Eats

Acclaimed taco bar Madre to set up shop in Manchester this summer

Madre will be serving their traditional Asado-inspired tacos at Escape to Freight Island - the new outdoor food and entertainment complex at Mayfield Depot near Piccadilly.

The Manc The Manc - 23rd July 2020
Madre / Instagram

Madre – an acclaimed supergroup of smash-hit taco brands – are setting up a brand new stall in Manchester this summer, owners have confirmed.

A combined venture from the teams at Mexican outlets Belzan and Breddos, Madre has proven enormously popular in Liverpool over the past two years.

Now, owners are taking their famous tacos down the M62 – pitching up at Piccadilly’s new food and festival space, Escape to Freight Island.

Madre / Instagram

Co-founder Sam Grainger said: “We can’t wait to get to Manchester, we’ve been waiting patiently and searching for the right space to come up and when we heard about Escape to Freight Island we just knew it was for us.

“The opportunity to work with this team is beyond exciting and it’s a great way for us to introduce ourselves to Manchester.

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“If you’d have asked me at the start of lockdown if I thought I’d be opening in Manchester in July then I’d have laughed!

“But here we are, the truck is loaded and the Mexican barbecues are ready to light!”

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Operating from a converted 1981 VW truck, Madre will be dishing out an authentic Mexican menu featuring dishes such as Pork Al Pastor, Carne Asada and Grilled Elote with fresh salsa.

The first Belzan and Breddos collaboration event in 2018 sold out in less than an hour, laying the foundations for Madre – which has moved from strength to strength ever since.

The move to Manchester represents the biggest step for the brand yet.

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“We spent our formative years in Manchester and it will be incredible to come back, get back stuck in to the city and experience this incredible new development,” said the owners.

Madre arrives at Depot Mayfield on 24 July, with the taco brand among the first traders to join Escape to Freight Island.

Table slots of three hours are available Thursday to Sunday from midday to midnight.

You can book online here.

Eats

Inside Popeyes as fried chicken restaurant opens its first Manchester drive-thru

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson

Popeyes is ready to open its first-ever Greater Manchester drive-thru restaurant, where you can pick up its legendary Louisiana-style fried chicken and shakes.

To celebrate its launch, Popeyes will be giving away free chicken sandwiches for a year to the first people in the queue – and when it launched at Piccadilly Gardens, someone waited outside for 16 hours.

People really love this chicken…

In the blink of an eye, the colourful orange and blue building has taken shape on Bury New Road, where hungry diners can pick up meals in the drive-thru or order ahead for curbside collection.

Customers dining in can order through a QR code or touch-screens, before sitting down at one of the many orange booths to tuck into trays piled high with sandwiches, tenders, mac and cheese, and more.

There are 72 indoors plus an outside dining area, dual-ordering lanes, and designated bays for pre-orders.

Popeyes is famed for its viral ‘shatter crunch’-coated fried chicken, its Southern US biscuits and gravy, and its brekkie menu where British classics are given a New Orleans twist.

Inside Greater Manchester's new Popeyes drive-thru
Inside Greater Manchester's new Popeyes drive-thru
Inside Greater Manchester's new Popeyes drive-thru
Inside Greater Manchester’s new Popeyes drive-thru

The doors and lanes to the new chicken shop will officially open on Friday 26 April at 11am.

The first three people queueing both on foot and in cars will win free chicken sandwiches for a year, and the first 25 in both queues will get a free chicken sandwich and exclusive merch.

This new Popeyes marks the brand’s 11th opening in 2024, and 47th since launching in the UK in 2021.

You’ll find it at 288-292 unit Bury New Rd, M7 2YJ, right next to the McDonald’s and Tim Horton’s on the border of Prestwich.

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Featured Images — The Manc Group

Eats

Skof, Manchester’s most hotly-anticipated restaurant, confirms opening date and menu prices

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Tom Barnes with the team outside Skof, a new restaurant opening in Manchester in May. Credit: Supplied

A restaurant with a serious Michelin pedigree is set to open in Manchester very soon, as chef Tom Barnes readies to launch Skof and gives a glimpse into its menu.

Tom’s impressive CV includes time spent at L’Enclume, the three-Michelin star Lake District restaurant widely considered one of the best in the world, and he’ll bring that same farm-to-table ethos to the city centre with his debut restaurant.

Skof will be taking over a historic building in the NOMA neighbourhood, right by Manchester Victoria, with an official opening date now locked in.

Skof is set to launch on Wednesday 29 May, with bookings going live today and tables available all the way through to 14 September (and likely to fill up fast).

Tom Barnes has also teased what’s to come on his menu, with two different tasting menus available.

Skof will have a 12-course tasting menu priced at £120, and a 15-course menu for £165 – plus a £50, four-course lunch offering.

The restaurant will be owned and operated by Tom but falls under Simon Rogan’s UMBEL Restaurants group, and he’ll be weaving in new suppliers as well as using daily deliveries of produce grown specifically for him from Simon Rogan’s Our Farm in the Cartmel Valley.

He’ll be using small-scale suppliers such as Cinderwood Market Garden in Nantwich and Lake District Farmers to fill his exciting menu of home-grown dishes.

The first set of menus will include dishes like roasted Sladesdown duck, peach leaf, Ibis celeriac, and wholemeal bread; Berkswell cheese sable biscuit, crushed broad beans, whipped roe, and bronze fennel; and a lightly set custard, served with Hen-of-the-Woods mushrooms, truffle, and mushroom dashi.

Tom Barnes with the team outside Skof, a new restaurant opening in Manchester in May which has confirmed its launch date and menu prices. Credit: Supplied
Tom Barnes with the team outside Skof, a new restaurant opening in Manchester in May which has confirmed its launch date and menu prices. Credit: Supplied

There’ll be a lot of thought that goes in to the drinks pairings too, working with restaurant manager Sean Oakford and assistant restaurant manager Max Lawrence (both ex-L’Enclume), on a range of drinks options to include alcohol-free or mixed-alcohol pairings, or matching wines to go with the menu.

Tom has also collaborated with Manchester brewery, Track to create Sidney, a light and refreshing beer intended as an alternative to kick off the meal.

Tom Barnes said: “It’s been a long time coming, so I’m excited to be able to finally release our reservations. I can’t wait to share what we’ve been working on and to return some of the incredible hospitality I’ve received from the people of Manchester.

“With Skof, my purpose is to create an incredible experience that focuses on great quality ingredients but above all, puts a smile on peoples faces.”

Skof will open in Manchester’s NOMA district on Wednesday 29 May.

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Featured image: Supplied

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