Eats

You can now apply to be part of Manchester’s first ever ‘five star foodie’ panel

The Lowry Hotel is currently recruiting people to sample and review the restaurant’s newest dishes.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 27th October 2020
@HOME by The Lowry Hotel

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.

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@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.

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.

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

A new pasta restaurant is opening inside the old Vertigo site on Cross Street

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

A new restaurant selling freshly made pasta is tipped to open in the old Vertigo unit on Cross Street later this year, proving that when one vegan door closes another one opens.

Pastan, a plant-based pasta kitchen that first began life in London’s Covent Garden in April 2021, has submitted a planning application to take over the site from September.

If successful, it will see the new arrival take over 18 Cross Street, the original home of beloved Manchester vegan eatery Vertigo, which sadly closed its doors in March with bosses citing ‘significantly increased’ running costs.

Read more: Vertigo closes Manchester sites citing ‘significantly increased costs’

Co-founded by Dean Fawcett and Jerome Ibanez when the world of hospitality was just beginning to reopen after the second lockdown, Pastan has hosted a number of pop-ups across the country.

Founders Dean and Jerome pictured with former Pastan team member Sienna at their Notting Hill pop-up. / Image: Pastan.UK
The duo says they ‘make no compromises’ when veganizing ‘such a classic’ as mac and cheese. / Image: Pastan.UK

It started off as a pop-up in Neal’s Yard, Covent Garden, before heading to Bristol throughout the summer of 2021 for a second pop-up opened at the Nectar House, Gloucester Road.

Following that, the owners set up a third and final pop-up in Notting Hill from September to November 2021, before opening its first permanent restaurant just around the corner from the capital’s famous Smithfield Market.

Now, it looks like they’re planning to expand into the north with a second restaurant here in Manchester

If successful, going by its London menus the new restaurant will focus on simple, fresh pasta dishes, serving up the likes of fried gnocchi loaded with a choice of sauces including BBQ jackfruit, cheese, pepper or pomodoro, alongside time-tested Italian classics like cacio e pepe and carbonara at lunch.

Image: Pastan.UK
Image: Pastan.UK

Elsewhere, you’ll find cavatelli mac and cheese topped with breadcrumbs and crispy onions, plantshakes loaded with donut skewers, Lotus Biscoff mini doughnuts and scoops of ice cream.

Come to the evening things will then be taken up a notch, with a different menu served from 5pm featuring charcoal-activated taglioni served with dill hollandaise, salsa verde-dressed pea and shallot ravioli, and a beetroot hummus-topped cheesy tagliatelle with courgette spaghetti and crunchy veg.

Read more: The Ethiopian restaurant hidden above a takeaway in Manchester’s gay village

Pastan’s founders have over 20 years of hospitality experience between them but made the decision to set out on their own after struggling to find healthy, plant-based pasta.

With a cooking ethos that swerves away from any refined or unnatural ingredients, it’s sure to be a welcome addition to Manchester’s dining scene – particularly to city centre vegans missing their Vertigo lunch (or dinner) fix.

To find out more ahead of the new opening, head over to Pastan’s social media pages here.

Feature image – Google / Pastan.UK

Eats

The Greater Manchester delicacies you have to try at least once in your life

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Greater Manchester – home of world-famous music, Corrie, two of the world’s biggest football clubs, and, er, Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls.

We can shout about a lot of things here in the north west, but our local delicacies really are in a league of their own.

Everything from pastry sweets to meaty treats crop up in Greater Manchester’s menu of mouth-watering regional dishes that everyone should try out at least once in their lifetime.

They’re not for everyone, and there’s a good chance that for some of them, the first time you them will be the last, but we’re proud of them all the same.

Here’s some of the best the region has to offer.

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Black Pudding

Credit: Bury Black Pudding Company

A somewhat polarising delicacy, black pudding is a dark sausage made from pig’s blood and fillers such as barley, oats, and suet.

Sure, black pudding may not have wholly originated in Greater Manchester, but there’s definitely a strong argument to be made for Bury black pudding being some of the best, or at least the most celebrated and appreciated, there is out there.

You can get your hands on some hot boiled black pudding from many local markets in the region,

Or you can buy it fresh from the regional produce section at most supermarkets, and you can even eat it locally as a takeaway snack dowsed with malt vinegar. 

Manchester Tart

Credit: Jon Hillyer

Something for those with a sweet tooth and an appetite for coconut, Manchester Tart is a traditional English baked tart made up of a shortcrust pastry shell spread with raspberry jam inside, covered with a custard filling, and topped off with flakes of coconut and a cherry.

