Eats

Selfridges to open Louboutin bar with cocktails inspired by its iconic £700 shoes

Serving up spins on classics like the Cosmopolitan alongside the amusingly named 'Loubidoo', it's at Selfridges Trafford for a limited time only.

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant - 8th February 2023

A new bar inspired by Christian Louboutin’s infamous red-soled shoes is set to open in Selfridges, Manchester Trafford, this year.

Offering a spin on classic cocktails such as the Cosmopolitan alongside some bespoke creations, it will be located in the accessories hall on the lower level of the department store opposite the new Christian Louboutin boutique.

Running for a limited time only, Loubibar celebrates the arrival of the swanky boutique where the designer’s latest Spring collection of signature shoes and accessories are now on display.

At the cocktail bar, shoppers can enjoy bespoke cocktail creations including the Rouge Follies (a spin on the classic Cosmopolitan), the Loubifunk (mixing gin with aromatic notes of cherry and zesty limes) and the amusingly named Loubidoo (a ‘transportive’ cocktail laced with coconuts and lime).

Image: Supplied
Image: Supplied

The 360 bar itself is resplendent in Christian Louboutin’s signature red, with plush red stools and menus, and will serve bespoke red cocktails inspired by the French fashion house, which was first established in Paris over 30 years ago.

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First launching in 1992 with a collection for women, swiftly followed by a men’s collection a few years later, its signature red lacquered sole makes the shoes instantly recognisable wherever they go.

2014 welcomed Christian Louboutin Beauté, while in, 2022 the House launched a new category dedicated to Kids and Pets: The LoubiFamily.

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Favoured by the likes of the Kardashians and Cardi B, as well as Sarah Jessica Parker’s character Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City, they’ve long been considered an iconic symbol of style and quality craftsmanship.

Read more: An award-winning pie and mash cafe is opening in Manchester

With a prolific collection of shoes, leather goods and accessories, Christian Louboutin now counts more than 150 points of sales around the world. 

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The new bar’s design incorporates the brand’s playful wit and charm, with the Loubibar itself topped with a lit sign that nods to the decor often seen in Parisian brasseries.

Read more: Two Manchester cocktail bars named amongst the top 10 in the country

Seating is available around the bar as well as a number of booths all featuring textiles complimenting the adjacent Christian Louboutin boutique, the new cocktail bar is open for a limited time only.

Located in the accessories hall on the lower level, it celebrates the new Christian Louboutin boutique where the designer’s latest Spring collection of signature shoes and accessories are available.

Feature image – Supplied

Eats

The GIANT £375 chocolate Easter egg that’s ‘too beautiful to eat’

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson

One of the north’s most legendary hospitality businesses has created an Imperial Easter Egg, and the effort that goes into crafting it is wild.

Coming in at 10kg, 22 inches tall, and £375, Bettys enormous chocolate treat shows off a whole lot of artistry.

The iconic tearoom, which has sites across Yorkshire, has shared the behind-the-scenes video to its TikTok page, drumming up almost half a million views.

The mouth-watering video shows first milk chocolate being hand-painted onto a chocolate egg-shaped mould to create the Easter egg’s beautiful textured appearance, The Hoot reports.

Then layer after layer of melted chocolate is poured in from a chocolate tap, before being trimmed and tidied.

Bettys, which has tearooms across Harrogate, York, and Leeds, uses the finest Swiss Grand Cru chocolate for its imperial Easter egg, and every bit that’s trimmed away is melted down to reuse elsewhere.

Then a pastry chef at the tearoom will spend up to an hour PER EGG piping on the ornate decorations, carefully piping on coloured white chocolate stems and ferns.

Then colourful royal icing flowers are placed on its surface, each one again hand-piped by their cake decorators.

The end result is a whopping Spring-time masterpiece covered in shades of green, yellow and purple.

@thehootleeds Just wait until the final result! 🤤 #easter #eastereggs #easteregg #chocolate #baking #learnontiktok #yorkshire #bettys #foodtok #fyp 📹: @Bettys ♬ original sound – Thehootleeds

Bettys Imperial Easter Egg weighs in at a massive 10kg and stands at 22 inches tall.

