Life is predicted to get harder for some people with dietary requirements next year, according to a 2022 forecast published by Big Hospitality.
According to the industry publication, one big expectation for dining out in the new year is that top chefs will be more likely to refuse to cater to customers’ dietary issues – adopting what Grace Dent has referred to, in the case of Ynyshir chef-patron Gareth Ward, as ‘delicious pigheadedness’.
Big Hospitality has predicted that high-end dining will ‘go inflexible’, adding that ‘2022 may be the year that restaurants finally crack’ and stating more and more chefs are expected to follow the lead of the likes of Simon Martin at Mana, Manchester’s only Michelin-starred restaurant.
Image: Mana Potato strands encasing Langoustine head and claw. With roasted yeast alongside young berries and garlic from Spring. / Image: Mana
Here, menu adaptions are never made for a customer’s dislikes. What’s more, the creation of vegan menus is an absolute no-no as are any requests for lactose-free menus – as is plainly stated on Mana’s website, which customers are required to read ahead of making their booking.
The team requires guests to give its kitchen 48 hours’ notice for any allergies or intolerances they may have, including vegetarians, but when it comes to ingredients that people simply don’t want to eat, there is very little sympathy.
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‘Terrarium’ at Mana. / Image: Mana
Guidelines are clear that the team cannot deal with last-minute preparation requests and states “if you have an allergy to an animal, fish or shellfish protein, our vegetarian equivalent will be provided as an alternative.
“This also applies to aversions due to religious reasons.”
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Touching on the subject of religious diets, Mana is not alone in its refusal to budge.
Another fine dining spot in Manchester, the trendy NQ eatery District, has also proven itself unwilling to adapt this year after getting embroiled in a ‘religious diet’ row with a customer that went viral on social media.
Yorkshire wagyu picanha with gao lao, fermented greens, yellow bean / Image: District
The argument, which stemmed from the new wave Thai eatery’s non-refundable deposit policy, came to a head after a customer asked for its famously strict 12-course set menu to be altered to cater to his religious needs.
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In this instance, the diner asked for a pork dish to be substituted after already paying his £15 deposit, at which point he had already been notified that he should contact the restaurant about dietaries before putting down any money for the booking.
After being told it was not possible, he emailed to ask “why not shout loud on your homepage ‘We don’t cater for Jews'”.
BBQ maitake, nam prik pao, rice wafer / Image: District
Ultimately, however, his threats to speak out on social media spectacularly backfired after the restaurant posted them to its social pages themselves – adding it ‘will not be bullied or threatened into returning deposits’.
Co-owner Ben Humphries later told the Manchester Evening News: “From the moment a guest makes a reservation work begins on sourcing and ordering the very best ingredients for their experience. If we then can not fill that table, this expensive produce may go to waste.”
Whilst some might consider a high-end restaurants’ refusal to modify their menu to suit the dietary requirements a bit inhospitable for hospitality, as prices continue to rise and margins get tighter, it is becoming necessary for businesses’ survival to make these calls.
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Unfortunately, some of those people are just going to have to like it or lump it.
Feature image – District
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Glamorous new Salford restaurant speaks out as controversial resident parrot is rehomed
Daisy Jackson
A new riverside restaurant and shisha lounge has addressed the live parrot that was living in the middle of the restaurant.
Gardens Lounge in Salford opened last week, bringing Mediterranean dining to the banks of the River Irwell, just across the water from Manchester city centre.
But among those admiring the stylish decor were many issuing an outcry over Rio, a beautiful blue macaw displayed in a glass box at the heart of the restaurant.
A loud online campaign, Free Rio, was launched this week, including a petition that’s gained more than 10,000 signatures, which described his conditions as ‘suffering’.
The petition said: “Rio is a highly intelligent, wild animal who is being kept in wholly inadequate conditions. He is being used as a prop and décor to attract customers, this is not an appropriate or acceptable use of a living, sentient being.
