Crisps are, we’re pretty sure, a universal snack that everyone can get behind – but how do you feel about caviar-topped crisps?
Undoubtedly, we all have our own ways of eating them – be that out of split packets spread open on pub tables and washed down with a pint, or dunked into bowls of creamy guacamole, hummus and spicy salsa.
But when it comes to Manchester’s boujiest crisps award, one cafe has really outshone itself. Yes, we’re talking about newcomer BQ Bitesize, opened by the team behind Tib Street favourites The Butcher’s Quarter.
We’ve certainly had some out-there combinations before. Memorably, last year Adam Reid (of The French fame) served us some incredibly moreish cheese and onion-topped crisps at his short-lived New Century butty venture.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
But these crisps on the menu at BQ Bitesize, the new cafe inside Manchester’s Craft and Design Centre, really blow all others out of the water.
Combining black truffle Torres crisps with a generous splodge of sour cream and caviar, they’re equal parts messy and irresistible. Interestingly, they also happen to be the brainchild of Freddie Minns – formerly head chef at The French.
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Elsewhere on the menu, there’s plenty more to shout about too: from hearty roast meat sandwiches (made using a different cut every day, hand-selected from their butcher shop) to wholesome, warming bowls of soup and big, fat breakfast butties.
On our visit, we tucked into a roast pork sandwich with pork loin, pickled red cabbage and Devil Dogs BBQ sauce (made for the Butcher’s Quarter by ex-Hawksmoor head chef William Kirwan, no less), plus a gorgeous cured gammon-topped pea and ham soup and hearty breakfast buttie.
Everything here is as locally sourced as possible, with bread coming from Holy Grain, coffee from local Manchester roastery Mancoco and all meat and fish from the Butcher’s Quarter’s other units on Tib Street and in Monton.
A relative newcomer to the Northern Quarter, the team told The Manc that they will also be hosting monthly supper clubs at the new space – with the first one set for Burns Night, featuring an all-Scottish menu offering a non-traditional twist on the usual feast (don’t worry, your neeps and tatties are still in there).
To find out more about BQ Bitesize artisan cafe, head over to the cafe’s Instagram page here.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
Eats
‘Stunning’ Old Rectory pub in Stockport suffers permanent closure
Danny Jones
One of Stockport town centre’s most beautiful pub venues, The Old Rectory, has officially closed down permanently following notices about its “final stages”.
Built circa 1740, the historic space itself has been there since before the Regency period.
Stockport‘s Old Rectory pub on Churchgate has been a number of different things over the decades, and has changed hands multiple times in more recent years, but now the Greene King site has shut down, what seems like, for good.
In fact, if you look online, it is already listed as ‘permanently closed’ on Google, as does a temporary sign now stuck to the gates of their entrance, with the most recent service last week being their final one.
With the news having since been shared on the Stockport Tourism notice board on Facebook, a post from the ‘Old Rec’ team reads: “We are sad to announce that The Old Rectory will be closing its doors at the end of this month. Thank you to everyone who has visited and supported the venue over the years.”
An update has also now been shared on the official CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) website.
Issuing a statement directly to The Manc, a spokesperson for Greene King said: “Following a period of team member consultation, we can confirm that the Old Rectory has now closed.
“We are grateful to everyone who has supported the Old Rectory over the years, and we look forward to welcoming them into our other pubs in the local area soon.”
They also go on to assure that they have worked with the team members who have sadly been put out of work to try and find new positions at other locations, with the operators urging Stopfordians to try other nearby pubs such as Gardeners Arms in Offerton and the recently refurbished Carousel in Reddish.
Described by CAMRA as a “multi-roomed pub-restaurant that still maintains a country house feel with plenty of dark wood and plush décor”, not to mention praising the all-day food service and “top notch” beer selection, its heyday may have been long ago, but it’ll still be missed by regulars and natives.
It’s also worth noting that the former Hungry Horse public house also long-served as an accommodation spot, too, with Premier Inn’s ‘Stockport Central Hotel’ attached to the back of the building.
There are no updates on this front at present, and they could easily repurpose what natives have hailed as a “stunning” Georgian structure – not to mention the expansive garden grounds – but the company is also currently cutting more than 3,800 jobs as part of a wider savings strategy.
Elsewhere, as SK residents bid goodbye to one veteran pub, they’re also gearing up to welcome back another former favourite…
Sacha Lord set to back local hospitality again with money behind the bar of Manchester pub
Danny Jones
Local figure Sacha Lord is once again looking to help support Greater Manchester’s food and drink scene once again this spring by putting a total of £2.5k behind the bar of one lucky pub.
Well, let’s be honest, we’re about to be the real lucky ones.
It’s far from the first time that the Night Time Economy Advisor has done this, having previously put sizeable sums towards shared tabs on a few occasions over the last few years.
Lining up his next handout for this coming early May bank holiday (perfect timing), it’s going to be a super and potentially very sloppy Sunday…
Tell me your favourite pub in Greater Manchester.
Bank Holiday Sunday 3rd May, I’ll be turning up and putting £2500 behind the bar.
Sharing the video above online earlier this week, the 54-year-old simply wrote, “Tell me your favourite pub in Greater Manchester. Bank Holiday Sunday, 3rd May, I’ll be turning up and putting £2500 behind the bar.”
The message is as straightforward as ever: “Support your local pub.”
Now obviously, the fact that people can reply with their go-to boozers and help influence the decision is one thing – something that has certainly always created an attraction each time he’s done this – but it’s also just a good way of marketing these watering holes to begin with.
Whether or not someone’s favourite public house tucked away in one of the 10 boroughs, or their bar of choice here in Manchester city centre, ends up being selected or not, it’s obviously great publicity having their names plastered on a notable social media account.
This is especially so when you see how much the post itself ends up being reshared and the overall exposure Lord ultimately lends them via creating such a big crowd discussion.
Confirming the chosen pub in a subsequent post, he said: “I asked you to choose a pub you wanted me to support. This Sunday, 4pm, I’ll be turning up at The Ape and Apple on John Dalton St, Manchester, and putting £2500 behind the bar.”
Here’s hoping we get proper beer garden weather over that long weekend – especially with that lovely refurbished outdoor terrace space up on the first floor of the Joseph Holt watering hole.
It’s also worth noting that the further support stunts like this have helped garner support for other regional businesses – in particular, indies that are battling the cost of living crisis and so many other challenges within the sector – has proved crucial for some places to stay open to begin with.
A good example is the Thirsty Korean, who teamed up with the Altrincham-born entrepreneur to cover hundreds of bills back in 2023, and has now been able to expand into a larger venue down the road from their original Chorlton location.
The obstacles facing the hospitality industry remain varied and numerous, but gestures like this can go a long way to helping prop up those who need it.
Which ones are you calling your favourites these days?
Georgina Pellant -
20th January 2023 
