We didn’t think it could get any better, but Manchester’s favourite slab shack has outdone itself again.
Fans of Lazy Tony’s cheesy creations are now in for an even bigger threat, as it’s been revealed that it’s launched a new sides menu dedicated entirely to macaroni cheese, with four different options to choose from.
Now based for sit-down dining inside Foundation Cofee House NQ, as well as for collection at its original Radium Street home, Lazy Tony’s Lasagneria is fast becoming one of Manchester’s biggest lockdown success stories.
Credit: Lazy Tony’s / The Manc Group
Already beloved for its epic five-layer lasagnas, the team has now gone and launched a new macaroni and cheese sides menu that sees one of our favourite Italian comfort foods loaded with bacon frazzle dust, pesto, chicken fingers and more.
Lazy Tony’s mozzarella dippers have also become an iconic side in their own right, made using massive hunks of quality Italian brick mozzarella – but now you can also indulge in steaming bowls of macaroni encased in some naughty-sounding three and four-cheese blends.
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Credit: Lazy Tony’s / The Manc Group
Think classic elbow macaroni encased in a sauce combining cheddar, parmesan and gruyère, topped with frazzles dust and Italian herbs, then tell us your stomach isn’t rumbling.
Lazy Tony’s has also created a chicken version, loading the classic mac and cheese with breaded chicken fingers, spicy chilli marinara and garlic sauce; and a vegetarian-friendly pesto dish that tops the classic blend with sweet and fragrant homemade basil pesto.
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For us, though, the four-cheese blend with added DOP taleggio has to be the most indulgent mac and cheese side on the list. This iconic semi-soft Italian cheese, with its mild and unusually fruity tang, adds another layer of satisfaction to an already drool-worthy menu.
The five-layer Mancunian lasagne kitchen had Ancoats foodies queuing down a back street for months, before moving into the kitchen at Foundation on Lever Street.
Open in the Northern Quarter from Wednesday to Sunday between 5-10 pm, walk-ins are always welcome, but you can also book a table ahead of time by emailing [email protected].
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Featured Image – Lazy Tony’s / The Manc Group
Eats
The 10 best places to get your pistachio fix in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Pistachio is having a bit of a *moment* right now – if it’s not green and nutty, Manchester doesn’t want to know.
This delicious ingredient, commonplace in Italian and Middle Eastern desserts for generations, has become the dessert It Girl of the 2020s.
Moving on from baklavas and gelatos, you’ll now find pistachio infiltrating lattes, cookies, cheesecakes, chocolate bars, pancake stacks and loads more.
Whether you like yours to still come in the shape of a nut, or are happy for it to be whizzed up into that ubiquitous pistachio creme, we’ve found 10 of the best places to get your pistachio fix in Manchester.
Half Dozen Other, Oxford Road and Red Bank
Pistachio cookie at Half Dozen Other, Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Half Dozen Other comes from the team behind Pot Kettle Black, with a huge bakery site over in the Green Quarter and now a cafe on Oxford Road too.
It’s at that latter site where you’ll get one of the best pistachio desserts in Manchester – a luminous green cookie, stuffed to bursting with dark and white chocolate chips and pistachios too.
It’s proven so popular, and so delicious, it’s now part of their core bakes range.
The Half Dozen Other team dream up brand-new bakes every single week to go alongside their staple croissants, and they’re all amazing.
Black Milk, Oldham Road
The full pistachio range at Black Milk ManchesterA pistachio milkshake with pistachio cake on top at Black Milk
Oh hi there, is that you, looking for the best desserts in Manchester? You’ve come to the right place.
These guys are the OG (and best) creators of pistachio creme, sold in jars online, in store, in Co-op and in Selfridges (ooh fancy). They also make their own granola, including a pistachio and white chocolate flavour.
Black Milk has been a firm Manc favourite for years now, thanks to its outrageous cereal bowls (the bowl is chocolate), milkshakes topped with a slice of cake, cheesecakes constructed in a chocolate bowl, and giant pancake stacks.
You can get all of those with lashings of that iconic pistachio creme too – it’s a must-visit.
Sipp, Great Ancoats Street and Deansgate Square
Sipp has teamed up with Black Milk for pistachio matchas. Credit: The Manc Group
Matcha girlies, assemble! Sipp is a coffee shop that’s doing some of the best iced drinks in town.
Based in the General Stores in Ancoats and Deansgate Square – and with their own coffee shop soon to open in Chorlton – these guys don’t mess around when it comes to delicious flavoured matchas.
They’ve got one on the menu that’s made with Black Milk’s pistachio creme – a green dream – or you can order their best-seller, a refreshing coconut and raspberry concoction.
Cocoa Cabana, Cutting Room Square
Cocoa Cabana in Manchester sells the viral Dubai pistachio chocolate. Credit: The Manc Group
If you haven’t yet come across the Dubai pistachio chocolate bars, you simply aren’t spending enough time online.
These enormous bars are stuffed with pistachio sauce and knafeh, a crunchy, traditional Arabic pastry that is sort of reminiscent of when you use to make Easter nests with a Shredded Wheat in primary school.
Cocoa Cabana finishes theirs in a shimmering coat of edible gold (because why not).
This brilliant chocolate cafe also has smores platters, fondue, afternoon teas and loads more – see more about Cocoa Cabana here.
