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
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 -
20th January 2023 
