Owners of Salford’s pink teapot cafe The Travelling Teapot have hit out at the local council as they revealed they are on the hunt for a new site.
Owners of The Travelling Teapot, a pale pink 1970s caravan known as Betsy to her friends, told The Manc that they were looking outside Salford for a new location and expanding the cafe’s horizons across the north west.
Revealing that they were ‘gutted’ to be leaving their home patch, owners hit out at Salford council as they said bosses had been unhelpful in helping them find somewhere to pitch up closer to home.
Bosses at the teapot cafe said: “We’ve got to make a decision by August whether to continue or close the business as we’ve been trying so hard to get a new pitch with better footfall but not had any success.
“We are gutted but we just can’t find anywhere to trade. Salford council won’t help so we are going to have to spread our wings.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Image: The Manc Group
Image: The Manc Group
The teapot cafe on wheels is the only one of its kind in the whole of the UK, according to owners Maria and Vicky.
Serving up delicious homemade cakes and other sweet treats like cookies and triple chocolate brownies, there’s also an extensive menu of hot and cold drinks with hot chocolates, locally-roasted coffees and piping hot cups of tea.
ADVERTISEMENT
The cafe has been a fixture at Buille Hill Park, Salford, since opening at the start of February
Getting the project off the ground, owners say, took fifteen months, so by the time they were ready to start serving from their magical teapot cafe they were beyond excited.
However, six months down the line, whilst Betsy and her owners have plenty of fans they maintain that the footfall at their current site is not high enough to continue trading there and the time has come to move on.
ADVERTISEMENT
Speaking exclusively to The Manc, owners revealed that whilst it had always been their dream to trade in Salford they ‘did not know or expect’ to run into so many problems with finding a site to trade from.
They said: “Being born and bred in Salford we naively thought that a new, independent business would be welcomed.
“We paid £800 for a Salford Council street trading license in November 2022 to trade at Buile Hill Park fireworks event. The council pushed it through on the proviso we could use it to trade on the streets thereafter.
“We had to pick a location (following their guidelines) and we were under the impression when this happened we were good to go. Nine months later we still haven’t had permission to trade on the streets.
“We have a park license which we use for Buile Hill Park {…] but the footfall is just not enough so have been looking for locations for places with more footfall.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We have applied for so many locations within the guidelines. The locations have either been turned down, emails not answered, passed to management committees, asked to contact other people within the council etc.”
Image: The Travelling Teapot
Image: The Manc Group
Owners told The Manc that they had applied for locations around The Lowry only to be told that the council didn’t own the land, contrary to information on the land registry, and generally said that despite sending numerous emails they often did not get a response.
It appears from correspondence seen by The Manc that owners were told there were ‘too many coffee shops in the area’ and they weren’t taking on any more.
“We did persist and ask if we could go on a waiting list until one became available,” owners added, “but apparently there isn’t a waiting list or criteria.”
They also allege that new businesses have since been given licenses to trade in areas they have been refused.
ADVERTISEMENT
Sharing the news of their departure from Buile Hill on Instagram, bosses wrote: “Please share. The UK’s only giant teapot on wheels is looking for a new home. We can bring a breathe of fresh air to your location. DM for info.
“Permanent pitch wanted. DM for info. Looking around the Northwest for a new permanent location. The UK’s only giant teapot on wheels. Fabulous drinks and cake menu. Breathe new life to your venue, eye catching, crowd pulling and unique. All enquiries considered.
Owners also said how sad they were to leave the park in the comments section, writing: “Awww we are so sad. We will be there a couple more times. The people we have met and all our customers have all been amazing!
“You’ve all been so loyal and kind, which honestly wish we could stay, unfortunately the park is just too quiet. Wherever we end up we will hope to see you again.”
A spokesperson for Salford City Council said: “We are disappointed that the owner feels this way. Salford City Council has provided extensive support over the last eight months including enabling the business to trade at the 2022 Bonfire Night celebrations attended by 15,000 people, trade at the two day We Invented the Weekend festival in June 2023 at Salford Quays and listing the business as a recommended street trader to help community event organisers find suitable food vendors for their event.
“Our business team also facilitated an introduction to the Kargo food hall team at The Quayside Shopping Mall and we understand discussions about trading there are ongoing.
“The owner continues to trade at Buile Hill Park and has expressed an interest in moving to another park location which would need to be one without an existing community café. We have not asked the business to relocate.
“Salford City Council does not provide a location finding service for any business but does respond to any request to use council owned land and we are happy to continue working with the owner as we have done over the past eight months. However if a business is seeking to trade on a privately owned site then it is for the business owner to negotiate directly with the private landowner.”
Featured image – The Manc Group
Eats
The Manchester restaurant serving up the ‘world’s hottest curry’ for just a few days
Danny Jones
City centre favourite Zouk is serving up ‘the world’s hottest curry’ again to celebrate National Chilli Day next week.
The popular tea bar and grill located on Chester Street just off Oxford Road is slap bang in the middle of student central and has hordes of patrons lining up day in, day out, to taste their incredible Indian and Pakistani cuisine.
Now, to celebrate every spicy-food lover’s favourite day, Zouk is putting on special, limited-time-only menu to cater to all you heat freaks and speaking collectively on The Manc‘s behalf (several of us having tried it), it’s no joke.
