Since closing its doors at Hatch last year, Manchester’s tiniest tapas bar has been almost constantly on the move.
Chef-owner Ana has busied herself hosting kitchen pop-ups in Stretford and Sale Food Halls and at The Chorlton Green, but now she’s found a new home in the Northern Quarter whilst she keeps working on her own bar in Chorlton.
As of Thursday, 11 August, the scientist-turned-chef will officially take over the kitchen at Alvarium from Lazy Tony’s Lasagneria with her Abeja concept.
Ana is known for serving inventive and unusual southern Spanish dishes like “berenjenas fritas” (aubergine fries with molasses), which we can confirm will be making a return to the menu alongside other recipes passed down to her through generations.
Abeja has found a new home. Credit: The Manc Group
You’ll also find painstakingly-sourced plates of charcuterie and cheese and tapas staples like Spanish tortilla and patatas bravas, the latter of which is available three ways as part of a £9 lunch deal between the hours of 12 and 4pm.
Elsewhere on the menu are a range of sourdough tostas made using Holy Grain bread, Iberico pork tenderloin pinchos, fat shell-on prawns and homemade croquetas, with sweets like chocolate churros and a Spanish almond torta to finish.
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Food and drinks at Abeja in the Northern Quarter. Credit: The Manc Group
When the team announced plans to close their Hatch site in January this year, they wrote on social media that it had been ‘an incredible journey […] despite opening a few months before Covid’.
Having begun the business with zero experience in the hospitality industry (Villegas left a twenty-year career as a research scientist to open Abeja), it was with heavy hearts that they decided it was time to move on from Hatch.
However things are definitely on the up for the kitchen, with Ana confirming that they are going to be busy working away at a new permanent site whilst running the Alvarium kitchen.
She told The Manc: “While we keep working on our own bar in Chorlton, we are really excited about this new venture in the Northern Quarter.
“It’s a great opportunity to work alongside Alvarium and want to make our home here for the long haul. Even the name it’s the perfect match for Abeja, as it stands for Beehive in Latin.”
Abeja is open at Alvarium from X to X between the hours of X. Find them in the Northern Quarter just off Tib Street.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
Manchester
A Manchester barbershop is offering a ‘pay what you can’ service this month
Danny Jones
Amidst the tidal wave of January deals on food and drink in Manchester, a local barbers is championing their own ‘pay what you can’ offer to help people along this month.
Jefe’s Barbershop, located in the heart of Manchester’s Northern Quarter, is one of the best barbers in the city centre, offering a wide variety of cuts and facial hair grooming services – they even offer a subscription service that helps people save money on regular trims.
That being said, they are well aware of those January blues and the mounting obstacles and anxieties that come with weeks of penny-pinching to make it to month’s end, as well as the general toll it can take on people’s mental health.
So this January, Jefe and his team are doing something different – as he puts it, “something special”: the barbershop is allowing customers to simply pay what they feel comfortable handing over and, in the case of those struggling, whatever they can afford.
It’s a simple gesture with a big purpose which helps ensure no one has to miss out on a feel-good moment or the confidence that comes from a fresh trim.
“All we do is laugh and joke about life—that’s why people come here,” Jefe explains. “I don’t want anyone to lose the chance to be present, to feel good, and to laugh with us.
“Men often need more help than they’re willing to let on and we want to be a helping hand they can rely on.” Now that’s a cause all of us can and should get behind.
Community support has remained at the core of Jefe’s Barbershop since the beginning when he swapped a basketball career for providing a much-needed service to Mancunian men.
From partnering with Manc sandwich shops and offering free haircuts for the homeless, to hosting street parties with local events companies and providing £5 trims to promote men’s mental health in 2023 when the cost of living crisis really kicked in – Jefe’s is always trying to make a difference in the area.
You’ve got to love businesses that go the extra mile.
If you want to make the most of this wholesome deal or just feel like you’re in need of a trim, you can book HERE or call them directly on 0161 818 7659.
The ‘pay what you can’ offer runs Monday to Thursday, 9am-7pm, subject to availability. You’ll find Jefe’s Barbershop on Stevenson Square
Because as the man himself puts it, “Everyone deserves to feel their best”.
The Salmon of Knowledge pub is opening a second site in Didsbury
Danny Jones
A recent addition to the Manchester hospitality scene is building on its early success and opening up another Irish bar over in Didsbury.
Northern Quarter’s Salmon of Knowledge, which launched back in September 2024, is one of countless Irish pubs across Greater Manchester but only a handful in the vibrant district.
Having taken over the much-loved old PLY site – which sadly closed its doors last summer – they had a job on their hands to reach the same heights as the legendary late-night pizza and shuffleboard joint, but these first few months have clearly gone well enough to expand.
The increasingly popular watering hole which is one of the few places around here where you can get Murphy’s (at least in the city centre) is much more than just an Irish-themed venue: it delivers regular live music, sports on the box and great food from local brand, The Last Stop – and Didsbury is up next.
Irish favourite The Salmon of Knowledge’s sister bar comes to Didsbury later this year. (Credit: The Manc Eats)
The caption goes on to read: “Big news, Didsbury. You called and we answered. The Salmon of Knowledge is swimming upstream to bring our second site to YOU very soon!
“By popular demand, we are expanding to the suburbs, so get ready for live music, great food, live sports, and gallons of Guinness. You heard it here first… stay tuned!”
As well as a wide variety of beverages beyond the obviously stunning stouts, fans will be glad to hear the Salmon will be bringing The Last Stop’s talents with them.
From the aesthetic, prices and drinks selection to the reliable New York influences on the Heaton Chapel-based vendor’s menu, we’ve been pretty big fans of this place since minute one.
Manchester, pay attention: The Salmon of Knowledge has some wisdom to bestow upon you — mainly how to pour a proper Guinness and have a grand auld time. 🇮🇪☘️
Although they are yet to give any more information as to when we can expect The Salmon of Knowledge Didsbury to open at present, we do have an indication of where it will be popping up.
It has now been confirmed that they will be taking over the former Dockyard pub (which still has locations in Salford Quays and Spinningfields), meaning that it will sit in the heart of the busy Didsbury Village strip, which should prove great for footfall.
Just like the Stevenson Square spot, live music and sports will accompany Didsbury’s new Irish bar as well and if the phrase ‘gallons of Guinness’ doesn’t get you excited, we don’t know what will.
Georgina Pellant -
10th August 2022 
