Cibo Manchester is set to open its doors this weekend as bosses prepare to launch the popular Liverpool road restaurant’s second site inside the Great Northern Warehouse.
Taking over the former Home Sweet Home unit, the swanky new Italian independent eatery is all yellow-gold and burnished copper with exposed industrial details and a cluster of filament bulbs making a statement above the impressive bar area as you enter.
When it opens on Friday, diners can expect a brand new cocktail menu, late weekend opening hours stretching to 2am, and flaming parmesan cheese wheels in which pasta is swirled whilst you watch to create the ultimate indulgent cheesy dish.
Image: The Manc Group Image: The Manc Group
Regulars of Cibo in Castlefield can expect to see the same yellow-gold seating and plush booths, dark wood, and white herringbone details here that make the existing Liverpool road site so sleek – but this time on a much grander scale.
Split across four different levels, there’s a huge bar as you enter, boasting a brand new cocktail menu with flaming drinks to match the flaming parmesan cheese wheels for which the group has already become quite famous.
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Elsewhere, you’ll find Italian classics like the bellini and negroni sbagliato – a lighter, low ABV alternative to the classic negroni that replaces gin with prosecco.
Seating is tiered, with plump comfy booths lining the wall on the top mezzanine level giving views across both Great Northern Square and the glitzy interior of the restaurant below.
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Image: The Manc Group Image: The Manc Group
Food-wise, all a la carte dishes remain the same here as in Castlefield – meaning diners can enjoy the authentic Italian pizza and pasta favourites they have come to know and love, alongside traditional mains and sides.
What’s more, further quarterly menu additions in the form of specials promise to introduce something that is just “as big and as exciting” as the epic flaming cheese wheel every few months here.
Owners have invested over £600,000 into the snazzy new restaurant, which opens inside the Great Northern Warehouse this Friday 14 January.
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Already nearly fully booked for its opening weekend, it’s easy to see why so many Mancs – already enamored with the existing Cibo – are flocking to making a booking at the new site.
Image: The Manc Group Image: The Manc Group
Alongside the regular a la carte menu, which is 50% off Sunday – Thursday throughout the month of January, diners can also opt for more savings at certain times of day by choosing set menus like the lunch menu (1 course £7 or 2 courses £12) or the pre-theatre menu (2 courses £14.95 or 3 courses £19.95).
The pre-theatre menu, available between 5-7pm every day, features pizza and pasta favourites, including the house-made lobster ravioli, as well as a selection of side dishes ranging from salads and ‘mama’s mashed potatoes’ to spicy wild spinach and courgette fries.
The set lunch, meanwhile, is available in the week from 12-2pm and on weekends from 12-3pm, includes choices such as a whole burrata topped with cherries and balsamic glaze, wild mushroom risotto, and homemade ravioli stuff with either lobster or spinach depending on your preference.
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Bosses have also introduced a new three course Italian bottomless brunch service at the restaurant on Saturdays, with endless mimosas and prosecco making an appearance alongside Italian breakfast twists on mid-morning classics.
Open from 12pm-11pm Monday to Thursday, and 12pm-2am over the weekend, Cibo Manchester opens its doors to the public this Friday 14 January. To find out more and book, visit its website here.
Grammy-winning disco legend Purple Disco Machine is heading to Manchester for a huge gig
Daisy Jackson
Legendary German nu-disco and house producer Purple Disco Machine has a huge Manchester gig on the horizon, hot off the back of the release of his Paradise album.
The Grammy Award-winning artist’s latest release is packed with collaborations from some of the biggest names in music, including Nile Rodgers, Metronomy, Jake Shears, Duke Dumont, Sophie and the Giants, Nothing But Thieves and more.
And now he’s bringing his unforgettable disco vibes to a dance floor on our home turf, with a massive gig lined up at O2 Victoria Warehouse.
Set to take place on Friday 7 March, Purple Disco Machine will promise an incredible night of sizzling dance and house music, with support from Dan Shake, Oden & Fatzo Live!, and Urbi.
His irresistible sound includes hits like Hypnotised, Dished (Male Stripper) and, never one to miss a trend, an addictive remix of I’m Just Ken from the Barbie soundtrack.
His other remixes have included tracks for Dua Lipa, Sir Elton John, Mark Ronson, Calvin Harris, Fatboy Slim and Britney Spears.
And of course there’s that Grammy win for his remix of Lizzo’s About Damn Time.
On Paradise, he’s released tonnes more addictive disco beats, notably Substitution with Julian Perretta, and Honey Boy with Nile Rodgers.
And live, Purple Disco Machine has cut his teeth on the British festival circuit, including recently joining Fisher at his headline Gunnersbury Park show in London.
Now a multi-platinum-selling artist, with more than two billion streams worldwide, the Paradise tour is set to take Manchester by storm.
Purple Disco Machine will be at the O2 Victoria Warehouse in Manchester on Friday 7 March – you can get tickets HERE.
The incredible plans to turn an Ancoats garage into affordable market place for small businesses
Daisy Jackson
Plans have been submitted to turn a decades-old garage in the heart of Ancoats into a thriving market place, prioritising affordable retail space for small businesses.
If it all goes ahead, Blossom Market will be a beacon of local retail, with eight units that can home everything from bakeries to greengrocers to art spaces to bars.
The plans have been put forward by Blossom Motor Co, which has occupied the site on Gun Street for generations but is now ‘hanging up its spanners’.
After 80 years serving Ancoats, current owners (and brothers) Sean and Paul are heading to retirement and want to support this bustling neighbourhood in a completely new way.
This is a proposal with its heart in exactly the right place.
As Manchester city centre continues to grow outwards and upwards, the team proposing Blossom Market feel that rising rents are pushing local businesses out.
This is especially true in newly redeveloped neighbourhoods like Ancoats, where luxury apartments and large food halls are commonplace.
Blossom Motor Co is ‘hanging up its spanners’ and planning a new life as Blossom MarketBlossom Motor Co could be turned into Blossom Market. Credit: Instagram, @aterliermbarchitects
Blossom Market’s aspiration is to protect the area’s independent spirit, keeping the business within the family whilst continuing to serve the local community by offering flexible, affordable spaces for emerging businesses.
Inspired by similar businesses like Brixton Village in London, Box Park, and Queens Arcade in Leeds, the plan will be to develop something ‘the community truly needs’.
Blossom Motor Co has now lodged planning permission to turn their beloved garage into this retail market, hoping to provide a space for ‘young local businesses to grow and thrive’.
The garage itself has been in the same family since 1948, with fathers and sons working alongside each other every since. Sean and Paul have been running the business since 1994.
If planning permission is granted, the 4,036 sq m space will be totally rebuilt internally to create a mixed-use market space filled with different local businesses.
How Blossom Market could look. Credit: Supplied
Blossom Market says: “More recently it has been a challenge for fledging businesses to develop a physical presence due to rising city centre costs.
“Often resorting to weekend markets and pop up events we aim to create a more permanent platform to enable small business to grow whilst providing local residents a hub of high quality produce, products and experiences.
“Open seven days a week and with a mixture of small to medium sized units with flexible leasing terms, it will provide the perfect space for businesses looking for their first physical space.
“Our goal is to create a desirable destination that local residents want to visit regularly and small businesses want to be a part of – building a beacon of commerce in one of Manchesters most exciting central locations.”
The Manc -
13th January 2022 
