A brand new seafood restaurant and cocktail bar is popping up in Manchester this spring bringing marine-inspired small plates and drinks to Deansgate Square.
Called Pesky, it’s the brainchild of Zaide O’Rourke – a former bartender at the Alchemist with a masters degree in food science and nutrition.
Inspired by Zaide’s time spent living abroad in Sweden, the restaurant will aim to make seafood accessible to all with nibbles and small plates starting from just £4.
Oysters will be a speciality, served with pickled rhubarb and herb oil, or as ‘Drunken Oysters’ with recommended shot pairings.
Elsewhere, further seafood small plates will include panko-breaded cod cheeks with tartare, hake and chimichurri, and king prawn okonomiyaki (savoury Japanese pancakes) with bonito flakes.
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Inspired by Zaide’s time spent living abroad in Sweden, the restaurant will aim to make seafood accessible to all with nibbles and small plates starting from just £4. / Image: Pesky
It won’t all be seafood, though, with another small plates section mostly dedicated to plant-based ‘land food’ like corn ribs, shaved fennel and grapefruit salad, and grilled aubergine and labneh with pomegranate molasses.
For pudding, guests can enjoy kladkakka (a Swedish sticky chocolate cake with olive oil and sea salt) or a refreshing green apple sorbet with ginger crumb
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As for drinks, think seaweed-flavoured martinis and pale ales, grapefruit negronis and whiskey sours softened with black cardamom – plus a good selection of classic cocktails, beers, wine and soft drinks.
The restaurant’s interior has been inspired by nature. Inside, diners will find a calm setting with neutral tones, ashy dark walnut furniture and an elevated bohemian vibe peppered with natural materials such as wild grasses.
Guest djs will play a soundtrack of deep and soulful house mixes with some added disco vibes.
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Speaking on the new opening, Pesky owner Zaid O’Rourke said: “I am so excited to start feeding the folk of Manchester, and hopefully I get to meet loads of friendly faces over some cocktails (or seaweed pale ale if that’s your thing) next month.”
Pesky will open from 2- 27 March at Deansgate Square.
Greater Manchester public urged to help get people ‘off the streets and on their feet’ before Christmas
Emily Sergeant
Locals are being urged to help get hundreds of people “off the streets and back on their feet” this festive season.
As the temperatures told colder by the day, and Christmas creeps closer and closer, Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity is bringing back ‘1000 Beds for Christmas’, and the massively-important initiative is aiming to provide 1,000 nights of accommodation to people at risk of homelessness before the big day arrives.
Forming part of the ongoing ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme, this festive fundraising mission is designed to provide food, shelter, warmth, and dedicated vital wrap-around support for those who need it most.
The charity says it wants to build on the “incredible success of 2023”, which raised more than £55,000 and provided 1,800 nights of accommodation.
Stockport-based property finance specialists, Together – which has supported the campaign for the last two years – has, once again, generously pledged to match every public donation for the first £20,000 raised.
Unfamiliar with the ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme? Since 2017, when rough sleeping peaked, the initiative has helped ensure a significantly-higher rate of reduction in the numbers of people facing a night on streets in Greater Manchester than seen nationally.
The landmark scheme has given people the chance to rebuild their lives, while also giving them access to key services and opportunities that allows them to stay off the streets for good.
Despite the scheme’s recent success, organisations across Greater Manchester are under “a huge amount of pressure” to meet the demand for their services this winter, and given the current economic outlook, household budgets will continue to be squeezed – leaving people on the sharp end of inequality and poverty.
Georgina Pellant -
28th February 2022 
