Acclaimed Stockport restaurant Where The Light Gets In has just announced details of an exciting five month-long residency in Manchester city centre.
The Green Michelin Star restaurant, famed for its seasonal tasting menus and natural wines, will be opening a temporary concept restaurant and a series of events right across town.
Where The Light Gets In: A Play in the City will take over two venues (as well as the city streets) – The Bungalow at Kampus and community space Altogether Otherwise in NOMA.
It’s a bit of an unusual concept but just bear with us here.
Although billed as a ‘four-act programme’ that has been presented like a play (complete with scenes), this incredible project from Where The Light Gets In (WTLGI) is really a series of pop-up events, from workshops to dining experiences, across Manchester.
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The events will include a free night of natural wine and food, a conceptual pop-up fast-food diner, film screenings, walking tours, a pop-up restaurant, panel talks, and a full-blown banquet.
You’ll even be able to go litter-picking and trade in your bag of rubbish for a glass of wine.
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Where The Light Gets In: A Play in the City will run between 21 November and 30 March, kicking off for the first month with ‘A Man Eating A Leg Of Chicken’.
This will be a free-entry, no-reservations pop-up where you can drink natural wines and ‘gorge on shellfish and animals roasted over wood’.
There’ll also be weekend takeovers from WTLGI’s favourite labels and record shops at Altogether Otherwise.
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Altogether Otherwise in NOMA will be used as a venue for the Where The Light Gets In Manchester residency. Credit: Supplied
From early January until 2 February, Where The Light Gets In will turn The Bungalow at Kampus into a conceptual fast-food restaurant The Land of Cockaigne, from wood-fired burgers to ice cream floats to spritzy grape juice.
It’ll involve self-serve counters, name tags and sauce udders, with the option to order a takeaway with an automated phone service.
In February, it’ll be Une semaine de bonté (A WEEK OF KINDNESS) at The Bungalow, with a restaurant ‘dressed with the beginning of spring’ serving simple dishes celebrating the arrival of a new season and delicious wines.
And finally in March, there’ll be the Luncheon of the Boating Party banquets, where guests sit at one long table and eat family-style platters with plenty of wine.
Sam Buckley from Where The Light Gets In. Credit: Supplied
Alongside those four main events will be masses of foraging and gardening workshops, walking tours, Q&As and loads more.
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The intention of the concept restaurant and residency is to bring Where The Light Gets In’s passion for sustainability and great food right into the bustling city centre for five months that combine food, art, and urban living.
The restaurant team has asked: “Are we heading to a cataclysmic dystopia or can we rewrite the future?
“Set against the backdrop of the city of Manchester, this programme explores the tension between city life and rural tradition, asking critical questions about food systems, and our own identity within nature, the city, and the arts.”
Where The Lights Gets In in Stockport is headed up by acclaimed chef Sam Buckley and is easily one of Greater Manchester’s best and most exciting restaurants.
Tickets are available from midday on Tuesday 15 October.
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Full programme for Where The Light Gets In: A Play in the City Manchester residency
ACT 1: “A MAN EATING A LEG OF CHICKEN”
SCENE: A bustling Metropolis. When: Thursday to Saturday, 21 November to 21 December 2024, 5pm-11pm Where: Altogether Otherwise, NOMA, 6-10 Hanover St, Manchester M4 4BB What: We raid the cellars of WTLGI to bring you our favourite natural wines from the continent. Gorge on shellfish and whole animals roasted over wood. Weekender takeovers from our favourite labels and record shops. Welcome to your now. Welcome to the city. How: Free entry, no reservations
ACT 1 events highlights (running alongside): Opening night party: Living Room Dance Club 21st November 2024, 5pm-midnight Honest shop: Thursday, Friday & Saturday 12pm-4pm
ACT 2: THE LAND OF COCKAIGNE
SCENE: A fast food restaurant. When: Monday to Sunday, 10 January – 2 February 2025. 5pm-late Where: The Bungalow at Kampus, Aytoun St, Manchester M1 3GL What: A conceptual fast-food diner. Churning out wood-fired burgers, ice cream floats and spritzy grape juice. It’s self-service counters, name tags and sauce udders. Eat in or take away using our automated telephone service. Grab a tray and find a seat, welcome to the future of convenient feeding: fast-paced and unlimited choice. How: Head HERE to reserve your seat, or order a takeaway for collection on our phone line. Open for walk-ins also.
