400 wines, huge charcuterie boards, and a self-service wine machine – it’s pretty easy to see why Salut can comfortably declare itself the finest wine shop in all of Manchester.
This brilliant independent business is part shop, part event space, and part bar, and is about to hit its 10th birthday.
True to form at Salut, there’ll be special events to celebrate its milestone anniversary – but at Salut, every day can be a celebration.
In the summer, you can sit outside on the terrace and pavement seats in the sunshine, while in winter the bar turns cosy and glitters with twinkling lights.
Standing on a corner of Cooper Street and Fountain Street, just off St Peter’s Square, the beautiful two-storey wine bar is a firm local favourite.
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Inside, customers are greeted with a giant wall of wine, with more than 400 different bottles to choose from, from modern natural wines to luxury classics, as well as beers, spirits and softs.
You can pull up a chair and enjoy a glass of wine from the Salut team’s ever-changing by-the-glass wine menu, but the jewel in its crown really is the self-service wine machine.
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These tasting wine dispensers preserve and serve wine, and you can help yourself to a tasting measure, or a whole glass.
Mix-and-match sharing boards at Salut in ManchesterMix-and-match sharing boards at Salut in ManchesterThe self-service tasting wine machines. Credit: The Manc Group
You can head up to the bar and pre-charge a Salut wine card, then simply swipe, pick your own wine, and get to drinking.
The wines stocked in the machines are always changing, with the team regularly introducing vintages and unique wines so that people can taste something different without committing to a whole bottle.
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Between the machine and the by-the-glass menu, that’s more than 50 wines you can order by the glass.
It’s heaven for wine enthusiasts, curious drinkers, and those of us who are just a bit indecisive.
Then as for what to eat, Salut puts together huge cheese and charcuterie sharing boards, along with loads of snacks and small plates.
You can mix and match your own board with meat items like peppered pastrami, air-dried beef bresaola, Alpine speck, chorizo, and Serrano ham, plus cheeses like Nicky Nook blue, Alpencheddar, and Dewlay extra mature cheddar
The bar also hosts wine tastings in its private room upstairsOutside Salut wine bar in ManchesterYou can pour your own wine at the tasting machines
All that’s on top of a full menu of crisps, plus other snacks like hummus, spicy n’duja sausage, and mushroom pate.
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Boards are made with produce from local suppliers, like Companio focaccia and The Crafty Cheese Man cheeses, as well as the finest imported deli meats and cheeses.
Salut is a big fan of a special event, with wine tastings running year-round, like their upcoming Salut Over The Years evening in celebration of the bar’s 10th birthday.
It was all started by co-founders and husband-and-wife team Sara and Jon, who wanted to create a bar they wanted to drink in – somewhere Mancs could have a relaxed glass of wine in the city centre.
They set out to build an independent wine bar and shop with a laid-back European feel, describing Salut as ‘a no-nonsense, Mancunian attitude to drinking wine’.
The pair said: “When we first saw the Enomatic machines we felt that these could help us to create that environment – they are fun to use, you can taste wines you wouldn’t normally try without breaking the bank and you don’t have to trip over your tongue trying to pronounce Gewürtztraminer if you’d rather not, because you can just help yourself to some.
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“We really just feel that wine is really nice stuff and something that everyone should be able to enjoy.
“The dictionary definition of salut is ‘used to express friendly feelings towards one’s companions before drinking’ – there’s not much that’s better than that feeling and it’s why we’re called Salut.”
If you’ve not visited before, get this one on your bucket list, and pop into Salut for a glass, a bottle, a board, and a gorgeous evening.
The Marble Arch is increasingly becoming much more than a pub – it’s now a brilliant Manc bistro
Danny Jones
If you’ve been to The Marble Inn in Manchester before, you’ll know it’s always nailed cosy Northern pub vibes; to tell the truth, the food has always been pretty good, too, but their new menu is really something to write home about.
So we did.
The historic old boozer located on Rochdale Road has sat there in some shape or form since way back in 1888, and naturally, things have evolved significantly over the years – decades, certainly.
But the latest iteration of food and drink at the increasingly forward-thinking Marble Arch Inn is a cut above, bringing together a fusion of current culinary trends and contemporary takes on pub classics.
No. 73 enters a new chapterOne of the best pies we’ve probably ever hadCredit: The Manc Eats
Now just over a month into its run at the home of Marble Brewers just beyond Ancoats, it feels rather fitting that this place has always sat on the cusp of surrounding districts in somewhat of a Manc no-man’s land, as there’s something about this place that feels like it’s dancing on the line of a scene.
Recently installed head chef Adam Shatarsky is still self-admittedly pretty green in comparison to lots of other local chefs, as he’s only been cooking for around five years, but his spells at Mackie Mayor’s Taiko and Cardinal Rule in NQ have already proved he’s got to grips with how the city eats.
His food just keeps getting better and more confident in experimentation, it would seem – as proven with this approach to Marble Arch classics like fish and chips, their pies, burgers, the treasured Sunday roast and so on.
The difference is now that some of these mainstays and undeniable British favourites have been levelled up quite significantly. Now there’s bone marrow in the mince used for those oh-so-juicy patties; toast is fried in beef fat to dovetail with a tartare dish, and the chips are some of the best you’ll find in a pub.
Seriously, they even use the Brewery‘s new cult favourite Earl Grey keg flavour to make their rarebit recipe. In fact, when one local punter saw that the staff were enjoying a posh chip butty with wild garlic and mushrooms for the staff, they couldn’t help but ask for one, and now it’s a special menu item.
