A chef in Bolton has mocked Salt Bae’s restaurant Nusr-Et and its £850 gold-wrapped steak by producing his own versions – including a bacon and gold leaf-covered sausage butty.
Chef Gareth Mason decided to spoof the eye-wateringly expensive London steakhouse by creating his own gold-covered dishes.
Of the opinion seemingly held by many Brits that “getting a steak and wrapping it in gold doesn’t make it worth £800”, he tells us wrapping stuff in gold might be time-consuming and nerve-wracking but it “still doesn’t justify a thousand pounds for a steak or £45 for a cappuccino.”
Image: Phil Taylor / SWNS
As well as giving the gold treatment to the iconic sausage butty, the Absolute Bar and Bistro head chef has also wrapped his signature miniature meat Whist Pies in gold.
He also created further options like gold-wrapped chips, a 24-carat carrot, and a gold pork pie and pickle platter.
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The bar and bistro is relatively new to the area, having opened on Westhoughton’s Market Street in the summer of 2021. First launching with just coffees and teas, followed by drinks and tapas in the evening, the menu offering has certainly picked up since Gareth Mason joined the team.
Image: Phil Taylor / SWNS
Formerly Group Executive Chef at Retreat Restaurants, his dishes made headlines last year too – when he created some ‘ingenious’ substantial meals for the group, including a ‘three-tier’ fish, chips and mushy peas pie.
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“It was national pie month in Wigan at the time,” he tells us, “so we made this pie, encased it in pastry, and topped it with chips.”
His creations were covered numerous times in 2020, including when he cooked a menu with Irn Bru in response to a story that said the iconic Scottish drink cured Covid.
As a reaction to that, Gareth created the likes of blue and orange Irn Bru macaroons, Irn Bru cranachan jelly, haggis Scottish roll with Irn bru and onion chutney, and Scotch pancakes with an Irn Bru syrup.
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Image: Phil Taylor / SWNS
“I can’t say I’ve ever cooked with Irn Bru before to be fair,” he tells us.
Now, it seems he has put the Absolute Bar and Bistro on the map with these new creations that highlight the extortionate expense of dining at one of Salt Bae’s Nusr-Et restaurants.
Speaking to The Manc, he told us his gold-leaf creations were “just a bit of fun” and customers won’t be able to actually get a gold-covered sausage at his Bistro.
Rather, he decided to put a spin on some of the menu’s classic items to make a point.
Image: Phil Taylor / SWNS
“Clearly some people have got more money than sense,” said Gareth.
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“There’s people starving at this moment in time and we’re wrapping stuff in gold and charging ridiculous prices for it.”
Calling the Nusr-Et prices “ridiculous”, he concedes that whilst wrapping food in gold is time-consuming and “quite nervewracking to be fair […] as the gold is very temperamental.”
However, he still doesn’t think that makes it worth the price – not by a long shot.
Asked what he thinks is next, he jokes “Diamonds, platinum, white gold.” We’re laughing, but sadly he’s probably right.
Image: Phil Taylor / SWNSImage: Phil Taylor / SWNS
For those who don’t know, Turkish butcher-turned-chef Salt Bae first rose to fame after going viral online for a technique that involved sprinkling salt down his arm, has faced reams of criticism online following the opening of his new London restaurant.
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One group of diners recently shared a bill for £37,023.10 – including a service charge of nearly £5,000 – after a boozy wine-fuelled night at the restaurant.
If you don’t fancy splashing that sort of cash, though, you’d better head over to Westhoughton in Bolton.
Whilst you won’t exactly get a taste of the gold-wrapped Nusr-Et experience, you’re definitely guaranteed to receive some wholesome Lancashire options with a healthy dose of humour on the side.
Feature image – Phil Taylor / SWNS
Food & Drink
Manchester City Council green-light new venue at Medlock Square, with Mamma Mia! The Party to open the immersive space
Danny Jones
The smash-hit ‘Mamma Mia: The Party’ is set to land in Manchester next year as the maiden event of another brand-new space set to open as part of the upcoming Medlock Square development.
Etihad Campus has seen a lot of moving pieces over the past few years, be it the building of Co-op Live, the ongoing expansion of Man City’s home ground, the soon-to-launch hotel attached to the stadium and now Medlock.
But those in control of the land are content with stopping there; this looks to be just the start of a whole new evolution for the East Manchester area, with an as yet untitled new immersive arts, experience and events venue also set to join the new slate of projects.
You see another glimpse of the purpose-built mini arena, of sorts, down below.