ACT 2 event highlights: Film screenings. Altogether Otherwise DATE TBC Silo: The Zero Waste Blueprint – Q&A with Douglas McMaster & Sam Buckley DATE TBC WTLGI X SILO MEAL Manchester Utopia – The Modernist walking tour
ACT 3: Une semaine de bonté (A WEEK OF KINDNESS)
SCENE: A pleasant garden; simple and sufficient When: Monday to Sunday, 3rd February – 2nd March 2025. 5pm-late Where: The Bungalow at Kampus, Aytoun St, Manchester M1 3GL What: A clean and well-lit restaurant dressed with the beginnings of Spring. We offer a moderate choice of simple dishes carefully prepared with ingredients selected for their freshness and relevance to the time and place. A thoughtful selection of wines from small-scale producers. How: Head to HERE to reserve your seat. Open for walk-ins also.
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Act 3 event highlights: Panel discussion on the history of communal green spaces. Open Call for Manchester Chefs: Master Whole Animal Butchery with Samuel Buckley and Marcus of Littlewoods Butchers, followed by a meal for EatWell. TRIAGE: A Pickling walk-in centre. Drop in with your veg and we’ll help you to preserve it. 12-2 Friday. Film screening Altogether Otherwise Urban Foraging Walk & Litter Picking: A guided exploration of local green spaces, teaching participants to identify and gather wild edibles. Pick a bag of litter, get a glass of wine on us. Book tables with a stranger – In this act we encourage discussion and conversation around the dinner table. It is often the non-tangible delights that arouse pleasure and satisfaction.
ACT 4: LUNCHEON OF THE BOATING PARTY
SCENE: A long wooden table in the middle of a garden. ‘And if one day my wisdom should desert me – ah, it loves to fly away! – then may my pride too fly with my folly’ When: Monday to Sunday, 3 March – 30 March 2025. 5pm-late Where: The Bungalow at Kampus, Aytoun St, Manchester M1 3GL What: Join us for a banquet to celebrate the finale of our residency in Manchester. Guests will sit at one long table and enjoy an array of dishes designed to eat family-style. Platters of vegetables, meats and fish will adorn the centre of the table. We will share, we will pour wine. How: Head HERE to reserve your seat at the table.
Act 4 events: Hand-drawn ‘fruit maps’ that plot the locations of fruit trees and foraging spots, growing on, or overhanging, public space in Manchester. Urban Gardening Workshop: Led by Manchester Urban Diggers, participants learn to cultivate their own urban gardens, regardless of space constraints.
A groundbreaking new multi-use entertainment and leisure venue is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
A new multi-purpose food, drink, entertainment and leisure destination is coming to Manchester city centre and the Salford border this autumn, and you won’t find many places that roll so much into one spot.
Mancs, get ready to welcome ‘Tangerine’.
Conceived by an impressive collective of local creatives, indies and those with plenty of experience catering to the Northern masses, Tangerine is promising everything from multiple resident kitchens, a live music hall, an arthouse stage, a specialist martini bar and more.
Better yet, after a year in the making and quietly chipping away at the striking space, it opens later this month, so you don’t have to wait long to try it for yourselves.
Located on New Bailey Street, just on the edge of Spinningfields and Salford Central, this groundbreaking new venue features two main platforms (utilising the integrated charm of the historic railway arches), each boasting its own selection of attractions.
While platform one will offer a bakery, coffee roastery, wine store and bottle ship, the ‘Canteen Club’ and even a florist, number two will contain the music hall, arthouse stage and the stylish ‘Grand Departures’ bar – serving seven espresso martini alone – Tangerine will deliver a seamless day to night transition.
Arguably, however, the centrepiece is the ‘Cantina Collective’. The food and drink hall promises seven in-house kitchens, showcasing a variety of cuisines.
The opening line-up already confirmed includes Vanda: a family-run Parisian-inspired Ukrainian bakery; Mexican taqueria, PANTERA, burger joint Juicy, as well as Yo Dutchie (a unique fusion of Dutch-Japanese food) and a new Korean/ramen concept from local sushi favourites, Unagi.
Our stomachs are already grumbling just thinking about it.
CGI renders of the completed space. (Credit: Supplied)
Designed not only by the brains behind Northern Quarter’s beloved Mala hidden garden but WANT STUDIOS, who will be ensuring local artists, independents, and traders will be regularly spotlighted, the site will boast a capacity of well over 300 people.
Artyom Dmitrijev, owner of Tangerine and Mala, said in a statement: “Over a year in the making, we’ve used all our experience in design, interiors, architecture and hospitality to create our dream project. A place for all the independents to come together and thrive.”
Andy Windsor, Director of WANT STUDIOS, added: “Tangerine unites the city’s independent kitchens, bar tenders, bakeries and entertainment specialists. It is a unique showcase of what we do in the city. This is a new space for creativity, food, and culture, and we’re proud to be part of it.”
Debuting to the public with a big Halloween weekender on the evening of Friday, 31 October, with another launch event the following Saturday, you can sign up for exclusive early access for free, which could see you score a few freebies to boot.