“His current conditions cause us serious concern: His cage is entirely unsuitable for a macaw of his size and needs. He has no room to fly. He has nowhere to hide or retreat from the loud music and flashing lights he is subjected to for hours on en
“Macaws are highly social animals who mate for life and live in large family groups, Rio has no mate, no companionship, and no ability to express any natural behaviour whatsoever.
The restaurant has since been working closely with those campaigners – Protect the Wild and Vegan Manchester – and has made the decision to rehome Rio the parrot, saying that the bird has always been ‘a much-loved member of the Garden Lounge’s family’.
Gardens said that the parrot’s welfare has always been ‘of the utmost importance’ and stressed that his living conditions have been fully assessed and approved by the RSPCA.
In their full statement, Gardens said: “The welfare of Rio has always been of the utmost importance to everyone at Garden’s Lounge Manchester.
“Throughout his time with us, his health, wellbeing and environment have been thoroughly monitored and fully assessed and approved by the RSPCA.
The cage that housed Rio the parrot visible from the front door of the Salford restaurantGardens Lounge in Salford is open now
“Following extensive discussions and careful consideration, including conversations with members of the Manchester community whose views we greatly respect, we have made the decision to relocate Rio to a sanctuary environment, where he will have the opportunity to fly freely while continuing to receive specialist care and attention.
“Rio has been, and always will be, a much-loved member of the Garden’s Lounge family, and this decision has been made with his best interests at heart.
“We are proud of the love and care he has received over the years and are grateful to everyone who has shown him such affection and support.
“We look forward to welcoming everyone back to Garden’s Lounge Manchester soon and thank our customers, friends and the wider community for their continued support.”
The ITV hype video for the 2026 World Cup has just done that – let’s make some memories
Danny Jones
We’ll admit, much like with Qatar ’22, there have been a few things about this upcoming World Cup that have made it harder to get in the mood than usual, but we must confess: ITV’s new opening titles for the 2026 edition have got us well and truly HYPED.
It’s funny what a quick little montage and some feel-good music can do.
Let’s face it, there are a lot of things about modern football we don’t like, and there are always going to be criticisms of FIFA and how they handle major tournaments, especially when it comes to the biggest international fixtures of them all.
Sadly, a lot of this is out of our control, but what we can do is our bit as supporters and get behind the boys; with trailers like this, it’s hard not to get yourself up for it…
How well you remember the customary title sequences for each tournament is usually a good barometer.
We have a feeling that this one is going to stick out in the memories of not just the kids enjoying maybe some of their first real major tournaments, but plenty of us adults, too.
The reaction online has been largely positive too, with popular football social media account, The 44, writing: “Oh my god! ITV have smashed it. Better or just as good as 2014”.
Another went on to say, “[It’s] mental how this one minute and nineteen second video has just made me incredibly excited for the World Cup. ITV know how to do an intro, don’t they?”
Furthermore, a third added: “Great intro. And FIFA might’ve messed everything up with 48 teams instead of 32 and blown it on ticket prices, but once the World Cup kicks off, there’s nothing like it.
With fewer fans being able to travel or even begin to remotely afford flying out for just one game, let alone the whole month, it’s great to see Manchester setting up big screens like these.
All that being said, there has, of course, still been lots of backlash over how hosting the World Cup in North America has been handled in general thus far.
Be it the plight of scammers, exorbitant ticket prices, punters and even referees being denied entry to the country due to President Trump’s travel sanctions, or the general political state over in the US, it’s far from a perfect year for ‘the beautiful game’ and its biggest competition.
However, it’s worth reminding that nations like Mexico have as strong an obsession with football as anyone on the planet, and Canada is clearly relishing the opportunity to host matches in Toronto and Vancouver, where footy is still their largest sport overall.
We expect there will still be plenty of protests and demonstrations, not to mention fairly public messages and statements up around the stadiums in the cities involved, no doubt, but one thing we can make sure of is that England will back the Three Lions both up in the stands and back here at home.
Those clips seen in the ITV video serve as yet another undeniable reminder that there is simply nothing like cheering on your country on the big stage, so make sure you lock down where to watch the World Cup in Manchester soon, and don’t miss a second of the action. It’s coming home.
Georgina Pellant -
31st December 2021 