Alex’s Bakery, Deansgate
You can get pistachio tres leche cake at Alex’s BakeryPistachio French toast at Alex’s Bakery
Tucked in amongst all the brilliant local names lining the side of Deansgate and Great Northern is Alex’s Bakery, which shot to fame for its cupcakes and brownies but actually nails every dessert you can think of.
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Come for the cakes but stay for the brunches, which include pancake stacks and huge wedges of French toast generously drizzled in pistachio creme and white chocolate.
Oh god and PLEASE don’t skip out on their tres leches cakes – soft sponge cakes beloved in South America, which come in loads of flavours here. The tiramisu and pistachio ones top our list.
If you can’t make it into town, Alex’s Bakery also has a big online shop you can order from.
The Flat Baker, Ancoats
Pistachio soft serve in a croissant from Flat BakerFlat Baker is the home of the pistachio croissant
It would be remiss of me to not include the Flat Baker in any round-up of pistachio flavoured things.
This Ancoats bakery goes viral all the time for its pistachio-stuffed croissants, with steady queues at their little hatch on Radium Street and queues at the Christmas Markets that were so long they actually left the markets altogether.
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Known for blending traditional baking with Brazilian influences, here you’ll find crispy pastries baked fresh daily – and it’s the home of the pistachio croissant.
In summer, they even serve pistachio soft serve in a croissant cone.
DGHNT, Mackie Mayor
DGHNT’s pistachio tiramisu doughnut in Mackie Mayor, Manchester
The biggest and best doughnuts in town are being served in Mackie Mayor, by the legendary DGHNT.
These artisan brioche delights are baked fresh daily, with a constantly evolving cabinet full of specials.
One of the best – and thankfully most frequently-returning – is the pistachio tiramisu, where that pillowy brioche dough is stuffed with tiramisu filling before being coated in a pistachio cream glaze and candied pistachios. Yum.
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Nur Cafe, Deansgate
There’s an Arabian cafe on Deansgate that’s a nur brainer (sorry) for authentic Middle Eastern pastries and sweet treats – and yes, that means pistachio aplenty.
It can’t stop going viral online for its sweet treats, from tres leches cakes to pistachio lattes.
There’s also really, really good baklava on offer here, plus full Turkish breakfasts, French pastries, spiced Saudi coffees, and shakshuka.
Ornella’s Kitchen, Denton
The pistachio carbonara from Ornella’s Kitchen. Credit: The Manc GroupPistachio gelato in a Sicilian brioche bun. Credit: The Manc Group
Italian restaurants don’t get much more authentic (or popular) than Ornella’s Kitchen in Denton.
This tiny little restaurant and deli has you’ll find proper Italian pistachio gelato, served in a soft Sicilian brioche bun.
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And it makes its way onto the savoury menu too, in the form of a pistachio carbonara with crispy guanciale pieces that burst in little salty mouthfuls against the rich and creamy pasta sauce.
This place will have been all over your FYP page if you’ve ever expressed any interest in food.
Chai Cabin in Bolton is serving up the creamiest cheesecakes we’ve ever had (we know, bold statement), plus the viral sensation; Dubai pistachio chocolate-covered strawberry pots, with that delicious crunch from the knafeh pastry.
They also do milkshakes, waffles, tiramisu, doughnuts and more. Honestly, this is a dessert-lovers heaven.
First look as Ad Maiora opens first proper sandwich shop in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Ad Maiora, the sandwich business that started life in a Northern Quarter flat, is opening its first proper sandwich shop in town.
The beloved butty business – a firm favourite with Erling Haaland and the rest of the Man City team – has finally opened the doors to its own place for the first time.
Ad Maiora started life just a couple of years ago when owners, Sardinian couple Daniela Steri and Enrico Pinna, quit their jobs to dedicate their lives to sandwiches.
Since then, they’ve gone on to open up in Kargo Market in Salford Quays and have had half of Manchester obsessing over their authentic sandwiches.
Made with freshly-baked schiacciata – a Tuscan flatbread – and top-quality Italian ingredients, Ad Maiora is comfortably one of the city’s best sandwich spots.
Daniela and Enrico are now ready to open up in the Northern Quarter, where they’ll join the likes of Siop Shop and Butcher’s Quarter over on Tib Street.
In their cosy new location, there are cabinets packed with fresh produce, window seats overlooking the busy street outside, and stacks of that freshly-made bread ready for cutting, heating and filling.
Ad Maiora is opening its first sandwich shop in ManchesterInside Ad Maiora in Manchester
You’ll also find plenty of the shop’s biggest achievements proudly displayed, from photographs with Man City players to print-outs of news articles (including, yes, this piece by yours truly).
There’s a new meal deal in store too, where you can get one of these huge sandwiches with an Italian soft drink for £10.90, Monday to Thursday.
Ad Maiora is sticking to its tried-and-tested menu of Italian sandwiches, including Haaland’s (Parma ham, burrata, pesto, truffle oil, sundried tomatoes, pistachio and rocket), named after the Man City striker’s favourite.
From the vegan-friendly La Nonna (red tapenade, artichokes, peppers, chilli oil and rocket) to a huge array of different cheesy and meaty delights, fillings include Mortadella, fennel salami, ‘nduja, burrata, truffle sauce, pistachios and loads more.
Ad Maiora officially opens its doors on Wednesday 26 February on Tib Street in the Northern Quarter, Manchester.
Georgina Pellant -
19th October 2021 
