The Lowry Hotel’s River Restaurant is currently recruiting for the city’s first ever ‘five star foodie panel’ to sample and review the restaurant’s newest dishes all from the comfort of their own home.
Do you fancy yourself as the next Jay Raynor? Do you know your velouté from your vichyssoise?
As The River Restaurant is needing feedback on its exclusive new @HOME Package – which includes all the ingredients to cook five courses at home with a bottle of wine to share between two – food-loving Mancunians are now being encouraged to submit their application to join the city’s hottest new review panel.
No foodie CV is necessary, just a passion for good eats.
@HOME by The Lowry is a new dining concept which allows customers to enjoy restaurant quality food at home via a click-and-collect service, so for those not selected as a panel member you can still enjoy the luxury of five-star cooking with the @HOME Dining Package, which is priced at £60 for a five-course meal for two people and a bottle of wine.
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The five lucky applicants chosen to sit on the hotel’s first ever panel will receive a personalised @HOME packages each month.
With menus curated by award-winning Executive Head Chef Dave Ashton, successful applicants will get to taste different sumptuous dishes and accompanying wines between October and December 2020, with the expectation the role will continue in to 2021, and, if that wasn’t enough, they will also be able to enjoy exclusive hotel member benefits, which includes a complimentary overnight stay at The Lowry Hotel to indulge in five star luxury.
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All they’ll be expected to do for the role is finish off the dishes at home using the ingredients provided, and rate the dishes using the #LowryLifeatHome hashtag on Instagram or Twitter.
It is a friends or work colleagues birthday or special occasion soon?
There is no better way to celebrate than @ HOME by The Lowry Hotel.
Choose from afternoon tea, Sunday lunch or the dining package.
Dave Ashton – Executive Head Chef at The Lowry Hotel’s River Restaurant – said: “We’ve been hard at work in the kitchen, developing and testing a five-star dining experience which people can enjoy at home.
“We have successfully launched our @HOME afternoon tea and Sunday roast service, but now we need your help to tell us what you think of our new deluxe dining package and menu changes.
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“Manchester’s food scene is constantly growing, and we need people like you, who love good food, to tell us what you think of our new menu and help make it even more delicious. Our dining package changes on a monthly basis, so you will sample five different dishes each month paired with a bottle of wine for you and your lucky plus one.
“We look forward to hearing your thoughts and evolving the menu for the following month based on your feedback.”
To be in with a chance of being selected for the role, you’ll need to follow The Lowry’s Instagram account – @thelowryhotel – and send an email to [email protected] with your name, Instagram or Twitter account handle, proof of age, and 150 words explaining why you think you should be selected.
You have until Sunday 8th November to get your applications in.
Members will be chosen by a panel of judges comprised of two representatives from The Lowry Hotel.
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Don’t worry if you’re not chosen for the role though, because The River Restaurant’s @HOME service also includes a bubbly afternoon tea – which will set you back just £50 for two people – and includes a fully-prepared afternoon tea spread, including tea from the Manor and a bottle of Prosecco, and even a Sunday lunch option – priced at £40 for two people – which includes the freshest of locally-sourced veg, quality meats, and plenty of mouth-watering gravy.
You can find more information about the @HOME service via The Lowry Hotel website here.
Eats
‘Hidden’ Manchester cocktail bar shuts down after only six months
Daisy Jackson
A cocktail bar in Manchester city centre that opened only last December has reportedly closed down, with its final service today.
Ego Death, a ‘hidden’ speakeasy-style bar in the Northern Quarter, told CLASS magazine that they were told by backers that they would have to close.
It opened under the steer of acclaimed bartender Cressida Lawlor, co-founded by Beau Myers, who also founded the original Almost Famous.
The bar is beneath newcomer smash burger joint Super Awesome Deluxe and accessed through an unmarked door within the takeaway.
Shortly after Super Awesome Deluxe opened, Almost Famous went through a high-profile closure of all of its restaurants this year, later bought out and reopened by D2.
And now just six months after launch, Ego Death looks set to be closing for good.
Cressida told CLASS: “The team here is wildly talented so the goal now is to get them into jobs so they can pay their bills and keep a roof over their heads.
“No one wants Ego Death to die and I think we’ve made enough of a stir in the six months that we’ve been open to find a new site and investment.
“Our last day is going to be Sunday, so anyone who can get here for one final party should come down.”
She later added on Instagram: “Truly gutting but there is always light in any form of darkness. Come see us this Sunday for the final service as we go through a true ego death.”
Ego Death came from the same team behind Socio Rehab (which if you remember it from 2004 was a bit of a local institution) and had a cocktail menu inspired by the speakeasy bars of New York City.
Behind the bar the stars were bourbon and champagne, plus cocktails inspired by the Big Apple – including one named after Sex and the City’s Samantha Jones.
Beau Myers, co-founder at Ego Death said at the time of its opening: “It’s been 20 years since we opened Socio Rehab so it seems pretty poignant to be opening another amazing cocktail bar. We changed the landscape of cocktail bar culture then and that’s something we’re trying to do again.
“We’ve partnered with Cressida Lawlor to make this dream happen. She’s a total firecracker and reminds me a lot of myself 20 years ago, she’s the future of cocktails and bartending and has that maverick spirit.
“Together we’ve created Ego Death, hidden in a basement behind an unmarked door at the back of a burger shop will be this cocktail haven. An underground escape throwing out the best classic cocktails, bourbon, and champagne from top level bartenders.”
This Manchester bar serves a bottomless cheese fondue with endless beer and wine
Georgina Pellant
There’s a bar in Manchester serving a bottomless cheese fondue with endless wine and beer, and it honestly sounds like the perfect treat.
While it might scream cosy winter night in, with a huge outdoor terrace, The Mews is also a firm favourite during the summer months.
Add in a board of melt-in-the-mouth charcuterie, springy pieces of garlic sourdough and a host of crunchy cheese biscuits, and you’ve got yourself the ideal afternoon if you ask us.
But there’s more. Alongside all that cheese and meat and bread, included in the price of The Mews’ bottomless fondue, cheese lovers can also enjoy 90 minutes of non-stop drinks.
Bottomless cheese fondue at The Mews on Deansgate in Manchester. (Credit: The Manc Eats)
Costing £37.50 each, included in the deal is a huge pot of melted Italian Fontina cheese served with homemade garlic croutons, sourdough crackers, and slices of British charcuterie.
You’ll also get to enjoy an hour and a half of endless pints of house pilsner and carafes of red or white wine to enjoy alongside.
Serving up to six people, the bottomless cheese fondue is available only when you pre-book, so make sure to get in touch ahead of your visit to let The Mews know that you’re coming.
If you’re not on the sauce, you can opt for the cheese fondue alone. Without the booze, it’s quite a bit cheaper at £25 for one, and £2.50 on top for any additional people who want to get stuck in.
Housed up on Deansgate Mews, just behind the main hustle and bustle of Deansgate, there’s plenty of space inside as well as a large, secluded terrace that is quite the suntrap (when the Manchester sun is shining).
Emily Sergeant -
27th October 2020 
