One of the Northern Quarter’s best restaurants has left fans startled after an email sent on Thursday night suggested it could be its doors for good.
District, Ben Humphrey’s new-wave Thai BBQ restaurant and bar, wrote in a newsletter to subscribers that 1 October would ‘mark the end’.
The email, sent on the evening of 22 September 2022, included this message in all-caps:
“RECENT EVENTS HAVE TAKEN THEIR TOLL AND WE ARE FACING EXTREME ECONOMICAL PAIN.
“A FINAL COMING TOGETHER OF THE OFF-WORLD VIGILANTES TO OVERTHROW THE TYRANNICAL RULE IS THE ONLY ROUTE TO SURVIVAL.
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01/10/22 MARKS THE END”
The news left fans of the Michelin-recommended restaurant in a panic, with its booking system only taking reservations up to 1 October.
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Then on Friday afternoon, District uploaded a story to its Instagram page suggesting that it was not the end after all – and that something new would be coming in its place in November.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
A computerised voice read out the following message, which also appeared on the screen:
“Greetings citizens of the world, recent events have taken their toll and we are facing extreme economic pain.
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“We are now tasked with overthrowing the District regime. It is time for change.
“October 1 marks the end.
“November [inaudible] marks the beginning.”
Since it opened in 2020, District has staked its reputation on its inflexible tasting menu experiences that don’t allow for substitutes.
Deposits have always been required up front, and adaptions have famously never been made for a customer’s dislikes, or even religious needs
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In August last year, in a bid to draw in more diners, it announced it was flipping the script – giving customers the option to come in for a few plates and drinks of their choice, tapas style.
Now it appears that owners are having a rethink once again, with more information on what to come currently being kept under wraps .
Manchester’s hospitality scene has seen a record number of closure announcements this year as businesses struggle with rising energy bills, food costs, and record-high inflation.
A staggering number of businesses have closed down in recent months. This summer alone, popular restaurants Lattsam, The Globe in Chorlton, Frost Burgers, JJ’s Vish and Chips and Home Sweet Home have all closed up shop for good.
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Northern Quarter steak restaurant Herd NQ has also announced it is closing up shop for good this week.
The closures follow a government-announced blanket support package, unveiled this week to help businesses with their energy costs.
The package essentially introduces a six-month emergency price cap, meaning that electricity prices for business customers will still be about double what they were in October 2021, when the price per megawatt hour was £117, but more than half the forecast winter prices of about £540.
Whilst the fact that something has at last been done has been quietly welcomed by the hospitality sector, there are already concerns that the measures do not go far enough, particularly as the changes only apply to new contracts from 1 October, and to fixed contracts taken out since 1 April.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
News
Record 29 million people expected to drive home for Christmas this year
Emily Sergeant
Drivers are being told to prepare for long queues, as a record number of festive trips are predicted across the UK ahead of the big day.
With the festive season generally known to make the roads nationwide busier than usual, travel warnings have now been issued to all those making Christmas getaway trips for the holidays – with an annual study by the RAC and INRIX suggesting that 29 million journeys are planned before Christmas Day arrives.
Nearly half of these journeys (14.3 million) are set to be crammed into this coming weekend.
But, as Christmas falls mid-week this year, the figures suggest there will be an extended period of ‘pre-Christmas panic’ on the roads, with 5.7m trips taken yesterday and today alone.
The true festive getaway kicks off tomorrow (20 December), with an expected 3 million trips on this day, before the figure then jumps up to 3.7 million and 2.9 million this coming weekend (Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 December) – which is the final weekend before the big day itself.
A record 29 million people expected to drive home for Christmas this year / Credit: Geograph
By far the single busiest day, however, has to be Christmas Eve, with 3.8 million separate getaway journeys expected by car, on top of the final flurries of commuter traffic.
To make matters worse for everyone, the RAC’s research has also revealed that a further 4.7 million trips are expected at some point between the 20 and 22 December, and 2.5 million on either the 23 or 24 December, all coming from motorists who haven’t yet decided which day they’ll travel.
When it comes to the best and worst times to travel over the festive period, the research has revealed that the worst time to travel along major routes will be between 1pm and 7pm, especially tomorrow and Saturday, so both the RAC and INRIX are suggesting that drivers set off early in the morning, or later in the evening when the heaviest of the traffic should have subsided.
After the big day, there are an additional 4.4 million trips predicted on Boxing Day and 3.8 million on Friday 27 December.
On these days, drivers are advised to avoid major roads during the hours of 10am to 3pm, which is when journeys are expected to take significantly longer than usual.
A third of Brits want police to immediately ban drink drivers at the roadside
Emily Sergeant
A third of Brits support giving police powers to immediately ban drink drivers at the roadside, a new survey has revealed.
Ahead of the festive travel season, where a record number of people are expected to hit the road and make journeys all across the UK over the next couple of days, the RAC has asked more than 2,500 drivers to give their thoughts on the state of the roads for 2024’s edition of the Report on Motoring, and found that tougher sentences were the most popular solution among motorists for tackling the problem of drink-driving.
With instances of drink-driving said to be responsible for the deaths of some 300 people in 2022 – which is when the latest data on this was collected – four in 10 motorists (38%) believe harsher sentences are the answer.
A third of drivers (33%) also support giving the police new powers to immediately disqualify drink-drivers at the roadside once they’ve been stopped.
A third of Brits want police to immediately ban drink drivers at the roadside / Credit – Vladimir Proskurovskiy (via Unsplash)
The idea that convicted drink-drivers should have alcohol interlocks, also known as ‘alcolocks’, fitted to their vehicles to prevent them driving if they have any alcohol in their system, was favoured by 32% of those questioned by the RAC.
A similar number of drivers (31%) also want to see roadside breathalyser testing increased.
When it comes to drug drivers, results from the RAC’s survey are a similar story, only higher – with almost two-thirds of all drivers (64%) supporting tougher sentencing for drug-drivers, and 56% saying they would like to see increased levels of roadside testing.
Just under half (49%) of motorists questioned want the police to be able to immediately disqualify drug-drivers at the roadside.
Speaking on the findings from the RAC’s survey, Chief Constable Jo Shiner, who is the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for roads policing, commented: “In policing, we see the damaging impact of drink and drug driving all too often, and every fatality or serious injury which happens as a consequence of this is completely avoidable.
“Driving under the influence of drink or drugs puts everyone at risk – individuals, families, businesses and whole communities.
Georgina Pellant -
23rd September 2022 
