Popular Manchester sandwich spot Mira,best known for its saucy Neapolitan cuzzetiello sandwiches, has opened a new location in the Northern Quarter today.
But the ragu-topped cuzzetiello on which it built its name is out – and so, conveniently, is the name.
In its place, the newly revamped sandwich spot Must Be Micky’s is serving a new menu focusing on freshly baked foccacia sandwiches – a substantial, if sometimes overlooked, feature of the old Mira offering.
These come stuffed with house-made fillings like roasted cauliflower with red pepper sauce, Italian salami and black pepper mayo, and mustard pickled pears with Swiss cheese, all encased within pillow-soft foccacia loaves sourced from the newly opened Half Dozen Other bakery in Manchester’s Green Quarter.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Now available from its new kitchen in Ply as well as at The Picturedrome in Macclesfield, further sandwich choices include the vegan-friendly Cauli Cartel (roast cauliflower, smashed avocado, red pepper sauce, toasted cashews, pickled red onion, lettuce and lime zest menu), and the Trumo, a chunky crisp buttie with black pepper mayo, olive tapenade, Italian salami, truffle oil and Fior di Latte mozzarella.
Elsewhere on the menu you’ll find crispy smashed roastie-style potatoes topped with the likes of vegan cashew pesto and butter flavoured with chilli and lime.
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Washed down with refreshing house-made sodas in flavours like cream, cherry vanilla, lemon, and lime and pineapple, the new menu sees the team behind original sandwich hit Mira refine their offering after three years slinging butties to the good people of Manchester.
Serving in Ply from 11.30am-4pm, the team will provide a lunchtime service Tuesday to Sunday from their new home just off Stevenson Square. You can also find them serving the new menu up in Macclesfield at The Picturedrome.
Owners Mike Swain and Rhea Nickson first landed on the sandwich scene in 2021 with a pop-up at Ancoats pub The Crown and Kettle, and Mira’s Genovese stew and meatball-stuffed hollowed-out subs became a near-overnight hit.
Since then, they’ve gone on to host a string of successful pop-ups at the likes of Ancoats General Store and, more recently, the Cloudwater pub The Sadler’s Cat, as well as running a popular kitchen at The Picturedrome in Macclesfield.
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Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Whilst their sarnies are top-notch, things haven’t always been easy going. Earlier this year, owners saw their NOMA pop-up sprayed with hot sauce ‘like a Formula 1 driver celebrating a Grand Prix win’ after vandals broke in and trashed it in February.
But now, it looks like things are once again on the up as Mira becomes Must Be Micky’s and debuts what is, frankly, a stunning new sandwich menu set to give other established dealers of things in bread a good run for their money.
To keep up to date with all things Must Be Micky’s make sure to follow them on Instagram here.
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Middleton to receive a cinema and Metrolink as part of regeneration plans
Thomas Melia
Greater Manchester town Middleton is about to undergo a huge facelift thanks to a new regeneration project, including a new cinema and Metrolink tram station.
Middleton is one of many bustling communities that make up the borough of Rochdale, and with these new plans, the town might receive a fair few new visitors who want to know what it’s all about.
The Greater Manchester town is undergoing a huge transformation with regeneration plans confirming that Middleton will receive a brand new cinema complex along with an extended Metrolink line as part of the Bee Network expansion covering this area.
This is all thanks to Middleton teaming up with the Mayor to launch the Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC), which pushes forward regeneration plans for the town and future ideas.
Middleton Shopping Centre right in the heart of the town centre.Middleton Town Centre bustling as the markets take place.Credit: Steven Haslington (via Geograph)/@Rept0n1x (via Flickr)
The MDC considers lots of aspects of the town and even aims to create new homes and improve surrounding public spaces.
Middleton regeneration plans have been floated previously, but complications arose due to a lack of land and available funding, which ultimately brought these foundations to a halt.
Now it seems the green light has been lifted and Middleton is about to get a whole new facelift, which will not only improve the town economically but aesthetically too, along with the wider Rochdale region.
For many Middletonians, the idea of a cinema may have felt like a distant memory, with their last big screen location shutting down just over a decade ago.
This all-new high street regeneration will not only bring an array of shopping favourites back to the town centre but also the long-awaited return of a local cinema. Most importantly, the plans also include a slate of new housing, with an estimated 300 apartments set to be created in one building alone.
Early CGIs of the proposed Middleton regeneration plans.Grade II-listed Warwick Mill looks set to be turned into flats.Credit: Publicity Picture (supplied)
This all falls in line with the ‘Atom Valley scheme‘, which has been commissioned in order to generate over 20,000 job opportunities for people in Bury, Oldham and Rochdale.
The scheme also mentions how it aims to bring a combined economic boost of around £1 billion to these previously mentioned areas.
Rochdale Borough Council leader, Neil Emmott, said: “The development of 1.2 million square metres of employment space around the junction 19 area will help to generate 20,000 high-quality jobs and bring a £1 billion economic boost.”
Featured Image — Publicity Pictures (supplied via Rochdale Borough Council)
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Scouting For Girls announce stacked UK tour with Manchester date
Thomas Melia
British boyband Scouting For Girls are heading out on an extensive UK tour with dates up and down the country, including right here in Manchester.
If the first thing that pops into your mind when you read this headline is “I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know how we’ll make it through this”, then you’re on the right side of history.
Nearly 20 years since their single ‘She’s So Lovely’ reached catastrophic heights and had everyone putting on their best Roy Stride accent, Scouting For Girls are heading back on the road.
This UK tour announcement comes two years after their last project, The Place We Used To Meet, reached our ears and was coined by the band as “Our best work since our debut”.
It’s been 18 years since this Brit trio captivated our hearts with their eponymous debut album, which sold over one million copies and went number one on the UK official charts for two weeks.
Whether you know them for ‘Heartbeat’ or ‘Elvis Ain’t Dead’, it’s clear to say this band had their fair share of smash hit singles throughout the noughties.
This tour, however, celebrates the sophomore follow-up: Everybody Wants To Be On TV, which went on to continue their legacy and secure them their only number one, ‘This Ain’t A Love Song’, back in 2010.
Now, the boys are treating UK fans to an array of live performances, and if you can’t make one date, fear not because there are 20 different locations for you to choose from.
The group will also be playing the likes of Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle and a whole host of other Northern cities, so you have plenty of chances to catch them.
If you can’t wait all the way until March 2026 for your next Scouting For Girls fix, lead singer Stride has his own cameo account where you can get the star to read out a message or even sing you a song: “‘Michaela Strachan’ in full, please?…”
Scouting For Girls are coming to O2 Apollo in Manchester on 21 March 2026, with tickets going on sale next Friday, 2 May at 10am HERE.
Georgina Pellant -
25th July 2023 