A familiar faceThree small plates for £25Credit: The Manc
This is the kind of ethos they’re trying to keep across the board: attempting new things and trying to be more modern when it’s appropriate, but still holding onto their traditions and looking after their regulars.
Adam’s only ever trained in British kitchens, so he admitted doesn’t know any different really, but he does know the global variety offlavours and textures he likes and is not afraid of trying to find ways to make even the most contrasting ones come together.
Case in point: freezing and shaving feta over lemon ricotta and fresh beetroots. Stunning.
He’s even brought over a variation of his popular fried chicken sando from Taiko, though this one has nowhere near as much of that Eastern heat, and instead focuses on the theme of making hearty and filling comfort food.
For instance, there’s an undercurrent of just that extra little bit of richness running throughout the menu, from the bone marrow that makes already satisfying dishes even more indulgent, to the tallow, truffle and drippings that are used to great effect.
The same goes for the use of cheese, as well: even in the simply incredible mixed mature cheddar and red Leicester curd that surrounds that singular 72-hour caramelised onions (wow doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of our for this one.
All of them are big top-note flavours, sure, but none of them overpowers the overall taste, whether it be brining and curing chicken in dark brown sugar and soy, or a 16-hour low and slow braised beef that literally melts in the mouth from the bread and the butter to the eventual meaty bite.
We can’t speak highly enough of what is now being served out of The Marble Arch Inn’s kitchen, and truly believe what Adam and the existing pub team are now doing is brilliant and very much worth shouting about.
Can’t beat a burger and beerSuch a cosy spotMmmmadeleinesCredit: The Manc Group
‘We were so lucky to have it’ – Has Manchester’s hospo scene reached a dangerous tipping point?
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester’s hospitality sector is calling for change and better support, both for the local community and the UK government, following the latest raft of closures.
Various well-known independent businesses have closed in the first quarter of 2026 across the city centre, let alone the numerous others across the ten boroughs over the past year or so.
In truth, this worrying trend has been going on for much longer than the last 12 months, and it seems that it’s not just new openings that are most at risk of closing before they can even get going, but now well-established regional institutions are struggling to stay afloat.
Case in point, our oldest Turkish restaurant – which had been serving central Manchester for nearly half a century – Topkapi Palace, has now closed seemingly for good.
A recent addition to the city centre itself, French-Vietnamese cafe and restaurant Doux Chaton wrote on social media: “This is genuinely so sad to see. Topkapi Palace is part of Manchester’s fabric. Running an independent spot is no joke — it takes everything.
“If we keep letting places like this go, we lose more than food; we lose culture, history, identity. Please support your local independents where you can. It matters more than ever – our representatives need to support our community not only regionally but nationally.”
They went on to tag the likes of Mayor Andy Burnham, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and others to call for crucial intervention sooner rather than later.
For some, it’s unfortunately already too late.
Currently, their Stockport in Hazel Grove looks to be remaining open, but we’ve seen this story before; Almost Famous, Seven Brothers, Greens, and SO many others have sadly had to shut up most, if not all, of their locations.
As of this May, we’ve already had to say goodbye to the likes of Topkapi, KAJI, Climat and House of Fu; Project Halcyon, Örme, the long-standing TNQ, the first-ever Northern Simmons site, a branch of Banyan, just to name an unlucky few.
This is just heartbreaking. We can’t carry on with either this PM or Chancellor. Both need stepping to one side and allowing others mop up their disaster of a tenure.
And that’s just the ones that shut down in the first few months of this calendar year; 2025 was a gut-wrenching year for the food and drink industry, with indies all over the region and beyond having to fight tooth and nail to stay open for even just a few days of weekly trade.
Almost just as concerning has been some of the behaviour by some patrons, even here in our own city.
From more than one or two reports of people walking out on their bills, people even nicking the most petty stuff, such as decorations and bar’s cushions, to a troubling number of no-shows that don’t just mean one less reservation – it can mean the next person missing out on a seat and people losing money.
Another nearby native commented: “I honestly think Manchester is on a tipping point for many people – what was ‘old’ Manchester, which many of us loved, is being slowly erased by the new. People here are saying basically ‘use it or lose it’.
“Fair enough, but there’s very little spare money about, and I hear lots of people saying they don’t go into town for the day to spend that money shopping and for a meal or treat-day because they don’t ‘recognise the place’.”
They go on to add: “Most importantly, they often say they don’t like Manchester now. The towers that are shoved in places where you could see daylight and there was space to walk and breathe are overwhelming.
“I’m not being reactionary – I love New Islington and Cutting Room Square, etc., but NQ has lost its grit, and I find Deansgate really soulless and depressing when once I used to go out every night after work for drinks, and go in every month with the family on a Saturday for culture, shop and a meal.
“No more. Love Manchester, but I’m not in love with it anymore. Topkapi was great once, and it’s sad it’s gone.” A passionate appeal, indeed.
It goes without saying that rising energy bills, untenable business rates, rent, and a general cost of living crisis mean that people simply don’t have enough money to go out for tea, treat themselves to a drink in a nice bar, or even just go to the pub as often as they once did.
We’re by no means experts, but it’s easy for all to see that something needs to be done and fast, as we’d like to avoid seeing any more of our hard-working Manc favourites falling by the wayside and joining the list of those that we’re still mourning to this day.
Daisy Jackson -
6th July 2024 
