Two very special Manchester banquets will take place next month at Manchester’s Italian food festival Festa Italiana.
Running from 27-29 August, the free-to-attend festival will bring a host of street food traders and fine Italian produce, as well as a brand new movie screen showing Italian film classics to Manchester’s Cathedral Gardens.
It’s now been revealed the festival will also welcome some of the UK’s top Italian TV chefs to host two ultra-indulgent, ticketed dining events designed to showcase the very best of Italian cooking.
This year’s Festa will incorporate a brand new movie screen showing Italian film classics / Image: Festa Italiana
Taking place on 28 and 29 August, three top Italian TV chefs will be coming down across two evenings to prepare and serve three courses of authentic Italian cuisine from the Festa’s open dining space.
The first banquet, which kicks off at 7.30pm on the Saturday, will be hosted by Gennaro Contaldo (of Saturday Kitchen, Two Greedy Italians, Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast fame) and Giancarlo Caldesi (Return to Tuscany, Saturday Kitchen, Sunday Brunch).
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These legendary Italian chefs and authors will join Salvi’s owner and festival founder Maurizio Cecco in the kitchen for an evening of live cooking and feasting, talking their guests through the evening’s menu and answering questions as they go.
Gennaro Contaldo, of Saturday Kitchen, Two Greedy Italians, Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast fame, will be cooking at one of the dinners alongside Giancarlo Caldesi / Image: Festa Italiana
On the following evening (Sunday 29 August) Maurizio will be joined by another Italian foodie icon – San Carlo’s executive chef Aldo Zilli.
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An award-winning restaurateur in his own right, Zilli has appeared on numerous UK TV shows such as The One Show, This Morning and Celebrity Masterchef – not to mention having created some absolute star dishes for glitzy Italian restaurant favourite San Carlo in recent years.
The view from the banqueting area at the last Festa Italiana / Image: Festa Italiana
On both nights the renowned chefs will prepare and serve three courses of authentic Italian cuisine for their guests from inside the Festa’s open dining space.
Menus are being kept strictly under wraps for now, but we are expecting big things from these top-class foodies.
Tickets are on sale now for £65 which includes a welcome drink on arrival. We don’t expect they’ll be around for long, given the star-studded line-up that Festa has pulled in this year.
If you want to get your hands on one, you can do so here.
Food & Drink
Drake-backed Dave’s Hot Chicken is opening in the Trafford Centre
Daisy Jackson
The cult LA-born fried chicken brand backed by Drake is expanding in Manchester once again, this time with a brand-new site at the Trafford Centre.
Dave’s Hot Chicken is set to open its latest location inside the huge shopping centre, bringing its signature Nashville-style heat to The Orient food hall.
Already causing a stir with its first Manchester site at the Printworks, the fast-growing US chain has built a reputation for long queues and a chicken spice level so extreme you have to sign a waiver to eat it (The Reaper is not for the faint of heart).
And now hoardings have appeared at the bottom of The Orient at The Trafford Centre, joining Five Guys, Shake Shack, and Slim Chickens.
The new Trafford Centre restaurant is expected to follow the same winning formula, serving up its famous hot chicken tenders and sliders, available in seven spice levels and served on a slice of bread to soak up all the spice levels.
Fans can also expect a menu packed with loaded fries, creamy mac and cheese, kale slaw, and indulgent top-loaded shakes, alongside refreshing slushers to cool things down after the heat kicks in.
Born in a Los Angeles car park back in 2017, Dave’s Hot Chicken has exploded in popularity in recent years, with Drake becoming a high-profile investor as the brand rapidly expanded across the US and into the UK.
The Trafford Centre opening marks another major step in the brand’s UK growth, following successful launches in London, Birmingham, and Manchester city centre, and signals that the fried chicken heavyweight is only just getting started.
If the scenes at previous openings are anything to go by, Mancunians can expect queues, hype, and plenty of spice when the doors finally open.
Popular Manchester brunch spot Bruncho teases what’s to come with new Northern Quarter cafe
Daisy Jackson
Bruncho has shared a glimpse of what’s to come when it officially opens the doors to its new Northern Quarter cafe.
The brunch spot has had queues down the street since launching on Deansgate, with enough popularity to warrant it opening a second location.
Bruncho is moving into the old Feel Good Club, a huge unit in Hilton House that’s been left empty since the cafe’s shock closure.
And as the clock ticks down to Bruncho’s launch into the Northern Quarter, they’ve shared an exclusive look inside at their very big plans.
The team have now confirmed that the new venue will have a salad bar and vegetarian buffet, as well as coffee raves with DJs at select hours.
New CGIs of the space also show a drastic change from the site’s days as Feel Good Club, filling the giant cafe with wooden tables, hanging pendant lights, plants, and soft textures.
Bruncho is known for its brunch dishes that have a real knack for going viral on social media, including New York-style breakfast rolls in croissant bread; fresh coconut water and matcha served in the coconut; and its absolutely stacked French toasts.
A glimpse inside Bruncho Northern QuarterBruncho will have a vegetarian buffet when it opens in the Northern QuarterHow Bruncho Northern Quarter will look
It’s consistently packed out at its original location on Deansgate, and now it’s taking over a 4,378 sq ft unit in the Northern Quarter too, set to open this June.
Omer Umut Mutlu, owner of Bruncho, said: “Manchester has shown Bruncho so much love, and expanding into the Northern Quarter feels like the natural next step for us.
“Hilton House gives us the space to elevate what we do – more covers, more events, and a new home for the kind of food and atmosphere people will make the journey for.
“We’re excited to bring something fresh to the neighbourhood, with the opening scheduled for June 2026.”
Georgina Pellant -
30th July 2021 
