One of Manchester’s most popular street food stalls has won a huge accolade in the Deliveroo Restaurant Awards, scooping the prize for Best Newcomer.
Salt & Pepper serves a Chinese-inspired menu from a stall inside the Arndale food market, as well as from the kitchens at Black Dog in the Northern Quarter.
The local business has centred its menu around the ever-popular Chinese dish of salt and pepper, with variations including chicken wings, surf and turf, and battered king prawns.
They also serve up sticky Canton-glazed meals, all loaded onto salt and pepper crinkle fries or rice.
Salt & Pepper operates from the Arndale food market and Black Dog in the Northern Quarter. Credit: Supplied
Owner Chloe Tao said: “We’re absolutely delighted to win the award for best newcomer and wanna thank everyone that voted for us.
“Quite honestly, we’ve not had a lot of good news this year and this award has really cheered us all up and kept us validated.
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“We’re really grateful that we’re still able to serve good food to good people and I’m so proud of my incredible team who continue to make this their priority.”
Wingstop won the very top prize – and opens in Manchester this week. Credit: Supplied
Several larger restaurant groups with presences here in Manchester did scoop an award though, including Dishoom, which was crowned best Indian restaurant, and Gaucho, for fine dining.
Wingstop, which is about to open its first Manchester location just off Piccadilly Gardens, was named the Restaurant of the Year.
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The chicken wing restaurant beat out the likes of Proove Pizza and Fat Hippo to claim the top prize.
Read more: Kampus’s restaurant-on-stilts to become bakery, florist and bagel shop
The Deliveroo Restaurant Awards were first launched in 2019 to celebrate the best restaurants and grocers on the platform, with winners across 21 categories chosen by public vote.
The Restaurant of the Year was chosen by a panel of expert judges, made up of food critic Grace Dent, presenter and TV chef Big Zuu, Junior Bake-Off judge Ravneet Gill, and Deliveroo CEO Will Shu.
Will Shu said: “Well done to all of our winners and finalists in every category, the food we’re delivering to customers has never been better and that’s thanks to the incredible restaurants and grocers on our platform.”
Featured Image – Salt & Pepper Manchester
Eats
Andy Burnham’s favourite Manchester pub, restaurant, neighbourhood and Sunday roast
Daisy Jackson
Andy Burnham’s favourite pub, restaurant, neighbourhood, and Sunday roast have been revealed – and the man’s got taste.
Old footage of now-PM Andy Burnham chatting to content creator Isaac Likes has been doing the rounds again, and while the interview dates back to before Andy left us and headed down to the big smoke, his Manchester recommendations still stand.
From his go-to neighbourhood and favourite pub to where he heads for a Sunday roast, and even the song he likes to play when he gets behind the decks, Burnham gave us a glimpse into his ideal Manchester day.
First up, there’s the Northern Quarter, which Burnham reckons has to be his favourite neighbourhood in the city.
He said: “Got to be the Northern Quarter. It’s the place where it’s all happening.”
When it comes to food, he singled out Firehouse, sitting on the edge of the Northern Quarter, as one of his favourite places to eat. He also gave a shoutout to its sister venue Ramona, where he’s been known to get behind the decks.
Andy said: “On the edge of the Northern Quarter, Firehouse is a place I love to go. Ramona Pizza, I’ve DJ’d there – if the mayor DJs there it’s gotta be alright.”
For a proper pint, Burnham’s choice is a little more traditional, saying his favourite pub is the ‘proper old school’ Peveril of the Peak.
The beautiful tiled pub was recently named the best in the UK, just days before its legendary landlady Nancy passed away.
When Sunday rolls around, Burnham said he has a couple of options up his sleeve. The Wharf in Castlefield gets a mention, as does Edinburgh Castle up in Ancoats.
The Peveril of the Peak pub in ManchesterThe Edinburgh CastleFirehouseSome of Andy Burnham’s favourite places in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
He said: “We love our gravy, we drink it by the pint in Manchester.”
Of course, no conversation with Burnham about Manchester would be complete without talking music.
Asked to name the best Manchester band of all time, he offered a few contenders – The Smiths, New Order, and, ultimately, The Stone Roses.
“The band I think are quintessentially Manchester is The Stone Roses. That was peak Manchester,” he said.
The amazing new doughnut shop that’s opened in a churchyard in Wigan
Daisy Jackson
A brand-new doughnut hatch has landed in Wigan, serving fresh bakes and speciality coffee from inside a beautiful local churchyard.
This is Holy Grounds, the latest independent spot bringing together freshly made doughnuts, excellent coffee and a spectacular setting, right beside the Wigan Parish Church.
The Lancashire-born business expanded to Wigan just three weeks ago, and it’s already proving hugely popular with the locals.
As we’re seeing all over Wigan these days, Holy Grounds have taken on a beautiful characterful space and turned it into a great new independent hangout.
The doughnut hatch is connected to the church itself, with the room believed to have once been an old school space. Today, it’s been given a very different purpose, with the smell of freshly baked doughnuts and coffee filling the building.
And you can still get a very real reminder that you’re sitting inside a church – the bells ring twice a day.
Holy Grounds was set up by Sam, who was previously a vicar, alongside his partner Hannah.
They and their team are making doughnuts fresh every day, using a 48-hour proving process, before transforming them into a monthly-rotating selection of flavours.
This month’s specials at Holy GroundsThe selection of Holy Grounds doughnuts in WiganA peach and almond doughnut, and an OGHoly Grounds stands in the churchyard of Wigan Parish ChurchFreshly-made doughnuts and coffee in Wigan
This month’s flavours include The OG, peach and almond, chocolate cornflakes, and blackberry and white chocolate.
Holy Grounds serves speciality coffee from Clifton Coffee Roasters in Bristol, making the doughnut-and-coffee combination feel less like a quick sugar hit and more like a proper little ritual.
A beautiful old building, fresh doughnuts, excellent coffee and church bells ringing overhead?
We’re not saying we’ve found heaven, but we’re definitely getting closer.
Daisy Jackson -
16th November 2021 
