Longstanding West Didsbury vegetarian haunt Greensis opening a second restaurant in Sale, its owners have revealed.
The restaurant’s co-owners, celebrity TV chef Simon Rimmer and Simon Connolly, shared the news to social media over the weekend – posting images of their new site in Sale and of them celebrating the new opening over a glass of fizz.
Sharing the news to Twitter, celebrity chef Rimmer wrote: “so yesterday @SimonConnolly9 and I signed the lease on a new site for @greensveggie – 31 years since we opened site 1….site 3 coming 2053!”
Not a veggie but most likeable chef must go to @simonrim and the most patient chef must go to @SimonConolly9 good luck guys
A fixture in the south Manchester suburb for over three decades, Greens vegetarian restaurant was a trailblazer in its time – and remains so today, as the oldest surviving veggie restaurant in Manchester.
The pair initially met as co-workers in another Didsbury eatery (neither was the chef – one was a waiter, the other worked front-of-house), but after opening Greens neither looked back.
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They have been proudly ‘terrifying carnivores’ ever since, according to the tongue-in-cheek restaurant strapline.
Their new Greens restaurant will open in Stanley Square, joining the likes of Sale Foodhall, southern Italian pasta kitchen Sugo and newcomer Petisco, as part of the old sixties shopping precinct’s ambitious new regeneration project.
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Their new Greens restaurant will open in Stanley Square / Image: Greens
Details are yet to be revealed on the opening date and menu, but it’s likely the kitchen will follow a similar format to create menus similar to those at the existing restaurant on Lapwing Lane.
Greens first began life in 1990 when now-celebrity TV chef Simon Rimmer and his friend, Simon Connolly, set their sites on the Lapwing Lane cafe during an afternoon spent ‘putting the world to rights over a Nepalese curry and a beverage or two.’
It has since become a staple for veggies and vegans across Manchester, with many people travelling just to dine at the restaurant.
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After all, there might be lots of vegan restaurants in Manchester nowadays but there still aren’t that many places dedicated to serving veggies – a group that feels very strongly about good cheese, for one.
Image: Greens
When the pair first launched Greens in the nineties, they championed what they called ‘magpie cuisine’.
In the restaurant’s own words, this meant “shamelessly stealing from cultures across the world to develop dishes that are defined not by a negative absence of meat, but by the positive inclusion of fantastic ingredients and flavours that happen to be purely vegetarian.”
Things have moved on since then, both in the restaurant and across the city. To be vegetarian-only is no longer a shocking concept and the options for plant-based meat alternatives are much greater than it was thirty years ago.
As such, to neglect vegetarians – and, even more noticeably, vegans – in Manchester is to be very much behind the times nowadays.
Greens cater to both very well. A sample a la carte menu is packed with the ultimate veggie indulgence, cheese (feta, halloumi, burrata, gorgonzola all appear), but there’s also plenty of plant protein for vegans, like tofu, falafel and red lentils.
Stand-out dishes for us include the veggie black pudding, mustard mayo, (£4.50 and ve), deep-fried oyster mushrooms, pancakes, spring onion, cucumber, plum sauce (£7.25, or available as a main for £13, ve), and the burrata, salted caramel pecan vinaigrette, pomegranate (£8.50).
As for desserts, think chocolate and avocado mousse with poached pear (ve), sticky toffee pudding (ve), and a white chocolate cheesecake served with blueberries and vanilla syrup.
That said, all is yet to be revealed at the new site – and there could well be a new menu landing there when it opens too.
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Whether you’re a ‘confirmed meat eater’ like Simon Rimmer, or dedicated to a plant-based diet, there’s a lot to get excited about here – that’s for certain.
To keep up with further updates, make sure to follow Greens on Instagram here.
Simon Wood announces gutting closure of Manchester restaurant after seven years
Danny Jones
Celebrity chef and Manchester local Simon Wood has announced that his self-titled WOOD Restaurant has sadly closed its doors.
The Oldham-born chef-owner who won MasterChef back in 2015, revealed the unfortunate news on Wednesday, 2 October, confirming that the First Street site will be closing immediately. Truly gutting.
Wood has remained one of Greater Manchester’s most-renowned chefs for the past decade, not to mention a huge advocate for supporting the hospitality industry, especially post-Covid and during the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Sharing an emotional post on Instagram, he wrote: “It is with much regret that I have to inform you that I must close the doors here at WOOD for good, with immediate effect.”
“We have had 7 years as part of the Manchester city dining scene and I’m very proud of what the team and I have achieved”, the 48-year-old continued.
“Sadly with COVID rent arrears now being demanded by our landlord and an increasingly difficult marketplace, energy increases, ingredient costs and soon-to-be spiralling business rates we just cannot make this work.”
“I’d like to thank everyone for your support and patronage over the years. Thank you, Simon.”
It was only at the start of the week that Wood shared a frustrated post about a group of no-show customers over the weekend that failed to even pre-warn that they would no longer be attending one of his most exclusive and costly experiences.
We’re starting to lose count of how many local businesses are unfortunately struggling in the face of the rising business rates and energy bills that all independents are facing at the minute.
It was only last month that we saw Almous Famous had to call it a day with their Withington location and beloved sandwich spot Micky’s sadly suffer the same fate. Even cult favourite Cafe Marhaba looks to have gone up for sale. So tough to swallow.
We’re genuinely gutted for everyone involved with the brand. All the best, Si – we know you’ll be back stronger than ever one of these days.
Featured Images — The Manc Group
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No trams to run through major Manchester city centre station this weekend
Emily Sergeant
Arguably Manchester city centre’s most important tram stop is set to be out of action this weekend, with no services running through it.
In what is another part of Transport for Greater Manchester‘s (TfGM) ongoing programme of works intended to “maintain and improve” the Metrolink system and ensure tram journeys in Greater Manchester remain “safe, reliable, and accessible”, it’s been confirmed that no trams will run through Cornbrook this weekend.
Due to this, there will be a change to operating patterns across the majority of the Metrolink network on both Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 October.
As is often the case in instances like these, disruption to passengers is expected.
On Saturday and Sunday [5 and 6 October], no trams will operate through Cornbrook.
There will be a change to operating patterns and replacement bus services will be in operation.
On Saturday (5 October), the tram service pattern will change to Altrincham – Old Trafford, Bury – Ashton-under-Lyne, East Didsbury – Firswood, Etihad Campus – Bury (peak time only) / Victoria (after peak only), Manchester Airport – Firswood, Rochdale Town Centre – Deansgate-Castlefield (via Exchange Square), and The Trafford Centre – Wharfside.
Similarly, on Sunday (6 October), the only difference to the above service pattern is that the Etihad Campus tram will only run to Victoria, not Bury.
Services will operate every 12 minutes, except for on the Eccles line, where no trams will run at all.
TfGM is also warning that there may be changes to the first and last tram times during these works, but, in bid to help people still get to their destinations, three bus replacement services will operate from Firswood to Victoria, Old Trafford to Piccadilly, and Eccles to Piccadilly.
No trams will run through major Manchester city centre station Cornbrook this weekend / Credit: TfGM
The Old Trafford to Piccadilly bus service will run through Wharfside, while the Eccles to Piccadilly will travel via MediaCity.
“These works are a vitally important part of maintaining a safe and reliable network for all our customers,” explained
Ian Davies, who is TfGM’s Interim Network Director for Metrolink, said these works are “a vitally important part” of maintaining the Metrolink, and that work has been scheduled by TfGM to “minimise disruption to passengers and residents as much as possible”.
Georgina Pellant -
17th January 2022 
