Manchester vegan and veggie junk food favourite Wholesome Junkies has found a new permanent home in the archways behind Victoria Station.
Taking over the former Umezushi space at 4 Mirabel Street, owner Chelsea Campbell shared the news with followers on Instagram on Wednesday in an ecstatic post.
She said: “After years of heartbreak searching for the perfect space, we’ve finally got our own place to call home.”
“Follow our journey as we take these next few months to make it into a Wholesome Junkies Restaurant.”
Revealing plans to start a KickStarter in the next few weeks, Chelsea shared her hope that their 43,000+ followers would be able to help make her long-standing dream of opening a restaurant space a reality.
She first shot to fame in 2018 after appearing on BBC2’s Million Pound Menu, when she appeared on the show, filmed in Spinningfields, to ask for 95,000 to open her own restaurant in Manchester.
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Prior to that, she’d been running her Wholesome Junkies concept as a street food pop-up at sites like Grub and Ancoats General Store.
Whilst her bid to impress the BBC judges was not successful at the time, the TV appearance put her on the map and within a year she had her own Arndale market stall – moving into a newly developed section alongside the likes of Holy Crab and Blue Caribou poutine.
The popular kitchen has been operating successfully from here since 2019, but now it’s taking an exciting new step forward in its journey.
Set to open in a number of months, most likely sometime later this summer, the space is small and will offer an intimate dining experience. When home to Umezushi, it seated just 20 diners.
As for Umezushi, widely considered one of the best sushi restaurants in the city (and now turned members-only), its Japanese Omakase experience will move into Unit 3 for the month of April – the former home of The Sparrows restaurant.
When she first began venturing into the world of vegan cooking, the culture still had a stigma of lentils, chickpeas, and ‘rabbit food’.
Chelsea, it’s fair to say, has been a large part of reshaping that narrative here in Manchester through Wholesome Junkies.
Known for taking familiar dishes and putting her own twist on them, she has built up a loyal following with her vegan junk food concept.
Given the arrival in recent years of competitiors from out of town – Frost Burgers, V Rev, JJ’s Vish and Chips and What The Pitta, just to name a few -now seems the perfect time to expand into a new permanent home.
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Her full social post read: “NEW RESTAURANT LOCATION REVEALED
“…. It’s in our hometown Manchester!
“After years of heartbreak searching for the perfect space, we’ve finally got our own place to call home
“Follow our journey as we take these next few months to make it into a Wholesome Junkies Restaurant
“We will be launching a Kickstarter in the next few weeks to help us complete the restaurant and we will need all the help we can get
“Lots more details to follow, stay tuned and come along on our journey with us
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“Where ? Unit 4, Mirabel St, M3 1PJ
“WE LOVE YOU, spread the news!”
To keep up with Wholesome Junkies journey and restaurant build over the coming months, follow the eatery on Instagram here.
Feature image – Wholesome Junkies