Bettys says: “Celebrating the creativity and craft that makes Bettys unique, our handmade Imperial Easter eggs continue a tradition stretching back more than a century, when our founder Frederick Belmont designed eggs which were ornately embellished with hand-piped icing designs.

“Containing over five kilos of Grand Cru Swiss chocolate made from prized Venezuelan criollo cocoa beans, the Imperial Egg is a true work of art, showcasing the highest skills of our chocolatiers and cake decorators.

“Each Imperial Egg carries an array of delicate, individually crafted spring blooms and foliage including primroses, narcissi and pansies, with hand-piped stems as a final perfect touch.

“Our Imperial Easter Egg is made to order and is only available for collection from one of our Yorkshire shops.”

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And if £375 is a bit out of budget, you can buy a miniature version that’s just as beautiful for a tenth of the price.

In the comment section on the video, one person wrote: “30 mins and a cup of tea and I’d polish that off.”

Another said: “A chocolate… tap?! I’m calling my plumber.”

Someone else wrote: “That’s just too beautiful to eat! A work of art!”

What a beautiful beast indeed.

Featured image: Bettys

Eats

Inside the Manchester restaurant serving ‘India’s answer to a Wigan kebab’

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

When it comes to finding new and innovative ways to enjoy the humble potato, it’s fair to say that we Brits pretty much have the art down.

From creamy mash to deep-fried chips, crunchy hasslebacks, hash browns, and the all-time classic that is bubble and squeak, you name it, we’ve tried it.

Still, somehow it took the arrival of Indian street food favorite Bundobust for us to be introduced to the concept of a mashed potato burger – and we are forever thankful.

Comprised of a deep-fried potato dumpling placed inside a brioche bun, accompanied by two house-made chutneys and a whole green chili pepper, since its introduction to the Manchester food scene in 2016 the Vada Pav has become one of Bundobust’s most iconic dishes.

Also known as a Bombay burger, the vegetarian fast food snack sells in its thousands back home in Mumbai and has now become something of a signature dish here in Manchester too.

We recently popped down with Deliveroo for an episode of Takeaway Champions to try the dish, and after one taste our reviewer immediately called it the ‘Indian answer to a Wigan kebab’. It’s simply carbs on carbs on carbs, and we’re here for it.

Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats

That said, it’s not the only thing worth ordering when you visit.

Other longstanding menu staples at Bundobust include its barbecued paneer, mushroom and pepper tikka kebabs, sweet and crunchy Bundo chaat, and crispy okra fries; whilst new dishes include the Ragda Pethis – a north-meets-east combination of mushy peas and potato cake, sev, tomato, onion, and tamarind chutney.

Having first opened in Manchester in 2016, today Bundobust has two sites in the city centre. Its original home still sits underneath Piccadilly Gardens, with a second restaurant and in-house brewery residing over on Oxford Road.

The restaurant – initially born in Leeds before making its way to Manchester – has always had a strong reputation for sourcing excellent craft beer, but since quietly opening its own brewery during the Covid lockdowns it’s only gone from strength to strength.

Read more: ‘We were treated awfully’ – ex-staffer speaks out as Freight Island gears up for reopening

Housed in a unique 100-year-old space within the iconic Grade II listed St James building, the Manchester-based brewery is a custom-built 10-hectolitre facility capable of producing 20,000 pints a month.

Today, alongside beers from other respected brewers, the restaurant serves up a list of specially-made house beers, all designed to complement the flavours of its dishes.

These include a coriander lager, a masala chai porter and a tropical pale ale, as well as its latest concoction: a mango lassi beer created in collaboration with brewers at Northern Monk.

Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats

Read more: The Sparrows ‘ever so proud and honoured’ after award from famous ‘lip licking Michelin Man’

To see the full menu click here and to find out more about Bundobust head over to their Instagram page here.

Oh, and to save on your next Deliveroo order from Bundobust make sure to use our code BUNDO10 when you check out.

Feature image – The Manc Eats

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