Guardian food critic Jay Rayner has been in Salford checking out the (relatively) newly-reopened Black Friar pub, brought back to life in spectacular fashion following two decades of closure.
A glowing review, published this weekend, showers the pub with praise – with Rayner ultimately concluding that he’d be ‘rather chuffed’ if the Black Friar was his local.
With former 20 Stories chef Ben Chaplin at the helm, when it first threw open its doors this summer the Black Friar initially offered two menus – a ‘pub classics’ menu and a selection of more ‘fancy’ restaurant dishes.
Image: The Black Friar Salford
However, rather conveniently, the day of Rayner’s visit also happens to be the day the team decided to merge them into one, leaving him to comment: “don’t therefore expect the food to be confined to essence of British pub.”
“What you now get is a hybrid. There are pies and terrines and fish and chips from the boozer side of the ledger, and altogether grander things involving truffles and champagne from the fat-walleted end.”
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He does still take a good-natured swipe at some of the prices, mind.
That ‘fat-walleted’ comment, a reference in part to the residents above “working at the very cutting edge of modern media communications, or whatever it is the denizens of these tidy apartments do”, leads him to describe a few dish prices as either ‘brave’ or ‘enthusiastic’.
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Image: The Black Friar
Still, for the most part, he’s on-side, stating: “When I get on to those prices some of you may wish to start curling your noses like the Catherine Tate characters Janice and Ray while shouting, “And this! In Salford! The dirty robbing bastards.”
“Get it out of your system now. […] What matters is that the cooking is big and bullish and, for the most part, on point.”
He heaps praise on the pub’s daily rotation of pies, proclaiming: “the pie liberationists will be pleased to know that it is very much a single item, clad from top to toe in crumbly, flaky puff.
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“Pie purists will agree that if you can’t throw it across a room with one hand, it’s not a pie. This is a pie.”
Image: The Black Friar
Adding ‘obviously sipping gravy should be a thing’, a fact we couldn’t possibly agree with any more enthusiastically, despite his enjoyment he can’t help but point out that a similar creation in London’s The Windmill in Mayfair still comes in at a pound cheaper.
“As Janice and Ray might point out, we really are on the edge of a dual carriageway in Salford,” he quips.
Elsewhere, he waxes lyrical about a charming plate of ‘big fat scallops’ and a boar and pheasant terrine served with warm brioche and chutney, stating: “If you’re going to pay £10 for a terrine, you want it to look like this.”
Image: The Black Friar
All in all, it seems the visit is a hit, with Rayner proclaiming, “This is serious cookery: both profoundly beautiful and profoundly eatable.”
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He’s got great things to say about the dessert menu, which he notes features all the ‘much-loved usual suspects’, calling a beautifully made bitter orange parfait ‘a gift to marmalade lovers everywhere’.
Read more: The stunning reservoir walk near Manchester with giant ‘plugholes’
His only real critique, in truth, is for a dish of turbot with smoked ell choucroute, champagne velouté and caviar -described as “a brave £32.”
But even this, he concedes, is a ‘very good dish indeed fighting to get out from underneath all this overkill’ – adding that a spoonful of caviar is ‘more symbol of northwestern largesse than vital ingredient’.
Image: The Black Friar
The Black Friar is remarkably chuffed to have had the esteemed critic down for a visit, sharing the review to its Facebook page with the caption: “The Blackfriar has made the pages of The Guardian and we couldn’t be prouder.
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“Thanks to Jay Rayner for paying us a visit and a big thanks to our team and customers. Without their hard work and support over the last 20 weeks what we have achieved wouldn’t have been possible. We love you all.”
Feature image – The Black Friar
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Drivers warned of ‘bad habit’ that could land them with £1,000 fines this winter
Emily Sergeant
Drivers are being warned of a ‘bad habit’ on the roads that could seem them hit with hefty fines as winter rolls around.
Once the temperatures drop, and the days get shorter and darker, fog tends to become a more common weather occurrence around this time of year – but an eye-opening new survey has found that most drivers don’t really how to use their fog lights correctly.
According to guidance from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), fog lights should only be used on British roads when visibility drops below 100 metres, yet the new research by eBay has found that 60% of drivers use their fog lights at the wrong times, and what’s more is that one in 10 say they switch on their fog lights when visibility is less than 300 metres.
48% of drivers who took part in the research admitted that they activate full-beam headlights when it’s dark, regardless of oncoming traffic and other road users.
Drivers are being warned of a ‘bad habit’ that could land them with £1,000 fines this winter / Credit: Nabeel Syed (via Unsplash)
The RAC says these stats reveal a ‘worrying trend’ among motorists, and have warned that these habits could actually means drivers are risking fines of up to £1,000 and three penalty points on their licence.
If the incorrect usage of fog lights wasn’t bad enough as it is, the new research also found that many Brits say they do not stay on-top of regular car maintenance when it comes to car fog lights, either – with just 15% saying they check them every month, and shockingly, 24% stating they’ve never checked them before.
Due to the ongoing issue of headlight glare, in whatever form that may be, The RAC has found that as many as one in four drivers (25%) who find headlights ‘too bright’ are actually driving less as a result.
“Unfortunately for a lot of drivers, the annual onset of darker evenings coincides with another unwelcome arrival – that of overly-bright headlights that they believe make driving more difficult due to dazzle and discomfort,” explained Rod Dennis, who is the Senior Policy Officer at the RAC.
“While most of us have no choice other than to adapt to driving at night more often as the clocks go back, the fact headlight glare is the leading cause of nervousness underlines it’s a problem that needs tackling.
“At the same time, it’s important to remember that brighter headlights can give drivers a better view of the road ahead, so there’s a balance to be struck.”
Featured Image – Robin the Bird (via Unsplash)
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Police investigation underway following ‘shocking’ arson at Marple Cenotaph on Bonfire Night
Emily Sergeant
A public appeal for information has been issued after a fire was started near a war memorial in Stockport on Bonfire Night.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is currently investigating after officers were called out around 9:50pm on Bonfire Night (Wednesday 5 November) following reports of a group of males near to the Cenotaph in Marple.
When police arrived at the scene, they found that a fire had been started in a bin and wooden pallets had been set alight – with the ground nearby having been damaged.
Neighbourhood officers in Marple are now investigating and are appealing for information in relation to this incident.
The incident has been described as a reckless act that could have ended with more damage and even serious injury.
“The Cenotaph means a lot to the community and incidents like this are deeply upsetting, particularly at a time when we should be honouring the memory of our war veterans,” explained Sergeant Rachel Walton, of GMP’s Stockport East Neighbourhood Policing Team.
“We are working closely with partners at Stockport Council and the fire service to ensure the area is cleaned and restored.
“We want to identify the individuals responsible, and we will have extra high-visibility patrols in the park each evening leading up to the Remembrance Day service on Sunday (9 November).”
This incident is just one of a total of 350 calls related to fire or fireworks that GMP responded to on Bonfire Night, which is said to be an increase from 203 last year.
A total of 27 arrests were made across Greater Manchester, with four weapons and hundreds of fireworks seized.
Georgina Pellant -
13th December 2021 