Featured Images — Press shots (supplied)/Tangerine MCR (via Instagram)
Eats
Bottomless curry deal returns to popular Manchester Indian restaurant Zouk
Danny Jones
One of the best-loved Indians in Manchester has relaunched its bottomless curry offering and is chucking in free rice and naans to boot.
Zouk over on Chester Street has brought back its endless curry, rice and naan deal to ease the last of those January blues.
Every night this week, you’ll be able to tuck into a full buffet of the tea bar and grill’s award-winning, authentic curries, showcasing dishes from all over the Indian subcontinent.
Costing just £20 a head, you can feast until your heart’s content on some of the very best curries in the city – no exaggeration.
What does ‘bottomless curry’ night at Zouk look like?
The bottomless curry deal at Zouk first ran this year back in January, but it’s now back for National Curry Week (6-12 October 2025), and we can’t wait to stuff ourselves silly yet again.
Every single day, there’ll be four different curries to choose from, always including two meat options, a vegetarian curry and a vegan dish.
What exactly can you get on Zouk’s bottomless offer?
As mentioned, each booking also includes unlimited rice and naan to go with your curry of choice.
Tables are for 90 minutes per booking, giving guests plenty of time to take on the increasingly popular bottomless curry challenge.
Question is, do you have the stomach for it?
With an ever-rotating selection of curries inspired by various distinct regions and speciality cuisines, you’re not short on variety either. You can see Zouk‘s current bottomless curry menu in full below:
Monday
Chicken Karahi – A speciality from the Northwest region of Pakistan. Tender pieces of chicken cooking in a sizzling wok over hot flames with tomatoes, crushed peppercorns, cumin, ginger and garlic.
Lamb and Potatoes – Tender chunks of lamb cooked with new potatoes, yoghurt, tomatoes and garlic.
Mutter Paneer (V) – Indian Paneer cheese with new potatoes, yoghurt, tomatoes and garlic.
Chole Masala (VG) – From Delhi to Punjab, this authentic channa masala is a tasty street food classic.
Tuesday
Tamater Kadei Murgh – A delicious chicken and tomato curry cooked with mild spices. Perfect with rice or bread
Lamb Do Pyaaza – Medium-spiced North Indian speciality: tender pieces of lamb slowly cooked with lavish amounts of caramelised onions in a spicy masala
Tarka Dall (V) – Channa and mung lentils cooked in a spicy sauce
Gobi Mutter (VG) – Spicy cauliflower sautéed in a rich tomato masala with peas
Wednesday
Chicken Do Payaza – Spiced North Indian chicken dish with tomatoes and caramelised onions
Lamb & Bindi – Tender pieces of lamb cooked in a spicy masala with ‘lady fingers’ (okra)
Chole Masala (V) – Authentic channa masala is a tasty street food classic
Mili Juli Sabzi (VG) – Fresh vegetables fused together with herbs and spices
Over the halfway hump, room for more? (Credit: The Manc Eats)
Thursday
Chicken Tikka Masala – A simple classic chicken tikka masala. Chicken pieces marinated in yoghurt tossed inside a balti of garlic and ginger.
Lamb Rogan Josh – A speciality from Jammu and Kashmir, with chillies and juicy tomatoes.
Dall Makhani (V) – Black lentils in a smooth and creamy sauce.
Palak Aloo (VG) – Spinach leaf and fenugreek cooked with new potatoes and coriander.
Friday
Chicken Handi – Punjabi-style chicken curry slowly cooked over burning flames with tomatoes, onions, garlic and Zouk’s special garam masala.
Lamb Jalfrezi – Lamb pieces cooked with capsicum, onions and tomatoes in a thick spicy sauce.
Bengan do Pyaza (V) – A medium-spiced North Indian dish of aubergine cooked with tomatoes, spices and lavish amounts of onions.
Bindi Do Pyaza (VG) – A medium-spiced North Indian dish of Okra cooked with tomatoes, spices and lavish amounts of onions.
And now we’re stuffed…
If you’re looking for somewhere to get bottomless curry in Manchester, this is the place for you. (Credit: The Manc)
Zouk has become one of Manchester’s leading restaurants since it opened in 2009, even drawing in famous fans like Rihanna, Drake, Manchester United stars and, of course, many a Mancs each and every day – because there’s never a bad time for a curry.
Available all throughout this week, you can make the most of this incredible bottomless curry deal like we do every year and trust us, Manchester: it genuinely NEVER disappoints.
You can find more information – including all terms and conditions – on the website and book your visit HERE, or over the phone on 0161 2331 090.
Daisy Jackson -
15th October 2024 
