Manchester

Inside Gooey’s new bakery and cafe as it prepares to open in Northern Quarter

Lockdown baking sensation Gooey opens inside the old Cat Cafe this Friday with a new all-day coffee, cake and brunch offering

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant - 24th August 2022

When Gooey first arrived in Manchester in 2020, it did so in perfect step with the pandemic.

Tentatively launching the same month the country plunged into lockdown, no one knew just how much its salty-sweet treats would shape the course of our isolation.

Beginning life as a small pop-up in borrowed space, its bakers soon became Manchester’s go-to sugar dealers as the business pivoted into home delivery.

Two and a half years later, as we wander around inside Gooey’s new bakery and cafe, we can’t help but wonder how many deliveries (and kiosk collections) it took to get here.

Now, the team is trying something new, with the launch of their very own cafe, which will offer an all-day brunch menu when it opens its doors this Friday.

Light, airy, and modern, with a full kitchen and on-site bakery, Gooey’s cafe will be serving up all-day breakfast, brunch and lunch dishes made using special breads baked on site.

Housed in the former Cat cafe unit, some serious work has gone in here over the past few months, not least the installation of a proper extraction fan.

Gooey French toast, a magnificent tower of lighter-than-air eggy bread layered with vanilla creme patisserie and swimming in maple syrup. / Image: The Manc Eats
Four crispy hash browns and a classic black pepper-cured bacon sandwich on toasted Shokupan bread. / Image: The Manc Eats

On the counter, fans of Gooey’s signature melt-in-the-middle cookies and fluffy donuts can still pick up their favourites, to eat in or takeaway, or ogle a new selection of changing pastries, cakes and specials.

The biggest new addition is the new cafe menu, which caters to breakfasters, brunchers and lunchers from 9am-6pm with a range of different things on toast, in sandwiches or salads.

We cut open the Gooey French toast, a magnificent tower that’s somehow swimming in maple syrup and still lighter-than-air, only to find its insides oozing with dulce de leche and vanilla creme pat.

A Kewpie egg mayo sandwich on toasted Japanese Shokupan bread, a plump whole egg running through its middle, is a modest showstopper, as is a vegan-friendly wild mushroom toast on toasted chia brioche, smeared with a generous helping of roasted black garlic cashew cream.

A Kewpie egg mayo sandwich on toasted Japanese Shokupan bread. / Image: The Manc Eats
vegan wild mushroom toast with roasted black garlic cashew cream on toasted chia brioche. / Image: The Manc Eats

Other menu highlights to look out for this Friday include the char sui bbq glazed baby back rib sesame sub, panko-fried chicken katsu brioche, and the hefty bricks of ‘side portion’ halloumi, which come slathered in a (pleasantly spicy) chilli jam.

A full coffee menu is also available, alongside a list of fresh, cold-pressed juices in orange (carrot, ginger and orange), or green (cucumber, kale, pear and grape),

Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats

If that’s not doing it for you, you’ll also find ‘fancy schmancy’ iced strawberry, vanilla and matcha lattes, a caramelised white chocolate mocha, and cold-brewed green and white tea with added coconut, pineapple and hibiscus on the drinks menu.

As for those who like life’s simpler pleasures, rest assured you can also get a proper builder’s brew here.

Prices start from £3.20 for a Yorkshire breakfast tea and £4 for slabs of toasted brioche loaf served with a pot of seasonal jam.

At £6.90, the aforementioned Kewpie egg sandwich is a steal, As for the French toast, at £11.30 it might be the most expensive thing on the menu but if you don’t order it you are seriously missing out. You can always split it with a friend.

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

Opening this Friday, 26 August, the new, dog-friendly cafe will welcome customers from 9am to 6pm seven days a week.

Feature image – The Manc Eats

Manchester

Bar Shrimp announces opening date as Higher Ground team gear up for new project

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Bar Shrimp announces opening date as Higher Ground team gear up for new project

Bar Shrimp, a new seafood and cocktail bar in Manchester from the team behind Higher Ground, has officially got itself an opening date.

The hotly-anticipated newcomer will be serving cocktails, beers, and British seafood and snacks from its spot on New York Street.

As well as confirming an October launch date, the team have also shared a glimpse of the menu Mancs can expect from next month.

Bar Shrimp will be offering an Oyster Happy Hour every weekday, as well as caviar with house-cut crisps, devilled eggs, and Sussex smokie fritters.

Expect shellfish over ice, Cornish crab cocktail, bar snack classics and even beef burgers.

It comes from the same team behind Higher Ground and Flawd, headed up again by hospitality dream team Joseph Otway, Daniel Craig Martin and Richard Cossins.

And they’ve partnered with Stockport-based MasterSounds, to install a state-of-the-art custom-designed sound system with music director Lukas Stankunas curating the music programming on a weekly basis.

They say the venue will be a ‘dynamic space where the music and energy evolves throughout the evening’.

Team behind award-winning Higher Ground to open new seafood bar, Bar Shrimp, in Manchester
The team behind award-winning Higher Ground are opening a new seafood bar, Bar Shrimp, in Manchester

Inside, it’ll be decorated with plush-red banquettes, floor-to-ceiling drapes, and table service throughout.

Matt Pazos, Bruntwood SciTech Retail Commercial Manager, said of the announcement: “Bar Shrimp promises to be another big success for the team and we can’t wait to welcome them to Faulkner House.

