Inside Petisco, the brand new Portuguese-inspired restaurant that’s paving the way for Sale’s food revolution
Opened by four friends who've all known each other since childhood, newcomer Petisco more than holds its own against Stanley Squares more established new residents
The town’s once-sad, brutalist concrete shopping complex is being transformed into a thriving food and drink hub – tempting local residents to stay in their local area, rather than hawking off to Altrincham or into town.
Developers are welcoming in established eateries like Sugo Pasta Kitchen, Zumu Sushi and Green’s, but amongst the ranks is a surprise new entrant that sits cut and thrust alongside the rest.
Called Petisco, it’s a Portuguese-inspired restaurant that’s been opened inside a former Greenhalgh’s bakery by four friends – Johnny and Sam Nolan, Rowland Thatcher and Paul Kiely – who’ve all grown up in the area and known each other since childhood.
New potatoes, tomato with caramelised onion aioli. / Image: The Manc Eats
Grilled flat iron steak drizzled with motho cru (meaning raw sauce, similar to chimichurri). / Image: The Manc Eats
The name, loosely translated, equates to a sort of Portuguese tapas – small versions of larger plates, which you order a lot of in order to taste more dishes
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So popular is this style of eating in Portugal that petisco is also a verb, petiscar, used not just to describe eating but the general act of going out for friends for food and drinks.
Three of its four owners have their feet firmly in the corporate world, with Johnny the cheffing talent behind the menu – which borrows from the wider Iberian tradition, as well as taking heavy inspiration from Portugal itself.
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Inspired in more ways than one, nearly everything here is cooked entirely from scratch with just a few items, like the salt cod, natas and sourdough bread, bought in from local suppliers. Their fishmonger, for instance, is a literal stone’s throw away.
You’ll find the usual tapas suspects – salt cod croquettes, Padron peppers, meatballs and patatas bravas – side by side with rich tomato rice loaded with slow-roasted green heritage tomatoes, saffron-poached octopus salad, short rib pica pau, and battered fried runner beans drenched in peri-peri salsa (a surprise hero dish).
Batterd fried runner beans with peri-peri salsa, aioli. / Image: The Manc Eats
Tomato rice, slow roasted green tomato, tomato crisp, salsa verdi. / Image; The Manc Eats
Clams, whiter wine, parsley garlic oil, coriander bubbles at Petisco. / Image: The Manc Eats
Seafood includes shell-on green peri-peri prawns and big bowls of clams with white wine, parsley and garlic oil covered in coriander bubbles, served with a healthy portion of thick sourdough bread to mop up all the delicious juices.
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Wines, meanwhile. are mostly imported from Portugal, with a few exceptions – one Spanish cava, a French rose and a handful of English sparkling wines also make the list.
As for beers, there are only two taps on, supplied by local brewery BlackJack, and a handful of Mediterranean spirits beind the bar.
All four owners have a clear passion for good food and wine, and have spent many years holidaying together around the regions that have inspired Petisco – but it’s Johnny who brings the hospitality experience, having worked in kitchens since he left school at sixteen.
His friends, we hear, have spoken for years about opening something to show off his talents – and at last that moment has come.
A Portuguese voureiro vinho verde, beautifully crisp with high acidity. / Image: The Manc Eats A Brazilian-inspired chicken and broad bean cosinha, chilli verdi. / Image: The Manc Eats
From washing pots at Manchester City, he’s worked his way up to the very top of the trade, spending his career (up until now, at least) cheffing for high-end corporate hospitality catering to the most exclusive director’s boxes.
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At Manchester City for fourteen years, then at United for nine, he went on to chef at Aintree racecourse before being flown out to work at the Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi.
Now back in Manchester and living just around the corner from the restaurant, it doesn’t sound like he actually sleeps – so committed are some of his processes.
We hear how one standout dish, a stunning combination of earthy artichoke puree, pork belly, pork cheek and pork ‘quaver’, takes him nearly three days to make (and still we get the feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg).
Inside Petisco, designed by Joanne Thatcher of Northern Styling MCR. Image: The Manc Eats
For the pork quaver alone, pigskin is poached for 24 hours in a water bath, dehydrated for the same amount of time, then the fat cleaned up before it’s deep-fried to sit jauntily atop a pile of glistening, beautifully tender meat that falls apart under your fork.
All four have poured their heart and soul into the new opening, which they essentially built themselves from scratch, right down to the table we’re sat on.
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Rowland tells us it was ‘a lot of long hours, [coming from my] full-time job, and then straight to the unit in the evenings to do the graft on building it and getting it ready for opening.”
With a little help from sister-in-law Joanne Thatcher, who put together the design of space for them, it’s been a real family affair from start to finish – and the passion shows in everything they do.