The World’s Hottest Curry will be available for five days from Monday 24 to Friday 28 February, with a challenge on Thursday 27 February with prizes to anyone who can finish the fiery karahi.
The dishes
When it came to coming up with the world’s hottest curry, Zouk didn’t have to look far for inspiration, they simply picked the world’s hottest chilli: the Carolina Reaper Chilli.
Combining the 1,569,000 Scoville scorcher of a chilli with their much-loved and already spicy chicken karahi and vegetable karahi recipes, they knew they were on a winner. You might have to sign a waiver to eat it but that’s all part of the fun, right?
Typically prepared in a wok and cooked over hot flames with tomatoes, ginger, garlic, peppercorns and cumin to create the sauce base, the karahi originates from the Northwest region of Pakistan and has a great flavour. Depending on how brave you’re feeling, you can have it as a kebab or a full curry.
Credit: Supplied
That being said, this version does contain dried Carolina Reapers so you might not taste much beyond the heat of the sun after a few seconds. While the chilli is deemed suitable for human consumption, even Zouk’s chefs have admitted to struggling with the dish. Gulp. So, what can you win?
The challenge and prizes
Us Brits love a good curry and we already know that plenty of you won’t be able to resist the urge to take on the Reaper Challenge simply out of pride, so we might as well just tell you what you’ll have to eat in order to win the prizes.
Here’s what’s up for grabs:
Finish the full Carolina Reaper Curry (either chicken or veg) in one sitting (max eating time 30 minutes and no helping from companions), Zouk will give you the meal for free.
PLUS, a £50 Zouk Gift Card so you can come back at a later date to try their full menu (including some less omg-spicy options).
You’ll also get a Zouk Ice Cream Sunday to help cool off afterwards. Trust us, you’ll need it.
Issuing a statement for National Chilli Day and the Reaper Challenge, owner Tayub Amjad said: “Our food is usually more about flavour than heat but it’s National Chilli Day, and we know our customers love this challenge.
“For those who complete the challenge, you still have chance to come back and dine on us at a future date, so you will still get to experience the real Zouk too.”
What you thinking, Manchester? Are you up for taking on the world’s hottest curry?
Prestwich pizzeria Dokes announces closure as neighbourhood goes through big changes
Daisy Jackson
One of Prestwich’s best-loved independent restaurants has announced the end of its current chapter, saying that it’s become too difficult to operate with tighter and tighter margins.
Dokes, a pizzeria that also served arguably the town’s best roast dinner, has said that it’s going to ‘have to call it a day’ after three years in the proudly independent neighbourhood.
The news comes just months after Rudy’s opened its first Prestwich restaurant just across the road from Dokes, though that of course may just be a coincidence…
The restaurant comes from the same team behind Elnecot in Ancoats, and opened in 2022, promising delicious pizzas made with (wherever possible) British ingredients.
In a statement issued today, chef and owner Michael Clay said that ‘it’s just not been possible for us to make the money required for the size of team needed to run as a pizza restaurant’.
He wrote: “We are a small restaurant and the margins that were there pre-Covid are not achievable anymore at this scale and only getting tighter month on month.”
He then teased that they would be keeping the Bury New Road site on, with plans to reopen as a new concept.
Prestwich has been growing in popularity in recent years, with a blossoming food and drink scene and healthily increasing house prices.
It’s on the precipice of a £100m overhaul too, which will see the Longfield Centre transformed and new facilities built near the tram stop, including a community hub, a new village square, a market hall, flexible retail and leisure spaces, landscaped outdoor and green spaces, a new travel hub off Fairfax Road and around 200 homes.
It’s always been a village packed with local small businesses until this year, when both Rudy’s and Gail’s opened up – prompting this heartfelt statement from another local indie.
Dokes’ full statement reads: “After nearly 3 years of trying our hardest, unfortunately we’re going to have to call it a day.
“Having originally taken on the premises in between the two lockdowns (remember them?!), we’ve been extremely proud of what we have achieved under sometimes unbelievably difficult circumstances. Our staff have been the cornerstone of this and we would like to thank them for all of their hard work. The feedback we have received over the past couple of years on their food, service and hospitality has been absolutely incredible and we are extremely grateful for the hard work they have put in and the commitment they have shown.
“We feel like we have created a product that you have absolutely loved and a space that you have enjoyed coming to and we now really feel like a part of the Prestwich community – and for that we can’t thank you enough! You came for the pizzas and stayed for the roasts and it’s been a lot of fun.
“Try as we might though, it’s just not been possible for us to make the money required for the size of team needed to run as a pizza restaurant. We are a small restaurant and the margins that were there pre-Covid are not achievable anymore at this scale and only getting tighter month on month.
“So it is with a heavy heart that we are closing the door on this chapter BUT…we aren’t going to be leaving you completely…
“We have plans for the place which we will be updating you about very soon so please watch this space for more details. We hope you’re going to love it.
“As Dokes, Sunday 9th March will be our final service so please come down over the next couple of weeks, grab a pizza or a roast and say hello. It would be lovely to see you all. Bookings are open and the cellar is stocked so lets fill the little place up and go out with a bang!
Georgina Pellant -
13th July 2023 
