: “The layout has changed, it looks so much more chic, it looks like a traditional French bakery. We’re really excited about it.”
As for what’s on the counter, Flo reassured fans that their beloved almond and pistachio croissants remain, but with some new savoury editions, like a truffle croque monsieur made with croissant dough.
La Choquette has reopened today, and will be open seven days a week from 7am until 5pm.
Georgina Pellant -
4th April 2023 
