"Sometimes, I think you have to leave something where it is, accept that it happened and was really good for a time, but that it’s better if it doesn’t continue, and that’s been an extremely hard thing to come to terms with."
A popular Latin American restaurant concept that first began its life on Manchester’s street food scene has announced it will shut the doors to its restaurant at the end of this month.
It might have opened its first restaurant over in Todmorden, which happens to lie just beyond the borders of Greater Manchester, but for foodies who love their pop-ups, Yakumama will still be a familiar name.
Championed by the Manchester tastemakers like GRUB and Pollen from the start, the all-vegan and veggie concept made quite a mark on the city’s street food scene between 2015 and 2019 – popping up at locations across the city, as well as selling spicy-sweet homemade Aleppo hot sauce at a number of different independents.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Owners Hannah Lovett and Marcy Sandoval then went on to open their first permanent site in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, taking over the old co-op building in a little market town just 20 minutes from Manchester and an hour from Leeds on the train.
But on Thursday night, owners left fans of the restaurant shocked when they revealed that they will be closing up shop for good at the end of January – giving diners just four more weeks to get booked in for one last meal.
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Sharing a heartwrenching post to social media last night, owners broke the new: writing that it was with ‘very heavy hearts and weary heads’ they had decided that Yakumama would be closing at the end of the month.
The pair said it had been ‘a long old road to get to this point’, and that it had been ‘a struggle financially and emotionally for some time now, due to all the reasons that everyone knows about’.
Saying they’d ‘worked hard to get over the hurdles’, they added that the ’emotional and financial input […] just isn’t in us right now, and we need to prioritise our heal and a more balanced life.’
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Since making the announcement, the restaurant has been overwhelmed with bookings and messages of support from its numerous fans – leading them to put up a story that read “Just had about 100 table bookings in 10 minutes. Yikes”.
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The closure post has now been liked over 700 times on Instagram alone, and Yakumama’s comment section is flooded with kind words from those who’ve worked and dined with Yakumama over the years.
One person wrote: “Sending loads of love you two. You should be immensely proud of everything you’ve done and achieved. Can’t wait to see what’s next for you both xxx”
Another said: “You are my favourite restaurant. Ever. Thankyou for you and the teams passion and creativity. I would buy a Yakumama recipe cookbook in a heartbeat! Good luck.”
A third said: “I am so extremely sad to hear this. Always raved about the food and cocktails! I’ll make sure to put a booking in before u close, you will be missed! All the best for the future xxx”
Image: The Manc Eats
The full post read: “With very heavy hearts, and weary heads, we are so sorry to say that Yakumama at The Old Co-op will be closing as of the end of January.
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“It’s been a long old road to get us to this point but it’s for the best. It’s been a struggle financially and emotionally for some time now, due to all the reasons that everyone knows about. We’ve really dug our heels in, and worked hard to get over the hurdles we’ve faced, but this can only take us so far.
“The Emotional and financial input required to get it where it needs to be, just isn’t in us right now, and we need to prioritise our health and a more balanced life. Sometimes, I think you have to leave something where it is, accept that it happened and was really good for a time, but that it’s better if it doesn’t continue, and that’s been an extremely hard thing to come to terms with.
“The atmosphere in that place can be soo good it gives me goosebumps, and that could not be achieved without our ridiculously wonderful team, all of whom we love immensely, and are family now.
“And of course you lot, mostly familiar faces that we see on some occasions every weekend. The support and joy that has brought is immeasurable. We have felt welcomed since the very first day. Tod is an extremely Special place, Thank you.
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“”We are open for 4 more weeks, so please come get involved and see us off with a bang! Our last service will be brunch on Sunday 29th Jan. You can book a table via the link in the bio.
“And beyond that, see you in the pub. Much love. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Han + Marcy”
Bookings are filling up fast at the restaurant, with a small number of weekend tables left available at the time of writing. If you’d like to book in for one more visit, you can do so by visiting Yakumama’s website here.
