Hidden above the Michelin-recommended Wood restaurant on First Street is an intimate little eatery with a menu dedicated entirely to cheese.
Launched by Masterchef winner Simon Wood, it’s a certified cheese lover’s heaven.
From blue and stinky to mild, creamy, and soft to hard and tangy, if there’s a particular cheese style that floats your boat you’re more than likely to find it on the 20-strong cheese menu.
Image: The Manc Eats
Called Homage (a mixture of Home and Fromage), it’s Manchester’s (and the UK’s) first-ever fine dining restaurant dedicated to cheese and wine – and it’s rather special if we do say so ourselves.
Since opening last November it’s become one of Manchester’s better-kept secrets, sequestered as it is above the main restaurant in a former private dining room-turned restaurant space.
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Some opt to enjoy a few cheese courses up here after dinner, others come for an entire meal of cheese. Having seen the menus, both options are equally appealing.
Inside, it’s plush and very intimate with space for just 12 covers a night – with a sommelier on hand to advise on the best wine pairings.
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Image: The Manc Eats
You can dine A La Carte style, picking your own cheeses and wines from the extensive list, or opt for a miniature tasting menu from £40 that expertly pairs five different styles together for you.
The kitchen creates all of its own fennel seed crackers, preserves and chutneys in-house, and each individual portion of cheese comes with its own paired chutney, which is specially designed to bring out the cheese’s unique flavours.
Think robust and nutty Nottinghamshire Stitchelton paired with powdered beetroot and beetroot assiete, roasted and blitzed in house; oozing Camembert de Normandie served with bacon, onion and confit garlic; or a triple cream truffle cheese called Brillat Savarin au Truffe and you’ll get the idea.
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Image: The Manc Eats
This is not just any old cheese board with a few token grapes and water biscuits.
We’re talking individual plates of cheese, all with their own specially created pairings. Oh, and, currently, a lovely little cheese and onion-baked bean pie – just to prove they don’t take themselves too seriously.
For those who aren’t quite sure what they like, every cheese on the menu comes with its own flavour profile description and a couple of paired drink suggestions.
You really can’t go wrong. Open in the week from 5pm and from 12pm on the weekends, you’ll find Homage on Jack Rosenthal Street within the First Street development of the city.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
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News
Mancs advised ‘do not travel’ today amid MAJOR region-wide train disruption
Daisy Jackson
Passengers across the North West are being told not to travel today, after a power failure triggered major disruption across the region.
A vast number of trains have been cancelled in and out of Greater Manchester due to the failure at Manchester Rail Operating Centre (ROC).
The disruption started earlier this afternoon but is expected to continue across all operator routes until the end of the day.
Now, rail operators are issuing ‘do not travel’ notices, and ticket acceptance has been put in place across all Bee Network buses and Metrolink services.
A statement shared by Manchester City Council: “Due to a power failure at the Manchester Rail Operating Centre (ROC), there is major disruption on the rail network across Greater Manchester, the north west of England and the Midlands.
“Delays and cancellations are expected on all operator routes across Greater Manchester until the end of today (Thursday 6th August). Rail operators have issued a do not travel notice with travel advice and the latest information HERE.
“Ticket acceptance is in place on all Bee Network buses and Metrolink services across Greater Manchester.”
All Brewers Fayre and Beefeater locations across the UK are closing down
Danny Jones
It looks to be the end for not one but two of Britain’s best-known and long-running restaurant franchises, as Brewers Fayre and Beefeaters will be closing down all of their locations.
Dating back to the mid-1970s, there will soon be none left anywhere in the country
The pair of recognisable chains, owned by parent company Whitbread PLC – who also own Premier Inn, hence why they usually come as a joint package – have nearly 200 sites across the UK, but they are already in the process of a wholesale shutdown.
News of the impending closures first began circulating back in April, but now the process is said to be fully underway, with multiple Greater Manchester names on the chopping block.
A real shame all brewers fayres are closing down. As a member they’ve sent me a last free main. So enjoying a mixed grill pic.twitter.com/EIHMZ7LCvv
— Daniel Turner⚽️ 🏟️ 1️⃣1️⃣5️⃣8️⃣ (@puffpuff65) August 4, 2026
With roughly 3,800 staff set to be made unemployed as part of the major restructuring by Whitbread, the job cuts will see approximately 12% of their workforce laid off from a total of around 30,000.
One local duo due to face the music is the soon-to-close Stable Gate in Denton and Wheatlea Park in Wigan – both of which are Brewers Fayre branches.
89 of the brand’s boozers have been given until early September (some dates may vary) to shut up shop and hold not just their last orders, but their final dinner service full stop.
The rest of the venues closing next month are Beefeater pubs, including the Heaton Park one in Crumpsall, The Quay House at Salford Quays, and the Whitgate Inn over Oldham way.
As for others nearby, Macclesfield’s Springwood Park is also set to close.
The older of the two British mainstays is Beefeater, which was founded by Whitbread back in 1974 when they opened their first pub, The Halfway House, down in Enfield.
Brewers debuted up North in ’79, with a maiden watering hole called The Farmers Arms in Preston, before going on to open several locations around Lancashire and eventually nationwide.
Most of you will likely have visited or at the very least passed one of those food and drink spots in your time, and while they may be more associated with hotels and service stations these days, they still served as regular haunts for plenty of people who will no doubt be gutted to see them go.
Speaking of services, another big name is expanding further into the North West.
Georgina Pellant -
25th March 2022 
