Stockport’s music-themed pie shop is moving into Manchester
The existing Stockport site will become fully dedicated to Notion, whilst Come Together will introduce a new all-day breakfast menu and Sunday roast list
Stockport lockdown favourite Ate Days A Week has announced plans to move its award-winning handmade pies and Wigan kebabs to Manchester this spring.
Known for its top tier pies, fresh fish and chips and gourmet sandwiches (not to mention its infamous Wigan kebabs), the music-themed eatery has made quite a name for itself with dishes like Don’t Look Back In Banger and (I Just) Died In Your Barm since launching in 2020.
It’s been a meteoric rise for the brand, which quickly went from being takeaway only to opening a bricks and mortar site in a former chippy on Vernon Street in Stockport.
Image: Ate Days A Week
Now, chef-owner Andy James is moving again, this time into the city centre, having secured a site just off Albert Square to open Ate Days A Week under a new name, Come Together, continuing the Manchester music theme.
As part of the move, he’ll be expanding his menu to include all-day breakfast options and Sunday roasts on the weekend – as well as delivering the dishes for which Ate Days is already known and loved.
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That means the likely return of its three cheese and bone marrow burger sandwich, Live Forcheddar, and perhaps even 2021 British Pie Award winner Pie of the Tiger.
Ate Days A Week’s breakfast pie Bake me up before you Go-Go, stuffed with Olde English sausages, bacon beans, mature cheddar cheese and a homemade hash brown inside shortcrust and puff pastries. / Image: Ate Days A Week
Sharing the news to social media this week, Andy warned followers they were facing their last chance to get pies at the Stockport site. He said: “I think now is the right time to tell you that today is your last chance to get our incredible Award-Winning pies from our Stockport site so, we will be running limited numbers on the menu items today and we will not be on UberEats.”
Explaining that the Stockport site will ‘fully become Notion’, he added, “this wasn’t an easy decision to make but the way the last year has panned out it just makes sense”.
Stating that he wanted to “move Ate Days A Week to a site that allows us to continue to push on with what we do, get bigger and better and fully flourish” he acknowledged that “location will play a vital part” whilst hinting that followers should head over to @cometogethermcr to find out more.
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Image: Ate Days A Week
Ate Days A Week already sells an amazing breakfast pie (Bake Me Up Before You Go Go), which comes stuffed with Olde English sausages, bacon beans, mature cheddar cheese and a homemade hash brown inside shortcrust and puff pastries.
Image: Ate Days A Week
Now, though, chef Andy is looking to build on that with the creation of a new all-day breakfast menu in Manchester at Come Together.
Glimpses teased out on Instagram already have us very excited, showing an epic-looking fry up laden with all the essentials: fried egg, crispy bacon, fat sausages, beans, tomatoes, black pudding and homemade hash browns.
We can’t wait to see what else he comes up with. To keep up to date with further developments ahead of the spring 2022 opening, make sure to follow @cometogethermcr on Instagram.
The new BBQ restaurant beneath a Manchester railway arch where meat is cooked very, VERY slowly
Daisy Jackson
There’s a new BBQ spot beneath a railway arch in Manchester, and it’s cooking its meat very, very slowly.
Sandy’s Smokeshed has just opened in Castlefield, where Sam – and his smoker, Angela – are serving up serious Texas-style BBQ, with queues already stretching out the door.
The idea is simple: take great cuts of meat, cover them generously in seasoning, put them in the smoker and give them all the time they need.
That means beef shin smoked over oak and cherry for 10 hours, eight-hour smoked beef chuck and the Boston Butt, alongside brisket, short ribs, chicken and plenty more.
Sam has always been a fan of BBQ, but decided to take things rather more seriously when he bought the enormous smoker now sitting underneath the arch. It’s a serious piece of kit, cooking the meat from all directions and producing the kind of results where everything practically collapses in your hand.
And the location only adds to the atmosphere. While you’re eating, trains rattle overhead, giving the place an appropriately industrial Manchester soundtrack.
Sandy’s Smokeshed is beneath the arches in CastlefieldOwner Sam seasoning his pulled porkJuicy, pull-apart chicken
The BBQ comes with plenty of proper sides, too, including pit beans and slaw, plus garlic BBQ sauce for pouring over the top.
There are also some particularly good sandwiches, made with Holy Grain sourdough from next door and filled with pulled pork, steak, or braised ox shin.
Sandy’s Smokeshed kicked things off last weekend with a free food, BYOB feast, and judging by the queues, word has travelled quickly.
It’s open Tuesday to Saturday from 11am – but only until they sell out.
Vegetarians, look away now. Everyone else, you’ll want to get there early.
Jimmy Bradbury, Reuben Haycocks, Aoife Anson O’Connell, and Paddy Murphy – better known together as Westside Cowboy – formed back in 2023 when they were students at the Royal Northern College of Music, so while they may not all be from Manchester, they definitely have the spirit of our city at the heart of everything they do.
After playing in different bands across the city throughout their student years, the four-piece joined forces to create Westside Cowboy – an indie rock collective credited with self-coining the genre of ‘Britainicana’.
Put simply, Britainicana is a cultural concept that mixes the hazy, mythic feel of American country and folk, with the sound of raw British punk, indie rock, and small-town life.
Westside Cowboy have released their debut album, It Goes On / Credit: Clementine Schniedermann (Press Shots – Supplied)
If that sounds like your cup of tea, then you’ll be pleased to know that Westside Cowboy have released their debut album, It Goes On, to the world today (21 August).
And the reception from critics, arguably, couldn’t be better.
Prior to the release of their debut album, the band had released two EPs, including So Much Country ‘Till We Get There in January earlier this year, and had started to make a name for themselves with their popular debut single ‘I’ve Never Met Anyone I Thought I Could Really Love (Until I Met You)’ in 2024.
They went onto make even further waves when they supported equally-rising American rock band Geese on their UK and Irish tour back in March – with many fans calling it one of the best support and main act combinations in some time.
Three singles from their debut album were shared with the world ahead of its release – ‘Kick Stones (The Boys)’ came first, followed by ‘Pin Up Boys’ and ‘Dobro’.
So, it’s fair to say the anticipation for album was high… and if the reviews are anything to go by (which we think they are), it looks like the band has very much delivered what they set out to achieve.
Westside Cowboy’s debut album It Goes On is now available to stream, or you can purchase a physical copy in a range of formats from their website here.
Georgina Pellant -
14th January 2022 
