Eats

Vegan restaurant in Manchester pleads for ‘understanding and support’ after sharing ‘heavy news’

'We’ve got some heavy news to share'

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 10th May 2024

Wholesome Junkies, a vegan restaurant in Manchester city centre, has asked for ‘understanding and support’ after announcing that they were having to overhaul their menu prices.

The restaurant is famed for its plant-based takes on classic junk food, whether that’s hoisin ‘duckless’ bao or a towering meat-free burger.

You can even get an incredible Sunday roast with all the trimmings, for an ethical twist on the British classic.

But now in a heartfelt statement shared this week, Wholesome Junkies has said it has some ‘heavy news’ to share.

The colourful restaurant beneath the arches near Manchester Victoria said it’s had to take ‘a hard look’ at its menu prices after ‘recent struggles with rising costs’ – an issue plaguing just about every business in the hospitality industry.

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In their statement, Wholesome Junkies said that rising rents, wages, stock prices, utilities and VAT (‘the biggest battle of all’) has left them barely breaking even.

Wholesome Junkies, a vegan restaurant in Manchester
Wholesome Junkies, a vegan restaurant in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Vegan roast at Wholesome Junkies, a vegan restaurant in Manchester
Wholesome Junkies, a vegan restaurant in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group

And so they’re having to action ‘big changes and a massive restructure’ in order to survive, from streamlining their menu to removing some items for more cost-effective options.

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The restaurant then wrote: “We’re asking for your understanding and support. If you’ve enjoyed your time with us, please consider leaving a review or sharing your feedback.

“Every little bit helps as we navigate these choppy waters and it makes such a difference to our team who work tirelessly to keep this engine alive.

“We know times are tough, but we’re committed to weathering this storm together. Thanks for sticking with us through thick and thin. Here’s to brighter days ahead!”

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Wholesome Junkies’ statement in full

Hey, Wholesome Crew! We’ve got some heavy news to share. Our recent struggles with rising costs have forced us to take a hard look at our menu prices. It’s not a decision we’ve taken lightly, but we’ve hit a point where we need to make some changes just to even keep the lights on. Some of the dishes and prices just aren’t working anymore, it’s not fair on our customers or on us.

From rent hikes, wages rising to soaring stock prices and utilities, and the biggest battle of all… VAT, the numbers just aren’t adding up. Despite our best efforts, we’re barely breaking even and I honestly don’t know how long we can keep going. Some days I do wonder why I’m even doing this at all, but I’m not throwing in the towel just yet. My love and passion has got us this far.

Starting next week, you’ll notice a big changes, I’m going to have to do a massive restructure of the business and menu for a chance to survive. We’ll be massively streamlining our menu, saying goodbye to some of our pricier items, and exploring new, more cost effective options. It’s all about trying to find that delicate balance between quality and affordability.

We’re asking for your understanding and support. If you’ve enjoyed your time with us, please consider leaving a review or sharing your feedback. Every little bit helps as we navigate these choppy waters and it makes such a difference to our team who work tirelessly to keep this engine alive.

We know times are tough, but we’re committed to weathering this storm together. Thanks for sticking with us through thick and thin. Here’s to brighter days ahead!

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Featured image: The Manc Group

Eats

Sora – Manchester’s newest rooftop restaurant offers an Oriental adventure with its afternoon tea

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Afternoon tea at Sora in Manchester

One of Manchester’s newest restaurant openings has been receiving plenty of attention thanks to its rooftop views right across the city centre skyline.  

But even without the incredible setting, the food at Sora is deserving of attention too. 

This beautiful restaurant has a pan-Asian menu of small plates and robatayaki (a Japanese barbecue) dishes, as well as an afternoon tea that’s a little more interesting than your average. 

Sora’s afternoon tea experience promises a ‘sensory journey to the orient’ through perfect bites of sushi, savoury dishes, and sweet treats. 

For just £35 per person, you’re treated to a tower of delicacies, with a free cocktail added in for readers of The Manc (claim yours at the bottom of this article). 

The afternoon tea’s savouries feature tempura prawns with sweet chilli sauce, a cucumber sesame salad, chicken yakitori with tamarind and peanut, and pork belly with burnt apple puree. 

Then there are a couple of beautiful sushi dishes – a spicy tuna gunkan and classic California rolls.

The views from Sora in Malmaison in Manchester. Credit: Supplied
The views from Sora in Malmaison in Manchester. Credit: Supplied
The Manc readers can get a free cocktail when booking afternoon tea at Sora. Credit: The Manc Group
The Manc readers can get a free cocktail when booking afternoon tea at Sora. Credit: The Manc Group

The sweet treats go way beyond your usual scones and Victoria sponges too, infusing exciting flavours from across Asia in this twist on a British tradition. 

