A new restaurant selling all things macaroni and cheese has opened in Manchesterand we can’t stop drooling over the menu.
Describing themselves as ‘comfort food dealers’, new gourmet kitchen Mac & Co specialise in all things macaroni and cheese with a host of different flavours and toppings to choose from.
Selling nine different styles of the oozy, gooey nostalgia classic, you’ll find them right in the heart of Manchester city centre with a store based inside the Arndale shopping centre.
Mac choices include a hot and creamy buffalo blue cheese mac made with Frank’s hot sauce and a BBQ pulled pork mac with lashings of smoky sauce.
Image: Mac & Co
Further meaty choices include macs loaded with chicken and chorizo, crispy bacon or crispy chilli chicken tenders respectively, all served with an addictive, crunchy house-made crispy onion topping designed to be sprinkled on top for added texture and general moreishness.
ADVERTISEMENT
Read more:Manchester’s favourite slab shack is opening a new restaurant
Elsewhere, you’ll find veggie-friendly options stuffed with red or green pesto and buffalo mozzarella (an absolute must for creating that stringy cheese pull), roasted mushroom and truffle oil mac, and a signature three-cheese house mac topped with shavings of nutty Grana Padano and fresh parsley.
ADVERTISEMENT
Image: Mac & Co
All pasta dishes here are made with a secret béchamel sauce using a closely-guarded three-cheese recipe that the chefs are keep very close to their chest.
Inspired by the owners travels to New York City, the restaurant has just opened in Manchester and is available to enjoy sitting in or as a takeaway order via Deliveroo.
It has multiple sites in London in locations including Fulham, Wimbledon, Tower Bridge, Lavender Hill, Chelsea, Angel and Islington, and now it’s branching out into the north – opening its first site outside of the capital right here in Manchester.
Alongside its popular mac and cheese dishes, you can also order sides like fries, a simple salad or chicken tenders, alongside a range of soft drinks.
To see the full menu, you can. visit Mac & Co’s Deliveroo order page here.
Feature image – Mac & Co
News
Manchester Museum’s iconic T-Rex Stan is moving for the first time over 20 years
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Museum’s iconic T-Rex Stan is moving locations for the first time over 20 years.
Stan, the famous Tyrannosaurus rex at the heart of Manchester Museum’s Fossils Gallery, is on the move from one historic building to another, as he leaves his home in the Museum next spring for a spectacular residency in a Grade II-listed Edwardian swimming pool.
That’s right – the famous dinosaur is heading on holiday to Victoria Baths, where he’ll be on display in the Gala Pool, marking the first time he has left Manchester Museum since arriving there in 2004.
The process of moving Stan to Victoria Baths is already being tipped as a ‘gargantuan task’.
Manchester Museum’s iconic T-Rex Stan is moving for the first time over 20 years / Credit: The Manc Group
It’s expected that the move will take a team of specialists a full week, as at 12-metres long and 3.7-metres tall, big boy Stan is roughly the size of a double decker bus and his bones must be dismantled and reassembled in a strict order to ensure counterbalance and stop him from toppling over.
During the residency at Victoria Baths, Stan will be on display to the public but will also act as the centrepiece for a full programme of events – with more details set to be announced soon.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for people to experience this incredible Tyrannosaurus rex in an entirely different context,” explained Georgina Young, who is the Acting Director at Manchester Museum.
“Not only is Victoria Baths breathtakingly beautiful, but their team will bring renewed creativity to encounters with Stan.”
Anthony Baker, CEO of the Victoria Baths Trust, added: “Victoria Baths would like to state for the record that we did not invite a T-Rex skeleton into our Grade II-listed swimming pool. Stan has made his own arrangements and we are simply going along with it.
“He is insisting that we open our doors for free so that as many people can visit him as possible and it is very difficult to say no to a giant dinosaur, especially when he asked so nicely.”
Stan the T-Rex will be at Victoria Baths from 22 March to 19 April 2027, and he’ll be free to pop in and say hello to.
Featured Image – Stephen Gidley (via Flickr)
News
Workers at major Manchester city centre hotel to strike this bank holiday weekend
Emily Sergeant
Workers at one of the most prominent hotels in Manchester city centre are set to strike this bank holiday weekend.
Workers at Kimpton Clocktower Hotel and its bar venue The Refuge, who are members of the union Unite, will take 24 hours of strike action on Saturday (29 August) in what is said to be a ‘long-running dispute’ over union busting.
The strike day chosen by the workers is the second day of this year’s Manchester Village Pride, and is historically the most lucrative day of the year for their employer.
This is because Kimpton Clocktower is located very close to the Pride Parade route, and for several years has been a very popular location for people attending the festival, and even runs a number of Pride events itself.
Unite says that for months now, workers at the Kimpton Clocktower – which is owned by InterContinental Hotels Group UK (IHG) – have been asking for formal union recognition to improve conditions after raising several issues with management, but IHG UK has refused this and instead ‘targeted’ the union for its actions.
Workers at a major Manchester city centre hotel are set to strike this bank holiday weekend / Credit: Rebecca Hope Photography (Supplied)
Previous strikes have already taken place this summer, apparently causing ‘financial hits’ to the business in the process – with the bar being forced to close early at several events as there were not enough staff to cover them.
“A strike on Kimpton’s most profitable day is entirely of its own making,” commented Unite regional officer, Alison Treacher. “Throughout this dispute, Kimpton Clocktower management have treated its loyal workforce with contempt and our members have shown they will not stand for it.
“There is still time to avoid this highly disruptive strike action, but that relies on IHG changing tack by listening to its members and giving them the union recognition they have long been calling for.”
This dispute is said to be the first ever hospitality strike in the North West.
Unite is currently running a petition demanding that IHG UK stop targeting union activists, recognise the Kimpton workers rights to have their grievance heard collectively, and support their union recognition campaign.
Georgina Pellant -
19th April 2022 