“This exciting new concept, bringing together the team’s exceptional knowledge and experience of food and hospitality combined with their passion for music, will further complement the thriving community in this part of Manchester city centre.”

Walk-ins will be welcomed for drinks but reservations are encouraged for dining.

Reservations for Bar Shrimp have gone live today ahead of its official launch on Wednesday 22 October – sign up HERE.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

Manchester

The incredible plans to build floating walkways over Manchester’s waterways

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson The Cyanlines plans could see new floating walkways built over Manchester's walkways

A major project that will deliver a 100-mile-plus network connecting Manchester’s parks, squares and waterways has been unveiled – and it includes impressive floating walkways.

The first steps for the CyanLines mega project have been unveiled today, including the first four routes which will link the likes of Mayfield Park, New Islington Marina, Castlefield Viaduct and Kampus.

The ambitious plans will also link lesser-known pocket parks, canal tow paths, and pedestrianised walkways, and will incorporate new planned outdoor spaces such as the Science Museum courtyard and the former Central Retail Park.

One particularly eye-catching proposal will be a new floating walkway across the middle of the River Irwell, complete with a canoe dock and storage area.

The plans will adapt to Manchester’s ever-expanding cityscape and will link up new and existing developments, providing green walking and cycling routes around town.

Manchester and Salford City Councils have already worked together and secured funding from the National Trust, Natural England, and the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Nature Towns and Cities programme.

There are four CyanLines pilot routes – the first being a 5km ‘Irk Valley Explorer’ that will link Chethams Library and the Glade of Light memorial, Angel Meadows, the under-development City River Park, and the Barney’s Steps made famous by LS Lowry, ending with a view of the city skyline.

Then there’s the Mayfield, New Islington and Ancoats Loop, which will connect together Mayfield Park, the Ashton Canal, the Central Retail Park which is being transformed into a campus for the UK Government, New Islington Marina, Ancoats Green, and all the way down to leafy Kampus.

How the River Irwell could look with the CyanLines routes in place
How the River Irwell could look with the CyanLines routes in place
How the River Irwell looks currently
How the River Irwell looks currently

CL3, otherwise known as the ‘Walking the knowledge corridor’, incorporates significant landmarks like the Emmeline Pankhurst statue, our historic canal network, the Palace Theatre, Symphony Gardens, the universities, Manchester Museum, and Whitworth Art Gallery.

And the final of the four pilot routes is the CL4, focused around the almighty Castlefield Viaduct but also joining the Bridgewater Canal into Salford and the Irwell River Park, as well as the gardens around Chapel Street, Greengate Park, and the River Irwell itself.

Councillor Bev Craig, leader of Manchester City Council, said: “Manchester is on a mission to make our city greener, investing in new parks and green spaces including the likes of Mayfield, Ancoats Green and the Castlefield Viaduct, in addition to our work to celebrate and open up our rivers and canals. We are a city with exciting, and transformational plans for the future. .

“But there’s more that we can do together. CyanLines is a bold new initiative over the next decade to imagine and create over 100 miles of connected parks, green spaces and waterfronts.

“This is just the start of CyanLines and I urge residents, business owners, community groups and leaders to join us on this very exciting journey to truly transform our city.”

Tom Bloxham MBE CBE, CyanLines project co-founder and chair, Urban Splash and founding Chair Manchester International Festival (MIF) and Factory International said that the same ambition that grew MIF will be applied to CyanLines.

How the River Irwell could look with the CyanLines routes in place
More before-and-after images of the CyanLines pilot plans

He said: “We want to bring the whole city along with us, to help us plan, fund and deliver CyanLines. No idea is too big, too ambitious, too audacious or too small or too straightforward.

“Everyone wants more green space. Everyone wants to be able to walk to the end of Castlefield Viaduct. Everyone wants to be healthier and happier.

“Imagine more species and drifts of plants and wildflowers and allotments in the city centre and being able to walk one or 100 miles of continuous paths linking all our amazing spaces. Together we can make it happen!”

Pete Swift, CyanLines project co-founder and CEO of Planit said: “The first four CyanLines provide so much more than walkable and wheelable connections linking the existing and planned excellent green and blue spaces across the city, to bring us all closer to nature and nature closer to us.

“The routes will be the starting point, or spring board, for a whole plethora of CyanLines projects which will bring new opportunities for nature to thrive and to be enjoyed.

“The ambition for CyanLines does not stop at Manchester and Salford city centres. It will ultimately link up all Greater Manchester’s boroughs to bring our citizens and communities closer to nature and help drive a greener, healthier, and inclusive future. From Dunham Massey in the south, to Northern Roots in Oldham; from Leigh via RHS Bridgewater, Media City on to the foot of the Pennines.”

Mike Innerdale, regional director North of England, National Trust said: “National Trust are firm supporters of CyanLines, not least because its core aim mirrors our own of ensuring more people have access to nature particularly in our towns and cities, and to bring nature to people’s doorsteps wherever they live.

“We recently announced we have secured the majority of the £3 million of funding for the Castlefield Viaduct which will allow us to bring Phase 2 of this iconic sky park project to life, enabling us to create a through route at the heart of the city. We look forward to working with the CyanLines team and other partners as both our projects advance, connecting Castlefield viaduct with the other wonderful spaces in Manchester and Salford city centres.”

To find out more about CyanLines, head HERE.

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Featured image: VirtualPlanit

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