Cheshire

Inside Piccolino Grande, the £2m Wilmslow eatery set to transport you straight to the streets of Tuscany

Clementine Hall Clementine Hall - 1st December 2023

The highly anticipated new Piccolino Grande opened its doors this week, showcasing the very best of Italian hospitality.

The Piccolino brand is well-known for its decadent food, opulent interiors and outstanding service, and their newest venture in Wilmslow is no exception.

Following a £2m transformation, Piccolino Grande on Swan Street is a real feast for all the senses.

Elegant marble and brass interiors, a show stopping traditional copper clad pizza oven taking centre stage and a beautiful Winterised Tuscan terrace complete with terracotta flooring – this is Piccolino’s most stylish dining experience to date.

Inside the new Piccolino Grande in Wilmslow
Image: Supplied

And it doesn’t stop at the interiors, guests at Piccolino Grande in Wilmslow can dine on an exclusive menu created especially for the restaurant.

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We were lucky enough to sample dishes from their bespoke menu, and it certainly did not disappoint.

From wafer thin Carpaccio Di Salmon topped with a zingy apple salsa to perfectly pink Bistecca Alla Fiorentina (steak to you and I), this is fresh Italian cooking at its finest.

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Food at Piccolino Grande in Wilmslow
Food at Piccolino Grande in Wilmslow
Food at Piccolino Grande in Wilmslow. Image: The Manc Eats

A standout dish was the Tortellini Di Manzo, an indulgent slow cooked beef shin filled pasta, tossed in savoury sage butter and topped with lashings of parmesan of course.

Paired with a glass of Italian red wine from their specialist wine cabinet, this truly was a match made in heaven.

But what sets this restaurant apart from the rest is the proper Italian hospitality, from the minute you walk through the door to the moment your last glass of wine is poured you’ll be treated to faultless service.

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So if you fancy escaping the city centre for an evening to experience the Italian way of dining, then Piccolino Grande is the place for you.

Whether it be to enjoy a cocktail at their elegant bar or to enjoy a meal with friends, you can rest assured you will be welcomed with open arms. To find out more and to book your table, take a look at Piccolino’s website.

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Featured image – Supplied

Cheshire

Neighbourhood Weekender returns after hiatus with incredible first wave lineup for 2025

Danny Jones Danny Jones Neighbourhood Weekender back with 2025 lineup

After a year out to help fine-tweak what is already one of the best festivals in the North West, Neighbourhood Weekender returns for 2025 with a simply incredible first-wave lineup.

The Warrington-based music festival spread across two fantastic days and jam-packed with some of the best talent from all over the UK is officially back after its short hiatus and buzzing is an understatement.

Neighbourhood will no doubt be a familiar name to many of you who have attended the city centre day festival that first started back in 2016, but the full weekender which began a couple of years later has become a giant in its own right, welcoming some huge acts to the stage in the past.

Spoiler alert: there are some pretty bloody big ones this year too.

Credit: Tom Martin (supplied)

With the likes of Pulp, James, Shed Seven, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Blossoms, Sam Fender, Lewis Capaldi, Inhaler and countless other big names having come through taken the NBHD rite of passage in previous editions, it’s fair to say the lineup also sees both established and up-and-coming names.

Another thing it can take as a compliment is that many of these bands are artists keeping coming back every year or two – in fact, there are a fair few returning customers in 2025 and we’re sure that same goes for the crowd too.

Boasting a daily capacity of around 25,000, make no mistake, this thing is massive and if you’ve never been before, we can’t think of a better time than next summer for their comeback festival now that we’ve seen who’ll be playing.

NBHD Weekender 2025 will not only see headline performances from Manc rock and indie legends, James, as well as fellow veterans and the veritable pride of Wales, Stereophonics, but other huge names include The Wombats, Inhaler, The Lathums, Dizzee Rascal, Ocean Colour Scene and SO many more.

Drum roll, please…

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The names we’re excited to see a virtually endless and this is just the first wave, mind you.

We’re especially excited to see the likes of Wunderhorse, CMAT, overpass, Sigrid, as well as returning favourites The Lathums, The Reytons, The Snuts, The Lottery Winners, The K’s and we simply must stop there otherwise we’ll just end up listing the whole lineup.

Set to take place on the bank holiday weekend of 24-25 May, tickets for Neighbourhood Weekender go live at 9:30am on Friday, 22 November via www.gigsandtours.com, Ticketmaster and the NBHD website.

Residents in postcodes WA1 – WA5 will have access to a local presale, which also opens from 9:30am on Wednesday, 20 November.

See you at the park!

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Press Images (supplied)

Cheshire

Chester Zoo opens new ‘cutting-edge’ science centre to help fight global extinction crisis

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Chester Zoo has opened a new science centre which is set to play a “significant role” in the conservation of the world’s most-threatened species.

The new cutting-edge facility, formally named the International Centre for Zoo Science, will enable researchers to study some of species most at-threat across the globe, as well as support conservationists and scientists to fight the ongoing global extinction crisis.

The specialised centre is equipped with state-of-the-art technology to assess the health of plants and animals, Chester Zoo has revealed.

Inside is a demonstration lab to help train future conservationists, as well as a special cryo-conservation unit where genetics from endangered species will be preserved in liquid nitrogen at -196°C, and the new facility also houses Europe’s largest dedicated wildlife endocrinology lab, giving scientists the chance to study and track hormone levels in animals to further understand their reproductive biology.

Chester Zoo has opened a new ‘cutting-edge’ science centre to help fight the global extinction crisis / Credit: Chester Zoo

In case you didn’t know, Chester Zoo is already at the forefront of vital research to protect a wide range of different species from extinction, with it being home to 37,000 animals from more than 500 species – but this new centre will take things one step further.

Scientists at the UK’s biggest charity zoo say the new centre – which is triple the size of the zoo’s previous lab facilities – will enable them to attempt to “unlock the secrets” of different species which have, so far, remained “unstudied” and a therefore a “mystery to science”.

It will also help the zoo significantly expand its scientific capacity, and boost its conservation training programme.

“Our new International Centre for Zoo Science will help us to play an even more significant role in the conservation of some of the world’s most endangered species,” explained Dr Sue Walker, who is the Head of Science at Chester Zoo.

“At a time when species face extinction on an unimaginable scale, we’re already making a substantial contribution to the task of preventing extinction and restoring biodiversity… and now our new science centre will enable us to grow our research, not only in wildlife reproduction, but also in terms of innovating within our other areas of expertise.”

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Dr Walker added that this will also be the first time the Zoo is able to accommodate training courses for visiting researchers from all over the world.

Featured Image – Chester Zoo

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