The thousands of hours it takes to perfect making some of the best sushi in Manchester
They say it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill but this bloke's probably gone well beyond that in his time — that's what makes MUSU’s omakase experience so good.
We’d wager if you took a survey of people on the street in Manchester and asked them what food they find most intimidating, a very big chunk of the answers would be sushi and raw fish.
But then again, most of them haven’t been to MUSU yet.
Listen, we get it, even tasting menus sometimes sound a touch upmarket and a bit out of their wheelhouse to some people, but this two AA Rosette-winning Japanese restaurant is helping make fine-dining and seafood experiences more accessible whilst delivering a truly unforgettable meal.
We recently had the pleasure of chatting with Head Sushi Chef André Aguiar after he served us MUSU’s ‘omakase’ tasting menu straight from the counter, which features some of the most amazing sushi, nigiri and all-round high-end produce we’ve ever come across. This guy knows his stuff.
Can you give us a brief overview of your background/journey as a chef?
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I started my career in Brazil which was my home country. I was in the army and met a captain who was passionate about Japanese cuisine. After he introduced me to the world of Japanese culture and cuisine, I knew that’s what I wanted to do.
I then opened a Japanese restaurant in 2010 in Brazil and stayed there for two years before selling the restaurant in order to move to Ireland in order to learn English.
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I met a Japanese master at Taste by Dylan McGrath in Dublin who wanted to retire and move back to Japan but the deal that he had with the owner of the restaurant was that he had to find a new head chef before he left so I started to train with him, he was very strict and it was really tough but I persevered for three years until I was ready to take over the head sushi chef position and was there for 4 years.
After Taste, I moved to Italy for 6 months to open a restaurant and train the staff then came back to Dublin in 2019 and continued to work there but then Covid hit and unfortunately they closed down due to the pandemic.
After the pandemic, I went to Portugal to open another restaurant and to train staff and when working there I was approached by the directors of MUSU who were on holiday there and were looking for a head sushi chef to join the team.
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After they tried my tasting menu at the restaurant in Portugal, they offered me the position immediately, so I moved to the UK the next month and I’ve been here ever since.
Amazing. What was it that drew you to MUSU and the ‘omakase’ concept specifically?
The fact I was able to build a team from the ground up, develop a menu from scratch and work with the finest ingredients in the world.
At the end of the day, that’s what every chef wants.
Simple as that. What about your favourite sushi creation?
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During the development of the menu at MUSU I was able to experiment with lots of different ingredients. While I can’t name one favourite creation the three stand-outs are the Chu-toro seared with Japanese charcoal; the carabinero prawn with miso butter and then the salmon with foie gras.
During development, I was able to create a selection of ‘Edomae’ nigiri that really pushes the boundaries of traditional Edo-style sushi — if you visit I’d recommend trying a few of them.
Yep, we can vouch for all three of those dishes. What advice would you give people new to sushi/seafood/tasting menus?
Most of the people who come here and say they are afraid to try raw fish or have usually had a bad experience with sushi due to low-quality ingredients. When they try it here, we always get asked why it is so different and why it is so good.
I always tell them the details behind the sushi we create including the ageing and curing process to improve flavour and texture as well as the rice quality, temperature and seasoning.
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We use the best ingredients in all of our sushi, including the best sushi rice, nori seaweed; A5 wagyū beef; aged soy, aged vinegar and the freshest wasabi on the market shipped directly from Japan.
I always recommend that people just be open-minded when it comes to trying new things. Sometimes people have one bad experience and never venture into it again, whereas when people are open to new textures and flavours they have the best experience.
Absolutely. And if you had to describe the omakase experience in three words what would they be?
Literally translating to, “I’ll leave the details up to you”, that’s how we’d sum up the whole omakase experience: you get to watch a craftsman carefully examining every minute detail as he builds some of the most incredible seafood courses we’ve ever had the pleasure of eating right in front of your eyes.
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Chef Andre is a master in every sense of the word and not only do you get to see his skills on show but his knowledge of the cuisine and pure passion come across as he explains each and every dish.
Every incredible ingredient is lovingly presented and you get to witness the clean, military-level precision and almost surgery-like operation unfold up close as the freshest of produce is turned into little plates of art. It’s quite fascinating to watch.
So if you’re guilty of being nervous try sushi and seafood in this kind of setting, there aren’t many better places to push the boat out and dip your toes in. Trust us, you won’t be disappointed — and better still, if you sign up for the MUSU Rewards scheme, you can get 30% off your food bill this March and even more throughout the year.
A huge Stanley Chow exhibition featuring inflatable portraits of Manc icons is coming to Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Some of Manchester’s most famous faces are about to get even bigger, with a new Stanley Chow exhibition coming to town this summer.
And rather unusually, the artist’s portraits will be inflatables…
The huge new MCR Made exhibition is set to take over Manchester Arndale from 3 August all the way into the autumn.
Shoppers and locals will be able to admire 13 portraits of Manc icons, which will be up to six metres in length, whether it’s Oasis legends or Suffragettes, football heroes or creative pioneers.
The gigantic inflatable Stanley Chow portraits will be suspended right across the iconic shopping centre for an art trail that celebrates the figures who have shaped the city.
The impossible-to-miss exhibition features famous faces from the worlds of music, sport, science, politics, art and culture.
Along the trail you’ll spot the likes of Liam and Noel Gallagher, Marcus Rashford, Phil Foden, Emmeline Pankhurst, Alan Turing, L.S. Lowry, Lemn Sissay, Caroline Aherne, Aitch, and a host of other trailblazers, all in Stanley’s signature and distinctive style.
MCR Made showcases the work of legendary local artist and illustrator Stanley Chow in an exciting new way, encouraging exploration through photo opportunities and a social media competition.
