One of the Gay Village’s most beloved nighttime hotspots has just launched a fundraising raffle and the lucky winner could secure an impressive prize.
How does a £1,000 bar tab to spend once the venue reopens sound?
TriBeCa – Manchester’s only New York loft-style bar situated on the edge of the Gay Village on Sackville Street – has delighted fans of the city’s nightlife scene by announcing the launch of this unmissable competition as a way of raising vital funds it lost as a result of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
There are a whopping 2,500 raffle tickets currently up for grabs at this 550-cap venue, which comes with reserved seating for you and your friends to host the ultimate post-lockdown party.
Tickets will set you back £5 a piece, and the raffle will end on Sunday 28th February at 3pm.
TriBeCa Manchester is an independently-owned community venue was established in the heart of the city centre back in 1999, and has since gone on to foster a truly cooperative feel.
It was founded by Hazel O’Keefe, who is also the brainchild behind Dulcet Sounds, Laughing Cows Comedy, Club Feminista, The UK Women in Comedy Festival, and is the catalyst for many other projects, which saw her work recognised by Manchester City Council in 2014 by presenting her with a prestigious ‘Women of Arts and Culture’ award.
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But despite its cultural significance to the city, TriBeCa has received little to no funding as a result of its business closure due to continuous restrictions, which saw the doors to the venue close to the public back in March 2020 and no reopen since.
It’s said that the unoccupied costs of the building are £10,000 a month, and with the business being closed, these debts are piling up, so in an effort to cut costs, Ms O’Keefe did the unthinkable.
She made the difficult decision to move out of her flat and plough her savings into keeping her business afloat.
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TriBeCa Manchester
Despite these amounting difficulties however, Ms O’Keefe has continued to her best to try and support the community of Manchester.
In November 2020, she launched her Sunday Roasts – which included an option to buy “a hot drink and roast dinner for one of Manchester’s homeless” – and in December 2020, she also supported the local charity Baubles 4 Beds, which partners with local school children to create baubles to sell, with all the money raised going towards some of the most vulnerable and homeless people across the region.
Promoting “arts, culture and diversity” are all at the heart of TriBeCa Manchester’s ethos, which is why supporting this raffle is such a worthy cause – and the prize is undoubtedly pretty great too.
One of the UK’s fastest-growing pizza restaurant groups (nope, not Rudy’s) is finally set to touch down in Manchester.
Signs have appeared on Deansgate for the city’s first Pizza Pilgrims site, taking over the now-closed tapas restaurant La Vina.
Pizza Pilgrims has been operating since 2011, and now has 25 restaurants right across the UK – but hasn’t made it to Manchester until now.
Their restaurants are famed for their colourful and maximalist interiors, with Italian-inspired decor dripping off every surface.
Expect checkered tablecloths, giant lemons hanging from the ceiling, retro posters, colourful shutters and even washing lines hung with Italian football shirts.
At their site in Leeds, which opened in 2023, there’s even a giant pink flamingo pedalo that’s been turned into a self-serve gelato stand for customers to create their own sweet treats.
On the menus, Pizza Pilgrims is all about double-fermented dough bases, cooked at 500 ̊C to give a light, chewy and charred crust, just like in Naples.
Highlights from their menus include an eight-cheese pizza, a carbonara-inspired pizza, and the ‘You’ve Got Maiale’, topped with nduja, Italian sausage, pepperoni, and a balsamic glaze.
They also serve irresistible fried cacio e pepe balls, stuffed with spaghetti, pecorino cheese and black pepper.
Pizza Pilgrims will open on Deansgate in Manchester later this month – you can find out more and sign up for freebies when it launches HERE.
Featured image: The Manc Group
Eats
Hawksmoor issues statement after ‘kicking out’ Tommy Robinson from one of its restaurants
Hawksmoor has issued a statement after a viral video captured far-right activist Tommy Robinson being asked to leave one of its restaurants.
In the video, staff at the acclaimed British steak house told Robinson – real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – that he would have to go because members of staff feel uncomfortable serving you’.
The supervisor then politely told the party not to worry about the drinks and that they had been paid for, also handing over a business card for Hawksmoor CEO Will Beckett in case they wanted to discuss the matter further.
Robinson was dining in one of the group’s London restaurants with former prominent EDL member Guramit Singh Kalirai who challenged the staff and asked: “Is it because of the colour of my skin?”
The supervisor responded: “No, no, no. We have a duty of care to our members of staff. We like to look after our people, as I’m sure you can understand.”
After the video went viral on X, Hawksmoor went on to share a statement in response, saying that guests and staff ‘felt uncomfortable and complained’.
The statement, signed by CEO Will Beckett, added that the Hawksmoor team has faced ‘a huge amount’ of ‘quite concerning’ fallout from the Tommy Robinson incident.
He added that ‘this was not about politics or beliefs’.
Hawksmoor’s statement reads: “Our focus is always to give the best restaurant experience to the most people possible.
“On Thursday, a public figure was asked to leave one of our restaurants because guests and staff felt uncomfortable and had complained. The party left peacefully and politely on request.
“This was not about politics or beliefs. Hawksmoor is not a political organisation; we’re a group of restaurants. We want to welcome as many people as possible, regardless of background or views, to our teams or as our guests.
“We’re not trying to engage in a public debate. The team has had to deal with a huge amount of fallout from this, some of which is quite concerning. We would like to get back to focussing on looking after those people, and our guests. Thank you to them, and the many of you who have been so supportive.”
Emily Sergeant -
7th January 2021 