This was a staple of the 1940s and 50s school dinner, but it’s not as beloved as it once was nowadays.

If you are looking for a blast from the past though, you may be lucky enough to spot it on a specials menu at one of the many British-themed restaurants in the city centre and wider region, or in local supermarkets if you keep your fingers crossed.

Vimto

Vimto is a much-loved Manchester-born and produced soft drink.

It contains the juice of grapes, raspberries and blackcurrants – each in a 3% concentration – which is then flavoured with a selection of delicately-balanced herbs and spices.

It was created by John Noel Nichols in 1908 at 19 Granby Row in Manchester city centre under the name Vim Tonic and even though it’s hard to believe it now, Vimto was originally registered as a health tonic or medicine when it was first created, but was then re-registered as a cordial in 1913.

Nowadays, it’s taken on a life of its own spawning many variations, it’s sold internationally in over 40 countries, and you can get your hands on it at just about any local shop, supermarket, and chippy or takeaway.

Pasty Barm

Credit: Carr’s Pasties

Fancy an absolute carb overload?

You can’t go wrong with carbs in the north, and over in Bolton, they’re really taking that statement to heart with this staple delicacy that sees a pasty – preferably meat and potato, and really preferably from the town’s iconic Carr’s Pasties, which’s been “baking perfect pasties since 1938” – and putting it inside a bread roll, also known as a barm cake.

It sounds a lot, but all we can say is just don’t knock it until you’ve tried it – and maybe just make sure you’ve got a glass of Vimto on hand to wash it down with.

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Eccles Cake

GoodtoKnow

Another one for those with a sweet tooth, the Eccles cake – sometimes down as a “squashed fly pie” or “fly cake” – is a centuries-old pastry, of course taking its name from the town of Eccles in Salford, that’s a staple often sold at bakeries and supermarkets around Manchester and Lancashire.

It’s made up of a flaky pastry dough filled with currents, and it’s often topped with a sugary crust.

While it is a sweet pastry, the Eccles cake is actually traditionally eaten with Lancashire cheese to provide a unique sweet and savoury experience, but it’s just as nice however you chose to serve it.

Lancashire Hotpot

BBC Food

This is probably one of the most famous delicacies on the list.

Mostly associated with the iconic Manchester-based soap Coronation Street, thanks to the fictional Betty Turpin’s hotpot beloved by all the Rovers Return regulars, the Lancashire hotpot remains a hot food staple on tables not just in the region, but right across the UK.

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Paying resemblance to a casserole or stew, a Lancashire hotpot is traditionally made with lamb or mutton, onions and stock, and is topped with sliced potatoes, before being cooked low and slow until the potatoes on top go crispy.

If you’re looking for the best hotpot in town, then on over to Annie’s on Old Bank Street.

Rag Pudding

The rag pudding may have been invented in Oldham, but it’s now considered a specialty all over Greater Manchester, particularly in its hometown, and in Bury and Rochdale

A hearty and meaty dish, with a flavour that’s similar to a meat pie, just minus the crust, a rag pudding is made up of ground beef and onion gravy wrapped in suet, and cooked in a piece of muslin – also known as a rag – to give it its distinct and recognisable shape.

Did you know that the most notable producers of the rag pudding, Jacksons Farm Fayre in Milnrow, still lovingly hand-fold 15,000 of the puddings each week to be dished out to local butchers, delis and chippies across the region?

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That’s how popular it is.

Pinterest / Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls

Parched Peas

Also known as black peas, black eyed peas (no, not the music group), dapple peas, maple peas, and probably more depending on where you come from, parched peas are dried and cooked purple podded peas, which are then soaked overnight and simmered to produce a type of mushy pea. 

It’s a delicacy often served with lashings of malt vinegar, and most-commonly served in autumn and winter time, especially known to be a staple on or around Bonfire night.

The dish is popular in Bury, Rochdale, Oldham, Wigan, Bolton, Tyldesley and Heywood.

Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls

Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls are (sort of) spherical mints produced by Wm Santus & Co. Ltd in Wigan, which are made from pure cane sugar, oil of peppermint and cream of tartar.

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Originally made for miners and ideal for “coughs and sniffles”, they have remained one of the region’s pride and joys for years on end, helping to keep the population “all aglow” since 1898, with it said that around 160,000 mint balls are still made every day, which is around 35 million per year.

They also have their own catchy jingle, which, if you say the name of them to a Mancunian, you’ll likely get a dodgy rendition of sang back to you.

“Suck em’ and see, you’ll agree, they’re the best in all the land”.

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