With plans having now been approved by the City Council, the ‘immersive’ space will be situated between the Etihad, Co-op Live and Medlock Square itself, holding up to 600 guests per performance.
Currently set to open in late 2027, following the rest of the square’s launch window being fully rolled out, we still don’t know the name of this next addition, but the structure itself will dovetail with the surrounding buildings and areas as part of seasonal activations, live shows and sports screenings, as well as pop-ups, brand collaborations and more.
Looping back, the interactive, multimedia extravaganza that is ‘Mamma Mia! The Party’ will finally be making its Manc debut as part of the 10th anniversary of the all-singing, all-dancing and even all-dining in-demand production.
As per an official press release from the Medlock Square media team, the show will combine “live music, theatre, food and storytelling” and “offer visitors an unforgettable night out.”
The original UK production at The O2 in London has now surpassed more than 1,500 performances, with a total of 700k guests attending these shows in 110 countries across the globe. Safe to say it’s rather popular.
As for Medlock Square and the surrounding Etihad Campus, Manchester City supporters have also been given another look at the soon-to-open, immersive hotel tie-in experience.
With a skywalk, rooftop bar, a new MCFC shop and various other bits set to spill out onto Medlock Square, it all feels like a period of wholesale changes over in the blue half of the city – especially with the football club bidding farewell to their manager Pep Guardiola after more than a decade.
Following the new and improved North Stand being named after him in the first of many tributes, the City Football Group (CFG) are also set to commission a statue in his honour over the coming months.
Meanwhile, Medlock Square is also due to open later this year, although an official completion date has not been confirmed.
You can stay up to date with all the latest on Mamma Mia! The Part’s Manchester shows right HERE.
Not forgetting a brand-new women’s football facility, too, there is so much stuff going on over at the Etihad that it can be hard to keep track, but here’s the latest look at some of the rooms set to feature in the hotel of the same name.
Featured Images — Publicity pictures (CGIs via Medlock Square)
Food & Drink
Top Manchester restaurant ‘so chuffed’ after receiving glowing national review
Daisy Jackson
Top Manchester restaurant Skof has received a stunning review from a national critic, with the team saying they are ‘so chuffed’.
The acclaimed NOMA restaurant, headed up by chef Tom Barnes, has rapidly become one of Manchester’s most decorated restaurants.
Not only does it proudly display its first Michelin star – earned in less than a year after opening – but it’s also been named the coveted AA Restaurant of the Year.
And now Skof can add a rave Guardian review to the list too, with critic Grace Dent heaping praise upon the business.
She said that Skof is ‘well worth the hype’, describing it (much like its parent restaurant L’enclume) to be ‘one of those intensely relaxed yet still ferociously fancy restaurants’.
Dent praised ‘hugely scoffable’ snacks like a cheese biscuit topped with broad bean, pike roe and shiso, as well as a lightly set custard with truffle and mushroom dashi (‘a quiche filling on steroids’).
In her Guardian review, she also loved the final course always served at Skof no matter how much the menu changes with the seasons – the tiramisu served from a giant bowl, tableside.
“The final hurrah: that scoop of Tom’s dad’s tiramisu, served from a big bowl,” Grace Dent wrote.
“It’s a clunky, sentimental and, ultimately, glorious end to the meal. Many Michelin-starred restaurants bookend your visit with a gift of seeds, teabags or fancy chocolate, but at Skof they send you on your way with this tiny taste of boozy stodge that’s both incongruous with everything that went before but at the same time is also symbolic of Tom Barnes’ life and everything that went before.”
Grace Dent heaped praise on Skof in a recent Guardian reviewSkof placed 29th in the National Restaurant Awards
The amazing review also said: “Fine dining can at times be truly maddening, and leave diners hungry and hoodwinked, but Skof is proof that this often precarious blend of pacing, staging and portion size can be properly magical.”
She signed off by saying: “Skof is clever and emotional… It’s also well worth the hype, so do try to nab a table, if you can. It’s fancy, yes, but it also fills you up. This is fine dining that even a naysayer would like.”
Skof has said that it’s ‘so chuffed’ to receive the review, which landed in The Guardian on the restaurant’s second birthday.
They wrote: “Our 2nd birthday just got a quite a bit more special with an absolutely amazing review from @gracedent. We’re so chuffed with the write up. Hope the man from the traitors comes down, so we can serve him a crumpet.”
You can read Grace Dent’s full Skof review in The Guardian here.
Georgina Pellant -
26th October 2021 
