Food & Drink

A little Loire Valley wine truck is popping up in Manchester next month

Loire Valley Wines wants people to "discover the region’s finest grape produce varieties alongside the beauties of the main UK’s cities".

The Manc The Manc - 2nd September 2021

A wine truck is set to hit the streets of Manchester next month, and it’s featuring top tier French wines from the Loire Valley.

As part of its ‘Bucket List’ tour, Loire Valley Wines is sending out its wine truck to give people the chance to “discover the region’s finest grape produce varieties alongside the beauties of the main UK’s cities”.

And Manchester is one of the cities on the visiting schedule.

Designed to offer a taste of France’s renowned Loire vineyards, the wine truck will run as part of a wider campaign in which bespoke wine tasting menus, offers, and giveaways will be available to make the most of at bars and restaurants across the UK.

The Little Loire Wine Truck will be at the Manchester Food & Drink Festival (MFDF) on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 September from 11.30am – 7pm, with an expert sommelier on hand to take passers-by through free walk-in tastings, with bottles ranging from whites to rosés spanning Muscadet to Touraine.

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Budding wine connoisseurs can also enter a competition to have the wine truck stop off at their own home too.

The Little Loire Wine Truck will be at the Manchester Food & Drink Festival (MFDF) / Credit: Instagram (@loire_bucket_list) / Maini London

As well as the wine truck popping up for the weekend at the city’s annual flagship food and drink festival, the Manchester Bucket List also features a handful of carefully-selected places to stop off at throughout September and dip a toe into the wines of the Loire Valley.

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A brand-new discovery route packed with treasures and discoveries has been curated especially for the occasion, with six Manchester bars already signed up to take part.

“The Loire Bucket List is for adventure seekers,” a spokesperson for the event said.

“Our discovery routes take you to the ‘secret’ places in your city, to see exciting and unexpected things, alongside a few carefully curated places to stop off to and explore the wines of the Loire Valley along the way.

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“Our collaborative events offer further opportunities to explore Loire Wines, from free in-store sampling to full guided tastings and of course, visits to our little Wine Truck, which will pop up around the UK.”

The wine truck will run as part of a wider campaign in which bespoke wine tasting menus, offers, and giveaways will be available / Credit: Em Zoode

The venues lined-up to host special wine events in Manchester are:

  • Manchester Tennis & Racquet Club
  • Flok
  • Mr Thomas’ Chop House
  • Atomeca
  • Oystercatcher
  • Man Bites Frog
  • Grape To Grain

With prices starting from as little as £15, and many still TBC, wines such as Rosé d’Anjou Famille Bougrier 2020, Touraine Sauvignon Domaine Guenault Bougrier 2020, Muscadet Polaris Batard Langelier, Clos La Cariziere, and L’Extra par Langlois Brut NV Crémant de Loire are all on the menu across each of the participating venues for wine enthusiasts to wet their whistle.

Specially-selected ‘wines of the month’, and food and wine pairings will also be available to try.

Specially-selected ‘wines of the month’, and food and wine pairings will also be available to try / Credit: Unsplash

Check out the Loire Bucket List website for more information about everything happening in Manchester next month.

Featured Image – Em Zoode

Food & Drink

First look inside Gail’s on King Street as it opens in Manchester

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

This week, the famous London bakery Gail’s opens its first ever cafe in Manchester city centre.

The build-up has been substantial, with the team first launching in the neighbouring towns of Wilmslow and Altrincham before venturing into the heart of the city.

Newly arrived on King Street, the brand new cafe spans two floors, with extensive seating beneath its bakery and more stretching out into the street with a sun trap al fresco terrace that opens daily from 11am.

Due to open tomorrow, we popped down ahead of the opening for a sneak peek to see what the team has in store for Manchester.

The new cafe’s exterior is covered in handpainted murals by local artist Amy Coney, created as part of the city’s recent flower festival, whilst inside it’s all warm, burnished wood and sage-coloured coffee appliances.

Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats

A huge bakery counter overflowing with warm quiches, croissants, cakes and other bakes is the first thing to greet you, flanked by a wall stacked floor-to-ceiling with loaves of bread – all freshly baked this morning.

Read more: Hit Christmas market stall opens permanently at Piccadilly Gardens

Loaf choices include classic white and brown sourdough, Gail’s ‘wasteless’ loaves (made using a specially-created recipe designed to incorporate unsold bread crumbs), alongside seeded varieties, baguettes and batons.

As for coffee, this is specially roasted for Gail’s cafes and changes four times a year with the seasons.

Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats

Must-tries include Gail’s famous cinnamon buns, still-warm cheese and ham croissants, chocolate chip cookies, and – given the weather we’re having this week – iced coffees, all day long preferably please.

Read more: All the June Manchester restaurant deals, discounts and offers you need in 2023

As part of the new opening, the team has commissioned a beautiful floral mural to be painted in its windows by local artist Amy Coney.

Gail’s will also be working with local restaurant-backed charity Eat Well MCR to help provide nutritious meals to local people in need as it looks to establish itself in Manchester.

Featured image – The Manc Eats

Food & Drink

The Middle Eastern bottomless brunch with endless wine, beer and cocktails

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

There’s a new bottomless brunch in Manchester with Middle Eastern-inspired small plates, and if you love a good Saturday afternoon out on the town then you absolutely need to put it on your list.

Hosted at former Michelin-recommended King Street restaurant Habas, for £38 per person diners can enjoy a ‘tipsy tapas’ with 90 minutes of non-stop cocktails, wine, beer, and a mouthwatering selection of punchy small plates.

Drink choices include the likes of fruit punch, Aperol and apricot spritzes, prosecco and bellinis, plus glasses of house lager and red, white and rose wine.

As for the food, you’re completely spoilt for choice with a selection of dishes that pulls out some of the restaurant’s dish highlights – spanning starters, mains and puddings.

Choices available with the bottomless brunch include the likes of harissa-roasted sweet potato, steaming chicken tagine, the most perfect crisp lamb pomme anna, garlic flatbreads and roasted cauliflower.

Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats

Elsewhere, you’ll find mini Merguez sausages, salmon arancini, seared mackerel fillets, Israeli chopped salad, batata harra, Syrian lentils, Zalouk aubergine and Habas’s own Middle Eastern rice.

As for sweets to finish, think traditional honey and pistachio-drenched baklava, miniature donuts oozing with raspberry jam with a dollop of homemade vanilla custard on the side, zingy pineapple carpaccio, a Medjool date and orange cake, and beautiful cubes of Turkish delight.

The third city centre restaurant from Simon Shaw (also chef-owner of El Gato Negro and Canto), Habas was added to the Michelin guide in 2021.

Read more: Hit Christmas market stall opens permanently at Piccadilly Gardens

At the time, inspectors described it as follows: “Habas comes from the same owners as Canto and El Gato Negro and occupies what was once the wine cellars of the magnificent former Manchester Club building.

Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats

“Arrive early for a cocktail in the bar before moving into the fun, slightly retro style dining room.

“Small sharing plates take their influences mainly from the Middle East but there are also hints of the Mediterranean to be seen.

Read more: All the June Manchester restaurant deals, discounts and offers you need in 2023

“Must-haves include the homemade pita bread, stuffed filo cigars and vegetable dishes.”

Habas and its sister restaurant Canto have both since been removed from the Michelin Guide but Shaw’s original Manchester restaurant El Gato Negro continues to be featured as a Bib Gourmand recommendation.

To find out more about Tipsy Tapas and book a table, visit the Habas website here.

Featured image – The Manc Eats

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