Eats

Popular cafe Teacup Kitchen has now vanished from the Northern Quarter

It's been at the heart of the action on Thomas Street for nearly 10 years.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 24th February 2021
Teacup Kitchen

Teacup Kitchen has undeniably been a beloved hangout for many visitors to the Northern Quarter over the last 10 years.

Founded by local DJ, producer and artist Mr Scruff all the way back in 2011, and famous for its wide-ranging food and drinks menu – with more teas than you can name, an ever-changing lineup of freshly-baked cakes and sweets, traditional afternoon teas, and so much more – Teacup Kitchen has been a city centre staple for the best part of a decade.

But unlike other surrounding hospitality businesses, it never fully reopened after first being forced to close amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic back in March 2020.

And now, to the shock of passers-by and without saying a final farewell, the long-standing licensed venue appears to have vanished.

The Thomas Street site where it once stood has now been gutted.

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Not only that either, but the cafe’s dedicated website has also been deactivated and its social media platforms have also fallen silent, with the last post on its Instagram page dating back to 22nd March 2020.

The post directed to loyal customers and followers read: “Unfortunately, due to current circumstances, we will be closing the doors at Teacup until this all blows over.

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“Hopefully we should be back soon [but] in the meantime, keep safe, ride through and do your bit”.

According to emerging reports, the large Thomas Street site where Teacup Kitchen once stood won’t be staying vacant for long though, with Mancunians and visitors to the Northern Quarter set to see a new resident take over once the country emerges from lockdown restrictions in due course.

Jobe Ferguson and Anthony Fielden – both of the nearby Northern Quarter restaurant TNQ – have recently taken over the unit.

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Teacup Kitchen

The pair are said to be launching a new bar and restaurant in Teacup Kitchen’s place in the coming months.

Jobe is also a director at Liar’s Group, the company behind several of Manchester’s most popular bars, including Black Dog Ballroom, Cane & Grain, Science & Industry, Crazy Pedro’s and The Liars Club.

Teacup Kitchen is yet to publicly comment on the final closure of the venue.

Eats

The bottomless BBQ meat feast with endless pints, cocktails and wine

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

A restaurant in Manchester is serving up a bottomless BBQ meat feast with non-stop drinks, and we’re just a little bit obsessed.

Red’s True Barbecue has long been a fixture in Manchester for fans of barbecued meats, but now we all have an extra reason to go: namely, the new Christmas BBQ meat feast.

Served on a giant bin lid, which is actually a lot more appetising than it sounds (don’t worry the lid is clean, we checked), it’s designed to be shared between groups of two or four.

Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats

As part of the feast, you’ll be treated to heaps on heaps of chicken and pork, plus 90 (or 120) minutes of endless pints, festive cocktails, fizz, and wine.

Priced from £48.95 per person, for that you’ll be treated to pork ribs, pulled pork stuffing balls, turkey breast, cheese and jalapeno stuffed sausages, meat pit beans, unholy BBQ XXXL wings, cornbread, mashed potato, fries, onion rings and giant pots of gravy and cranberry sauce.

And that’s not all. There are also the bottomless drinks to consider, with options including pints of lager and cider, plus prosecco, red and white wine and festive cocktails.

Read more: Manchester Christmas Markets named one of the most affordable in the UK

Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats

On the festive cocktail front, choices abound with everything from steaming mugs of hot gin and apple to Red’s take on a pornstar martini.

The cocktail menu also features a bacon-washed old fashioned, smoked negroni and chocolate orange espresso martini, with more tempting options including the likes of the Candy Hi Ball (made with raspberry vodka, pink gin, candyfloss, lemon and cotton candy) and a chilli and mango margarita.

Read more: A super-secret look inside GCHQ’s Manc spy headquarters

Elsewhere, drinkers will find pints of Goose Island IPA, Bud Light and Magner’s Cider on draught, as well as glasses of red and white wine included in the deal.

To find out more and book your table, visit the Red’s True Barbecue website here.

Feature image – The Manc Eats

Eats

Popular London bakery Gail’s to open string of North West cafes next year

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

Popular craft bakery Gail’s has hinted at plans to open a string of new cafes in the North West next year.

The group, which already has a large number of bakery-cafes in the south of England, has announced it will open its first North West site in Wilmslow in early 2023.

Bosses have also said that ‘further locations in the North West’ will be announced in the new year, adding that all the new bakeries will serve GAIL’s artisan sourdough breads, pastries, sandwiches, and cakes alongside its specialty House Blend coffee.

The news also seems to potentially confirm speculation that the brand is planning a move into Manchester after The Manc shared news of potential plans for a Gail”s opening in the city centre in October.

Having already seen planning documents that suggest the chain is planning to take over the former White Stuff unit on King Street, it now appears that more news on that opening will be coming in 2023 – although it’s hard to say if it will be the first Manchester site to be announced.

Read more: Famous London bakery Gail’s tipped to open in Manchester

The bakery group already has strong ties with Manchester, having run its sister wholesale bakery The Bread Factory in Openshaw since 2017.

Formed in the early 1990s by namesake Gail Mejia, Gail’s began when its eponymous founder decided to bring together the best bakers in London to create bakes for the capitals top chefs and restaurants.

Today, is known more as a customer-facing cafe and bakery whilst The Bread Factory continues the original wholesale legacy – supplying high quality, artisan breads to some of the region’s top local restaurants.

Gail’s first cafe opened on Hampstead High Street in 2005, and now the brand has 79 in neighbourhoods in and around London, Oxford, Brighton and more.

Turning back the clock on industrialised baking practices and moving to bake bread as it used to be baked: by hand, using quality ingredients and time-worn artisanal methods, Gail’s soon established a name for itself and has come a long way since those early days.

Still, the stuff that matters – the ethos, the suppliers, the skill and a handful of tried-and-tested sourdough starter cultures – hasn’t changed.

Read more: A traditional cafe serving retro favouties has opened on the third floor of Affleck’s

A champion for sustainability, the bakery also prides itself on minimising food waste by carefully setting aside any leftover food and donating it to a selection of local charities in each eatery’s neighbourhood

To find out more about Gail’s, head over to its website here and follow the bakery on Instagram here.

Feature image – Gail’s

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