Image; The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Marrying Mancunian industrial elements like exposed brick and copper detailing with blue and white ikat tiling, black and white photos of famous parts of Portgual and exposed filament bulbs hanging from the ceiling, just like the menu itself there’s a real mix of Mancunian and Mediterranean influences.
Open for just over a week now, unless you come at bang-on 4pm when they open Petisco is already nearly booked up until March – a testament to how great the concept is.
The old dears of Sale may not have been chuffed to lose their Greenhalgh’s at first (we hear there was a bit of grumbling on the community Facebook groups), but it seems they’re already coming around. As well they should.
To find out more about Petisco and book, visit the website here. The restaurant’s menus change weekly depending on produce.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
Food & Drink
Indie food and drink festival to return to popular Greater Manchester town for second year
Emily Sergeant
A food and drink festival shining a spotlight on independent businesses is returning to Greater Manchester this summer.
Following the success of last year’s tasty debut, Urmston’s very-own independent food and drink festival, YUM! – Your Urmston Matters, is back for its second serving later this month, and will once again be transforming the Trafford town’s M41 site on Railway Road into a buzzing hub of ‘flavour, fun, and local pride’.
Organised by Love Urmston and hosted by Urmston resident and food and drink presenter, Matty White, this community celebration will bring together top local street food vendors, artisan producers, and drink retailers, alongside live cooking demos, family activities, and loads of entertainment.
Now in its second year, YUM! continues to shine a spotlight on Urmston’s indie food scene and the passion of the people behind it, but as well as local residents, it also invites the rest of Trafford and the wider Greater Manchester community to come together.
So whether you just live down the road, or you are discovering the town for the first time, everyone is welcome to pop down.
“Bringing YUM! back for a second year is incredibly exciting,” commented Fred Davids, who is the Chair of the Love Urmston committee.
“It’s a brilliant way to celebrate what makes Urmston special – its community, and fantastic food and drink scene, welcoming people from near and far to experience the town at its best.
“And as a committee, we’re proud to support our incredible local independent businesses who put their heart and soul into everything they do.”
YUM! is returning to Urmston for another delicious festival this month / Credit: Emma Boyle (via Supplied)
Just some of the independent businesses you’ll find at the festival throughout the day include English Rose Bakery, Inforno Pizzeria, Dan’s Cookies, Banga Curries, JJ’s Caribbean Kitchen, The Greek Village, Pomona Island Brewery, Kelder Wines, and so many more.
The festival is also proudly sponsored by Gecko Homes – a north west property developer that specialises in creating affordable and shared ownership homes across many of Manchester’s most popular suburbs.
You can read more about what Gecko Homes is doing across the region here.
YUM! – Your Urmston Matters is back this month on Saturday 21 June, and will be getting underway from 11am through to 5pm.
Featured Image – Emma Boyle (via Supplied)
Food & Drink
The Stables – A brand-new Manchester pub on the site of the Rovers Return
Daisy Jackson
A brand-new pub is set to open in Manchester city centre net month, with treats in store like complimentary bowls of crisps, an outdoor terrace, and a games parlour.
The Stables Tavern is taking shape in the St John’s district, poetically on the same site that was once home to Coronation Street’s iconic Rovers Return pub.
They’re promising this will be a ‘historic tavern reimagined for today’s lover of a proper pint’.
The pub will come from Shiko Group, which is also behind Courts Club, where you can play tennis or basketball followed by court-side pints, and Side Street, a bar-restaurant-events space with a mid-Century interior.
Neighbouring the Bonded Warehouse, The Stables Tavern will join this rapidly blossoming new creative district, just across the yard from Caravan, The Trading Route and Aviva Studios.
Inside, punters will find multiple beer taps with local beers, served with complimentary bowls of crisps as well as a menu of pub snacks like handmade sausage rolls and local pies.
The pub will be split into three sections – an outside terrace, a main bar, and a parlour area at the back of the pub for live entertainment, old school games, and rounds of whiskey.
The Stables pub in Manchester
The Stables pub in ManchesterThe Stables pub in ManchesterThe Stables pub in ManchesterThe Stables pub in ManchesterThe Stables pub in Manchester
This might be a new district but it’s a historic area for the city – the same building was a busy watering hole back in the early 19th century for workers, merchants and visitors who made use of the nearby canals and cobbled streets.
It was then the home of the Rovers Return, back when this area was the home of Granada Studios.
Hayley Sammé, Marketing Director, said: “We’re so excited to bring The Stables Tavern back to St John’s. The area’s extensive historical backdrop and burgeoning hospitality scene provides the perfect landscape for a traditional British pub.
“It’s the perfect addition to the existing scene, and we hope it’s going to become a popular spot in our new creative district.”
The Stables Tavern will open at St John’s on Friday 6 June – you can sign up for one of 1,000 free pints HERE.