Stanley Chow said: “The Arndale Centre for me is my Mecca, and I’m sure it is for so many people from Manchester. I’m old enough to remember when it first opened as a shopping centre nearly 50 years ago, and I haven’t stopped coming here since.
Inflatable portraits by Stanley Chow will take over Manchester Arndale this summer
“I’m a proud Mancunian, so I was very flattered and touched to be asked to do this. Art needs to be seen everywhere, and not always necessarily in a gallery. I can’t think of a better place for as many people as possible from all walks of life to be able to see my work presented this way.”
David Allinson, Centre Director at Manchester Arndale, said: “Manchester has always been a city that outperforms and exceeds expectations. Through music, sport, science, politics, creativity and innovation, Manchester’s influence is recognised around the world, and MCR Made celebrates the icons whose talent, ambition and determination helped build that reputation.
“The exhibition feels particularly at home inside Manchester Arndale, itself a Manchester institution that has been woven into the city’s fabric for almost five decades. The shopping centre provides the perfect backdrop for celebrating Manchester, its creativity and the iconic figures behind its global reputation.”
Manchester Arndale will also be giving visitors the chance to own a piece of MCR Made, with 26 limited edition A4 prints signed by Stanley Chow up for grabs. Two prints of each icon have been produced, with winners allocated their artwork at random. To enter, simply follow @manchesterarndale on Instagram and like the competition post.
MCR Made will run at Manchester Arndale from 3 August – 24 October, and is totally free to visit.
P1 Fitness – The Manchester gym that strikes the perfect blend of PT and group-based coaching
Danny Jones
We here at The Manc team are trying to get fit; it can be hard to find time for the gym when you’re busy, not to mention staying in shape when you’ve got a food scene as good as Manchester’s, which is exactly why P1 Fitness Studio is a perfect match for us.
Maybe you’ve fancied giving a personal trainer a go, or even tried a class or two, but perhaps the schedule, the price, the location or some other factor meant it wasn’t for you.
Whatever your reasoning, if you’re the kind of person who can admit they need a bit of a kick up the backside to get their arse in gear and actually stick at this gym lark, we can assure you this is an ideal place to build the right kinds of habits.
And trust us, they’ll keep pushing to make sure it sinks in.
Top-end facilities, secure lockers, every bit of kit you’ll ever need and much more (Credit: The Manc)
Aside from the anti-ego environment in general – you won’t catch anyone staring at themselves in mirrors here – it’s also just nice to be around people with similar lifestyles.
Boasting tonnes of positive reviews online, P1 Fitness is a place for busy professionals who aren’t willing to let work and all other time-consuming parts of ‘adulting’ be an excuse to not carve out less than an hour to better themselves.
And for most people, that really is all it takes to start seeing a difference; two 50-minute sessions might not sound like a lot to some, but the effort you put in during the group workouts is more than enough to get the benefit.
They focus on quality, not quantity, making sure every day that you turn up is worthwhile, and no drop of sweat is wasted.
Better still, they keep the numbers low and even break off into smaller groups to explain and tailor workouts to suit each person.
It’s not just weekly blocks stuck on a wall that you have to stick to: everything is flexible, and they do try and give everyone as much one-on-one attention as possible from the P1 staff.
Here’s what some other members have had to say in their recent testimonials:
“The biggest difference isn’t that I’m fitter and stronger. It’s that I don’t have to think about it anymore. Before P1 I’d spend all week telling myself I needed to go to the gym, then I’d be too tired, it’d be busy, I didn’t know what to do, and I’d end up doing nothing and beating myself up about it.
“Now I just turn up twice a week. Someone tells me what to do, I get coached to do it right, then shower, go back to work and my fitness takes care of itself. It’s one less thing I have to worry about.”
Louise
“I genuinely thought I hated gyms. In fact, when I saw one, I used to cross the street to avoid it… Turns out I hated the ‘usuall’ gym experience. Wondering what I was supposed to be doing, fighting for equipment in the crowd and being self-conscious about my form.
“At P1, I simply walk in, everything’s ready – someone coaches me through the session, we have a laugh in the group, and before I know it I’m finished. I actually look forward to training now, which is crazy.
Damien
One of our very own, Lonnie, says it’s given him a sense of “structure, routine and a community” in the gym like never before, and added that “it’s become that third space where people can come together to better themselves in a fun and unique way.”
Abby is ever the hard-working, friendly face; her husband and fellow co-owner, Peter, is a ‘BFG’ who will always push you to your limits but knows when not to beast you; Ben is a great instructor with a great way of breaking down movements, and Mel is the smiling assassin who is as dedicated as she is smiley.
Then there’s Katie, who is somehow juggling a PhD and working at P1 part-time, all whilst being an absolute Duracell bunny of a trainer. All in all, you couldn’t ask for a better team.
Best of all, you can choose when to register for a session based not only on who you prefer working with, but whatever time suits you; you can even put your name down as last-gasp as you like – in fact, we’ve turned up with five minutes’ notice on more than one occasion.
It’s also great to see that they’re more than happy to roll out a mat or pick up a weight and properly get stuck in there with you.
Put simply: much like you, all of these guys have their own special traits, but one thing they do all have in common is an incredible amount of drive and passion for the work they do, not to mention the knowledge and experience to back it up.
We’re not going to give you any harder of a sell than that; all we’ll say is that we’re feeling more positive about our current fitness journey than we have in a long time, and if you want to make similar progress, P1 might just be for you.
So, if you are truly looking to get fitter in a setting where consistency, accountability and community thrive, consider this your sign to finally get serious.
You can find out more and enquire about joining right HERE.
You won’t find a friendlier team. (Credit: Supplied)
Danny Jones -
23rd February 2024 
