You can get mulled wine Christmas cocktail trees at this Manchester winter village
Whilst we're no stranger to a cocktail tree, these ones at Mala's winter village are extra special - served with real, living firs for that extra festive touch
There’s a winter village in Manchester selling mulled wine Christmas cocktail trees and we are just a little bit obsessed.
Hidden away off the beaten track in the Northern Quarter, if you look for a big green door you should stumble across Mala’s magical alpine village.
The secret garden on Lever Street has been transformed into a winter wonderland for the festive season, complete with ski cabins, heated Alpine chalets and a giant barn – plus not one but two charming outdoor garden spaces.
Image: The Manc Group
Now, as we roll into December, the team has upped its bar offering – which already includes steins, hot chocolates and a range of cocktails including margaritas – to offer these amazing mulled wine Christmas cocktail trees throughout the season.
Priced at £6.50 per glass or £24 for a tree of four, they come out on real evergreen firs jazzed up with baubles and pine cones. It doesn’t really get more Christmassy than that.
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And that’s not all. As well as the brilliant mulled wine Christmas cocktail trees, Mala is also serving up a Berry 75 cocktail tree – priced at £29, or £8 for a single glass.
The Berry 75 cocktail tree at Mala – priced at £29, or £8 for a single glass / Image: Mala / Memphis Medium
The Berry 75 is a twist on the classic French 75 cocktail, a combination of gin, lemon juice, sugar and fizz – but this one has added raspberry to give it that red, Christmassy hue.
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Food-wise, there are plans to offer a cheese fondue at some point next month, but right now you can still get your hands on some top-notch local scran as Mala has partnered with a host of local eateries.
By scanning a QR code on your table (or in your heated chalet), you’ll be able to access the menus of surrounding eateries like Ply, Chakalaka, House of Habesha, Salt and Pepper and more – with each venue bringing its food in for you directly.
On-site, you’ll also find Crumbled – serving up pots of indulgent crumbles from their hatch next to the bar. With toppings like biscoff, chocolate sauce, rose custard and more, it’s a proper indulgent sweet treat.
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There’s no need to book either, rather you can simply walk in – and the mulled wine Christmas cocktail trees will be served throughout December.
Mala’s opening hours are from 12.30 to 9 pm every day.
‘New wave’ pizzeria where every pizza is served with scissors is heading to Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Always a hot topic of conversation around a pizza is how to eat the damn thing – knife and fork, slice and hold, fold it up?
And now a new pizza concept is heading to Manchester, where authentic Neapolitan pizzas are always served with a pair of scissors for cutting up your dinner.
We here at The Manc are firm believers that scissors are a far superior tool for getting your pizza into slices, so news that Forbici (which literally translates as ‘Scissors’ from Italian) is opening in the city centre is music to our ears.
Forbici is taking over a corner unit on Cross Street, not far from the former site of much-loved family-focused Italian Croma.
Claiming to be arriving in town with ‘the world’s most powerful pizza dough’, the restaurant hails a ‘new wave’ of pizzeria.
Its roots will be firmly in Naples, with puffy biga dough handmade fresh daily and proofed for 12 hours. It’ll be made so fresh every day that pizzas will only be available while the dough lasts.
Forbici will serve its pizza the Neapolitan way too – quartered (it’s ‘four ways always’, with scissors, which protects that signature airy crust.
The pizzas are going to be topped with tomatoes from Solania, the only producer of true San Manzarno DOP tomatoes, and Fior di Latte Mozzerella from Vico Equese, a small coastal town where tradition runs deep.
They’ve even imported a pizza oven direct from Sorrento.
And drinks will come from Italian craft beer brand Amarcord, one of the nation’s first independent breweries.
Forbici says it will blend ‘born in Naples’ flavours with ‘rising in Manchester’ influences.
Andrew Garton, CEO of Forbici, said: “Forbici isn’t just another pizza restaurant—it’s a new way of experiencing pizza.
“We are pioneering a new wave of pizza in the UK, with the simple belief that pizza should be better.
“We have brought together the finest master bakers who have spent decades honing their craft in Naples to create the perfect formula for fermenting the world’s most powerful pizza dough.
“Born from centuries of Neapolitan expertise and heritage, Forbici will be rising in Manchester this year.”
Forbici will open its first Manchester pizza restaurant on Cross Street this spring – you can follow them on Instagram HERE for the latest.
Giuseppe’s – the tiny Italian bistro that proves Stalybridge is fast becoming a dining destination
Daisy Jackson
Giuseppe’s in Stalybridge is a restaurant that’s putting in an enormous amount of effort to please just a very small group of people – this teeny tiny bistro has just 18 seats.
With such a small capacity no one would blame them for sitting back and scaling back to a concise little menu of pizza – but Giuseppe’s really said ‘no grazie’ to such an idea and committed itself to a full bistro menu.
It’s yet another exciting addition to the rapidly-booming restaurant scene here in Tameside, where neighbours include Cafe Continental, Gladstone Barber & Bistro, and SK15 Bar & Bistro.
Giuseppe’s arrival on the Stalybridge high street has created a cosy corner for locals, one which could quickly follow in the footsteps of Ornella’s to become a fully-booked-for-months-in-advance destination.
Inside its welcoming navy blue walls you’re welcomed by a room filled with trailing plants, ceramic lemons and a huge doodle map of Sicily.
The menu also hails from Sicily, specialising in wood-fired pizzas but also dipping a toe into pasta and small plates too.
Pizza at Giuseppe’s Italian bistro in StalybridgeA spread of dishes at Pizza at Giuseppe’s Italian bistro in Stalybridge
Giuseppe’s pizza dough is meticulously made fresh with Italian 00 flour, left to ferment for at least 48 hours, before being stretched and topped and cooked in the wood-fired pizza oven until it’s all puffed-up and charred around the edges.
At lunch times, those delicious pizza doughs are folded in half to make Italian panozzi sandwiches, the charred dough encasing fillings like Sicilian fennel sausage and friarelli, and mortadella with stracciatella.
These are strong contenders for the best pizzas this side of Greater Manchester, with a soft and chewy crust that stands up against much bigger names in the pizza game.
Rum baba at Giuseppe’sThe team at Giuseppe’s in Stalybridge
Giuseppe’s pasta bowls include a hearty paccheri with Sicilian sausage AND guanciale, all salty and rich and creamy.
And once you’ve eaten your fill in this tiny little spot, where the windows go all steamed up in winter and you’re nudging up against neighbours chatting over pizzas, you can polish off with Italian desserts too.
There’s a very respectable slab of tiramisu on offer, plus a rum baba soaked in syrup and packed with fresh cream.
Giuseppe’s in Stalybridge may be small in capacity but it’s huge on spirit.