Feature image – Yakumama
News
Peaky Blinders confirm title and release date of upcoming film
Danny Jones
After what feels like an age since it was first announced, Peaky Blinders and Netflix have finally confirmed the title and release date of the upcoming feature-length film.
It was revealed that the global streaming giant secured exclusive rights to the movie last year, and it has now been revealed that it will also be released in selected theatres before it hits the platform.
With production on the long-talked-about project getting underway in September 2024, we’ve heard little else from creator Steven Knight, who has also been booked to deliver the Oasis reunion documentary chronicling their Live ’25 world tour.
However, we now know not only the official title of the film, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, and that it will be dropping early next year. They’ve even shared the first poster.
Clearly referring to the series’ most famous lead character, Thomas Shelby – played by now fully-fledged Hollywood A-lister Cillian Murphy since 2013 – the teaser shows him sat astride a horse, not to mention covered in a fair amount of dirt and/or blood.
Alongside the suit and the trademark newsboy cap with blades inserted in the brim (the calling card of both the fictional and the real ‘Peaky Blinders’), it’s quite a classic look of Tommy’s.
Scheduled to release in limited cinemas on 6 March before arriving on Netflix on 20/3/2026, this will not only be the first film in the wider franchise but the first to air separately from the BBC.
While its parent network is still involved as collaborators on the flick, this is the first instalment in the IP to be distributed directly by Netflix after they bought the rights to release the show in the US.
Another look at a seemingly older Tommy Shelby (Credit: Publicity picture via Netflix)
As for The Immortal Man, both new and returning members of the cast include:
Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer, 28 Days Later)
Rebecca Ferguson (Dune, Silo)
Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs, The Hateful Eight)
Sophie Rundle (After the Flood, Gentleman Jack)
Ned Dennehy (Culprits, The Peripheral)
Packy Lee (Blue Lights)
Ian Peck (His Dark Materials, Robin Hood)
Jay Lycurgo (Steve, Half Bad: The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself)
Barry Keoghan (Saltburn, The Banshees of Inisherin)
Stephen Graham (Adolescence, A Thousand Blows)
Speaking in a full press release, Murphy said: “It seems like Tommy Shelby wasn’t finished with me. It is very gratifying to be re-collaborating with Steven Knight and Tom Harper on the film version of Peaky Blinders. This is one for the fans.”
Returning four years after the end of the mainline series, but catching up with Tommy at the outset of WWII in terms of the actual timelines, Netflix say that the Shelby patriarch “is driven back from a self-imposed exile to face his most destructive reckoning yet.”
Safe to say we cannot wait to be back in the world.
In the meantime, you can find out more about the next season(s) of Peaky Blinders coming to the BBC very soon down below.
Ed Sheeran at Co-op Live, Manchester – tickets, times, setlist and more for ‘intimate’ UK tour
Thomas Melia
The red-headed, guitar-strumming, lyrical genius, also known as Ed Sheeran, is back, and he’s heading to Co-op Live for one night only as part of his current UK tour.
‘Bad Habits’, ‘Shape of You’, ‘Thinking Out Loud’, Sheeran has built quite an impressive music catalogue over the years and amassed a whopping 60 billion streams while doing so.
The UK music heavyweight scored his ninth number one album with Play, all while adding two more top ten hits to his discography with ‘Azizam’ and ‘Sapphire’, driving his overall top ten singles total to 43 – that’s ‘Perfect’.
Last week, Sheeran dropped his latest musical addition, Play (Deluxe), which features 14 brand new tracks, and lucky fans who have tickets to these upcoming shows will be eager to see which ones he adds to his setlist.
Ed Sheeran at Co-op Live, Manchester – all the key info you need to know
Ed Sheeran is performing a run of ‘intimate’ shows in the UK (Credit: Press Shots via Petros Studio)
Now he’s bringing his huge hits to Manchester’s biggest indoor entertainment venue, Co-op Live, just across from the ‘Castle on the Hill’, Etihad Stadium, which Sheeran has performed at on eight occasions.
If you’re patiently trying not to get your hopes up, thinking about tickets for Sheeran’s latest gig while simultaneously saying ‘I Don’t Care’, think again.
All you ‘Beautiful People’ after tickets to go see Ed Sheeran when he plays out at Co-op Live on 7 December, you’re in luck as there’s a handful waiting to get snapped up HERE.
Ed Sheeran setlist
Prepare yourself, but with 43 top ten hits next to his name, it’s no surprise Sheeran’s setlist is quite a lengthy one; here’s what he performed at his Paris show earlier this month:
Give Me Love
Castle on the Hill
Shivers
Sapphire
The A Team
Don’t
Boat / Life Goes On
Galway Girl
Nancy Mulligan
Old Phone
Celestial
One / Photograph
Thinking Out Loud
Eastside / 2002 / Cold Water / Little Things / Love Yourself
I See Fire
River / Peru / Beautiful People / I Don’t Care
Camera
Slowly
Perfect
Symmetry
Bloodstream
You Need Me, I Don’t Need You
Shape of You
Azizam
Bad Habits
Afterglow
Merry Christmas
What are the stage times for Ed Sheeran in Manchester?
Co-op Live has a strict curfew of 11pm, meaning you can ‘2step’ to this chart-topping superstar’s tracks and get tucked up in bed before the early hours of the morning.
Anyone attending can expect the doors to open from 6pm, and not one but two very special guests as the support acts: contemporary Irish band, Biird, and folk duo, Nizlopi, who Ed Sheeran has been a big fan of for a long time now.
You can hear more about his connection with the group down below.
For those of you heading to Co-op Live, you’ll be glad to know it’s right next door to a rather famous big blue stadium and its integrated Metrolink stop.
Head along the light blue or orange lines directly to the Etihad Campus or Ashton-under-Lyne, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Trams run frequently on the Ashton-Eccles line to the Etihad stop, with services leaving every six minutes from the city centre and until 1:00am on Fridays and Saturdays.
Bus
You can find the full list of bus routes HERE, with the one in closest proximity to the venue being the 53 bus, which runs from Cheetham Hill through to Higher Crumpsall, Old Trafford and Pendleton, leaving just a two-minute walk to Co-op Live. You also get free Bee Network travel with any valid event ticket.
Getting there by car and parking
If you’re driving, there is limited parking available at the venue, but this must be pre-booked ahead of time, and there are designated drop-off areas.
The postcode is M11 3DU, and you can follow the signs towards the wider Etihad Campus as you get closer; directions to the adjacent drop-off points will also be signposted.
Keep in mind that congestion on the roads close to the stadium is expected to gather around two hours prior to any event, so if you are travelling on the road, these are the suggested times they provide come event day, though estimates will obviously vary:
Alan Turing Way (both directions): plan an additional 20 minutes into any journey by road.
Hyde Road (eastbound): expect an additional 15 minutes to be added to your journey.
Mancunian Way (westbound): plan for an extra 10 minutes of travel time.
There are also three park-and-ride facilities near Co-op Live, but be advised that the Velopark and Holt Town stops will be closed post-event to help safely manage crowds:
Ashton West (Ashton line) – 184 spaces and 11 disabled spaces
Ladywell (Ashton-Eccles line) – 332 spaces and 22 disabled spaces
Walk/cycle
Lastly, Co-op Live is only a half-hour stroll from Manchester Piccadilly, and you could even walk along the canal all the way to the front door if you fancy taking the scenic route.
Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes through the Beryl app, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the bike all through an easy-to-use app. There are hire points just near the south-west corner of the Etihad Stadium on Ashton New Road.
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For more information on all travel options, you can check out the enhanced journey planner.
Georgina Pellant -
6th January 2023 