There’s a blueberry bergamot roll, a matcha chocolate slice, a mango coconut dome, and dinky miso caramel chocolate tarts.

Oh, there are still scones too – these ones are matcha flavoured, with a kumquat compote and clotted cream. 

Even the crockery is amazing – the afternoon treats are served on a tower of plates arranged around a ceramic golden stork. 

There’s a massive list of cocktails to choose from at Sora, from cherry blossom negronis to passion fruit mai tais. 

Sora’s main menu is packed full of sashimi, grilled meats, crispy fried small plates, and seasonal specials. 

There’s also a set lunch menu, where you can choose one dish from each section of the menu – sushi, robata grill and crispy – for only £25. 

Sora is the crown jewel in the stylish Malmaison Deansgate hotel, Manchester’s newest luxury hotel. 

To book your Sora afternoon tea, head here. And to add a cocktail to your afternoon tea free of charge, simply quote TheManc in the booking comments. 

Read more: A guide to the brand-new Co-op Live Arena: drinks prices, how to get there, capacity and more

Featured image: Supplied

Eats

Rigatoni’s in Ancoats – formerly known as Sugo – is closing for good

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson

Rigatoni’s has announced the shock closure of its pasta restaurant in Ancoats, saying ‘we have failed not just ourselves, but more importantly our customers and our staff’.

The restaurant used to be known as Sugo Pasta Kitchen, later rebranding to Sud and then on to Rigatoni’s.

At the time of its latest rebrand the restaurant group had four locations around Greater Manchester, but closed its sites in Sale and then at Exhibition food hall.

Ancoats had been Sugo’s second restaurant and was a key part of the neighborhood’s regeneration.

In a statement shared online today, they wrote that the last year had been ‘brutal’ and a ‘massive uphill battle’.

They wrote that Rigatoni’s had been an attempt to ‘create a more affordable, accessible, but still quality product that could be replicated across many sites’ – but added: “I/we now have to accept that we have failed in this mission.”

Rigatoni’s in Ancoats will close its doors for good on Saturday 25 May.

As for their final restaurant over in Altrincham, it sounds as though the team will be bringing back in a little bit of the Sugo DNA that made them so loved in Manchester – ‘Pugliese crockery / the small, ever changing and considered menu will be scrawled all over our chalkboard / deliveroo will no longer be a part of what we do’, they wrote.

Rigatoni’s statement in full as they close Ancoats restaurant

I know you all must be sick of the sight of yet another announcement from us, and I can definitely understand why.

The last 12 months (and even going back to covid) have been brutal to say the least. We’ve been on a constant mission to try to make our restaurants sustainable – for us, for our customers, and for our staff, in what has felt like a massive uphill battle, in the midst of conditions that obviously have not been unique to us.

Rigatoni’s Ancoats is closing for good. Credit: The Manc Group

The latest attempt to do this was in the guise of going all out to create a more affordable, accessible, but still quality product that could be replicated across many sites. I/we now have to accept that we have failed in this mission. The hardest part is that we have failed not just ourselves, but more importantly our customers and our staff, and for this we are truly sorry.

What this means is that unfortunately our Ancoats restaurant will be closing this week, with the last day of service being Saturday the 25th May. We’ve an incredible and talented team of people there, who I know will go on from us to do great things – a huge thank you to them for doing there absolute all in trying to make work whatever we have put before them.

After the journey of the last few years, we’ve really spent time recently considering what the most important values were to us that we held closest when we first started out.

Quite honestly it was simply to create unique, high quality southern Italian inspired dishes, with a small, deeply passionate and committed team, that cannot be found elsewhere. And this is what we want to breathe back into our Altrincham restaurant – to give you a product and a service that you and us can be proud of. We’re not going to be trying to compete with anyone else – we will simply endeavour night and day to be the best possible version of ourselves that we can be, offering a unique experience that will only be found in the walls of our small Altrincham restaurant.

To give you a feel for what I’m talking about – we’ll be bringing back our Pugliese crockery / the small, ever changing and considered menu will be scrawled all over our chalkboard / deliveroo will no longer be a part of what we do / we’ll be committed to the principle of offering nothing ‘standard’. Oh, and our Dad is coming up to help us make this happen!

We won’t be changing our name (we’ve done this way too many times plus we want to focus all our attention on delivering the above), but I’m sure you’ll be glad to hear that the red will be going! This mission begins in Altrincham from 5pm on Wednesday the 5th June. Until then we will run a normal service.

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Featured image – The Manc Group

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