Trending

The Botanist launches new ‘build your own brunch’ board with over 98,280 different combinations

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 8th June 2022

We already take brunch very seriously here in Manchester, but now one of the city’s most popular restaurants is taking it to a whole new level.

The Botanist has always been known for its imaginative food and drink creations, but now, the restaurant chain has unveiled a huge new brunch menu at the beginning of this month, and it’s giving diners the chance to build their own brunch board – with endless options and combinations to choose from.

The brand-new concept from the restaurant chain – which has a number of sites in Greater Manchester and across the North West – lets you select five small plates from a choice of 28 different options. 

Your chosen five dishes come served on a “very Instagrammable” wooden board, and it’s priced at £15.95 per person.

If you’re really hungry though, extra dishes can be added for an additional £3 each. 

The Botanist has launched a new ‘build your own brunch’ board concept / Credit: The Botanist

So, how does the build your own brunch board actually work then?

Well, it’s split into five categories – bakery, protein punch, hearty, on the side, and sweet treat – to give you a wide range of mouthwatering options, with some of the dishes including Ham Hock Egg Benedict, Croque Monsieur, Smoked Trout and Salmon Pate, Acai Berry Protein Smoothie, and Nutella and Biscoff French Toast. 

Read more: You can win a ‘black card’ that gives you free kebabs every day at The Botanist

There’s plenty of options suitable for vegans and those following a plant based diet too, with dishes including Scrambled Tofu with sundried tomato oil and toasted seeds, Plant Based Cumberland Sausage, Mini Hash Browns, and Passion Fruit and Chia Yoghurt. 

There’s over 98,280 different combinations to choose from / Credit: The Botanist

Diners can either choose one dish from each section to create a balanced board of options, or choose any five dishes they like from the full list.

This means there’s a total of a whopping 98,280 different combinations to create.

That’s not all either as there’s a drinks package upgrade too, with new brunch cocktails that have expertly-crafted by The Botanist’s in-house “cocktail wizards”, including Smoked Rose-Mary, Campari G&T, and Watermelon Garibaldi, as well as a range of nourishing and freshly-prepared Juice Boosts.

The Botanist Brunch is now available from 9am at participating sites, although specific service days and times vary depending on individual venues, and you can find out more information here.

Featured Image – The Botanist

Trending

Some Oasis fans are only just discovering who ‘Cast No Shadow’ is dedicated to

Danny Jones Danny Jones Noel Gallagher wrote Cast No Shadow about Oasis

Die-hard Oasis fans typically pride themselves on knowing the most intricate details about the band and its history, from where the first demos were recorded and when, to how Peggy Gallagher takes her tea, but we were surprised to learn that many don’t know who ‘Cast No Shadow’ is dedicated to.

Fans are already queuing up outside Heaton Park ahead of the Manc band’s massive homecoming, but we’d be curious to quiz how many of them know the story behind the track taken from Oasis’ seminal sophomore album, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?

It seems that until very recently, even some of the most avid Britpop fans were unaware that the song was written with another icon of the genre and local music legend in mind: Richard Ashcroft.

While claiming it was written about him would be too reductive, and Noel Gallagher himself has openly clarified this, he has also regularly made it known that the tune and some of the lyrics, in particular, act as somewhat of an ode to the Wigan wordsmith.

The elder Gallagher brother has long maintained a deep level of admiration for Ashcroft, citing him as one of the best singer-songwriters he’s ever come across, and regularly felt like both he and The Verve were not given the recognition they deserved at the time.

As touched upon briefly in the clip above, Noel dedicated the track to his friend Richard around the time that he split from his bandmates and began writing solo material, much of which has gone on to become beloved by countless Brits, certainly here in the North and Greater Manchester.

The now 58-year-old Oasis songwriter believes the ‘Bittersweet Symphony’, ‘A Song for the Lovers’ and ‘They Don’t Own Me’ writer, just to name a very small but stellar sample size, was overlooked for far too long and, to some degree, still is massively underappreciated.

We tend to agree.

