Manchester’s giant food hall and music venue Escape to Freight Island is switching things up this spring by moving in a host of new food traders.
Dessert shops Choo Choo eclairs and Soft Boi are going, as is Baratxuri’s basque country-inspired grill from the award-winning Ramsbottom restaurant and burger joint Patty Queen.
In their places will come some exciting new additions – such as Carnival, a brand new meaty grill concept from Hawksmoor co-founder Richard Turner; and Lucky Foot, a chargrilled and deep-fried chicken offering from the same team behind popular Liverpool spots Belzan and Madre.
With all the new traders due to all be in place by mid-May at the very latest, the revamped food market will open five days a week from Wednesday to Sunday.
Keep reading to find out who’s moving in – and what to expect from their menus.
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Carnival
Image: Escape To Freight Island
Carnival is a new collaboration concept from food writer, butcher and restauranteur Richard Turner, a co-founder of some of the best grill restaurants in the country including Hawksmoor, Pitt Cue Co, Blacklock and Meatopia Festival.
Turner and the team will be taking over the grill of what previously was Baratxuri, following the departure of Rachel Stockley at its Ramsbottom site. The brand said on its departure: “After almost two years we have decided it is the time to move on to explore some new opportunities for our family-run restaurant so watch this space.”
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Using the finest produce from a single producer farm, Carnival menu highlights will include fine cuts of premium rib, porterhouse and T-bone steak, as well as pork chop with apple tamarind ketchup, lobster with wild garlic, smoked beef short ribs, crispy fried scampi and potato gratin with anchovy and parmesan.
There will also be a limited ‘Front Row Seat’ chef’s table-style tasting menu available to those who like to see all of the action. Bookings will open later this month.
The team behind Belzan refresh their current counter this month with a brand-new deep-fried and charcoal-grilled chicken offering called Lucky Foot. Serving first-class birds, there’s no need to feel guilty about where your chicken is coming from here.
As for what’s on the menu, think fried chicken burgers, different salted fries (chicken, spicy, seaweed and plain), plus massive chicken tenders and sweet potato chunks – and that’s just for starters. We’ve had a little sneak peek, and already can’t wait to go back.
Gooey
Gooey’s most recent cookie special was inspired by Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. / Image: The Manc Eats
Known for their outrageously rich (not to mention ginormous) cookies and doughnuts, Manchester bakery Gooey will move into Freight Island as part of a new 2022 dessert offering.
Fans can expect to find specials like hot cookie dough and ice cream here, as part of an exclusive offering for the market, alongside the other tasty products they’ve become so well known for.
Batard
Image: Batard
Manchester bakehouse Batard will join Gooey this April in catering to Freight diners with a sweet tooth, serving up dessert pies and ice cream to the masses.
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Pitching up outside the Plant Room, the bakehouse will have its very own diner in partnership with Wildfarmed, a community-led farming system on a mission to fix soil through regenerative farming co-founded by Andy Cato of Groove Armada.
Burgerism
Image: Burgerism
The one and only Burgerism will take over from Patty Queen at Escape to Freight Island in May, bringing what are widely considered to be the best smashed burgers in town to this corner of Piccadilly.
Fans of the brand can look forward to the famous ‘Cheesed’ burger with two smashed patties, cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion and Burgerism sauce in a brioche bun, alongside the mouthwatering chicken burger.
Escape to Freight Island’s opening hours are Wednesday and Thursday (from 4pm to 11pm), Friday (from 4pm to 1am), Saturday (from 12pm to 1am) and Sunday (from 12pm to 10pm).
Feature image – The Manc Eats / Batard / Burgerism
News
Canal Street cordoned off after ‘suspicious chemicals’ reported at hotel
Daisy Jackson
Canal Street and several other streets in the Gay Village in Manchester have been cordoned off this afternoon.
Greater Manchester Police are attending reported of a smell that’s believed to be chemicals coming from a hotel room in the area.
There’s a huge emergency services presence in the area, including vehicles from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue, and the North West Ambulance Service.
Police have confirmed that they have detained a man who is believed to have been the occupant of the hotel room.
The hotel itself has been evacuated while the material is examined.
Thankfully, no one has been injured in the incident that has shut down part of Canal Street today.
Emergency services vehicles at the scene on Canal StreetThe cordon in place on Canal Street
GMP said in a statement: “We are currently searching a hotel room at a premises on Canal Street, Manchester. This follows a report of a smell – currently believed to be chemicals – causing suspicion.
“A man, believed to be the occupant of the room, has been detained and is currently in custody.
“As a precautionary measure, the hotel has been evacuated while specialist resources examine the material and conduct further enquiries.
“No-one has been injured and we are working to establish the full circumstances. We thank people for their patience as we continue with our work.”
England football fans warned as ticket scams skyrocket ahead of World Cup
Emily Sergeant
England football fans are being warned to remain vigilant, as ticket scams skyrocket ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup merely weeks from officially kicking off in the North America and Mexico on 11 June, football fans are being urged to guard against scams, as newly-released data from Lloyds has revealed that football ticket scams increased by more than a third (36%) during the current Premier League season.
The findings – which are based on thousands of scam cases between October 2025 and March 2026 – showed that fraudsters focused heavily on popular teams such as Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Chelsea.
Fraudsters also repeatedly targeted supporters looking for tickets to some of the most in-demand football matches in the UK, which is why, with the upcoming World Cup set to be one of the most speculated sporting events of the year, scam warnings are being issued.
It’s anticipated that fraudsters will target the big-name fixtures and attempt to exploit international demand, according to Lloyds.
England football fans are being warned as ticket scams skyrocket ahead of the World Cup / Credit: Picryl
On average, it was revealed that victims lost £215 during the current Premier League football season, but some fans even paid thousands of pounds for ‘season tickets’ or VIP seats that never existed.
Hopeful football fans are expected to pay much more for expensive World Cup tickets, meaning the potential loss for victims could be ‘devastating’.
As scammers know demand for World Cup tickets will be huge, it’s expected that they will mimic the methods seen in club level scams – including fake listings on social media, pressure to act fast, and requests for bank transfers.
“Fraudsters thrive on urgency and target fans looking for hard to get tickets for big name fixtures,” explained Liz Ziegler, who is the Fraud Prevention Director at Lloyds.
“Most of the football ticket scams we see start on social media, before the criminal moves the buyer onto WhatsApp and insists on a bank transfer to pay. It’s incredibly convincing, and we don’t want fans to lose their money trying to support their team.
“We’re urging supporters to stay alert and stick to official ticketing channels.”
Ahead of the World Cup, Lloyds and the Home Office have teamed up to take action to protect fans by highlighting how criminals will try to exploit the excitement – with Lord Hanson adding: “Our new fraud strategy sets out how we will use every tool at our disposal to disrupt and dismantle criminal operations, bring fraudsters to justice and strengthen support for victims.”
Georgina Pellant -
4th April 2022 