In fact, we think he put it best when he said this in a BBC Radio 1 interview back in 1997: “I don’t write songs about many people – I’ve written songs about him [Liam], I’ve written songs about me mam, I’ve written songs about my wife, I’ve written songs about Richard Ashcroft.”

“That man is a genius, and I tell you what, man, he ain’t doing it for himself: he’s doing it for me. He has got to be a better songwriter than me, and in return, I’ve got to write better songs than him. That’s what it’s about.”

‘Cast No Shadow’ also led to one of the most beautiful but subtle pieces of art you can find anywhere in Manchester – a personal favourite of ours, we’ll confess.

Noel has revealed on multiple occasions that when he first played and revealed that he’d dedicated ‘Cast No Shadow’ to Ashcroft, Richard himself was left nearly ‘in tears’.

Speaking to The Guardian back in 2010, just a year after Oasis parted ways on the painful night in Paris, Ashcroft himself confessed: “I can’t work out if he means I’m a witch, vampire or just incredibly emaciated and thin cos, you know, I haven’t really got enough body mass to cast a shadow?”

You’d have to ask the ‘Champagne Supernova’ creator himself, but he’s said that while written directly about him, it is a tribute to his “genius”, and when his friend and fellow Greater Mancunian artist finally got his number one for ‘The Drugs Don’t Work’, he said he was “the happiest man in the world.”

His love for The Verve as a whole still remains, too, insisting that just like Liam’s love for The Stone Roses’ John Squire, he believes lead guitarist Nick McCabe is still “one of the best” he’s ever seen.

The Live ’25 reunion has don’t plenty to reignite and an already firm love affair with one of the biggest bands there’s ever been, and it’s also encouraged a whole new generation and demographic of fans to dig further down into the various facets of being Oasis fans involves. Exhibit B…

Explaining the ‘Poznań’ and why Oasis fans are doing it at their Live ’25 reunion tour gigs

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — manc_wanderer (via Instagram)/Simon Q (via Flickr)

Trending

Nostalgic ready-to-drink Breezer makes UK return after a decade

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Nostalgic ready-to-drink Breezer makes UK return after a decade

An iconic ready-to-drink favourite has launched back into the UK – oh yes, Breezer is back. 

First launched in the 1990s, Breezers – then pitched as an ‘alcopop’ – were a staple on dancefloors and at barbecues right across the UK. 

And now Bacardi has decided to bring these delicious, fruity, easy-drinking bottles back to British shores. 

There are three new flavours to try as Breezers return to your fridges – Zesty Orange, Zingy Lime, and Crisp Watermelon.

And Breezer launched back into Manchester last night with a suitably memorable party, turning a spot in the Northern Quarter into a corner shop. 

The ‘local Cornerbop’ was stacked with your usual essentials, plus shelf after shelf of these colourful glass ready-to-drink bottles. 

Nostalgic ready-to-drink Breezer makes UK return after a decade
Inside the Breezer ‘Cornerbop’ corner shop in Manchester
Nostalgic ready-to-drink Breezer makes UK return after a decade
Breezer is back, in three new flavours

The Breezer relaunch party saw Tarsza and Rennie Peters spinning nostalgic anthems with a modern twist at a pop-up party in a corner shop.

Steve Young, business unit director for Bacardi in the UK & Ireland, said: “We know there is a lot of love for Breezer in the UK, and we are confident a new generation of consumers will fall in love with the new Breezer.

“RTDs are booming, however, the Flavoured Alcoholic Beverages category could do with a bit more excitement. By bringing back Breezer we’re definitely putting the fruity taste into FAB.”

The iconic ready-to-drink classic is back – and better than ever. 

Follow @breezer on Instagram for more.

18+, please drink responsibly.

Read more

Featured image: The Manc Group

More Trending

Audio

Explaining the ‘Poznań’ and why Oasis fans are doing it at their Live ’25 reunion tour gigs

Trending

Nearly a quarter of Brits are making cups of tea ‘all wrong’, new survey reveals

Levi's Live '25 Oasis collection

Art & Culture

Levi’s are the latest fashion brand to launch an Oasis collection

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches