M&S has brought its popular Valentine’s Day dining deal for two back for 2022, and there’s lots of new treats on the menu.
With the international day of love only a couple of weeks away, there’s a lot for lovers to look forward to, and the range of themed meal deals by various supermarket retailers is certainly up there, especially for the foodies who like to treat themselves and tuck into a delicious feast, but still keep things on a more affordable budget.
M&S is known as being one of the original founders of the “dine in for £10” craze, so it’s no surprise that the retailer has brought back its popular Valentine’s Day offer for another year.
This year, savvy shoppers can bag themselves a starter, main, side, dessert, and a bottle of drink or box of chocolates all for just £20 – which works out at £10 a head, and cheaper than your average restaurant meal.
That’s not all either, as customers can save up to £16.50 when buying the items all together too.
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There are over 30 products that are included in the offer this year, and customers can create over 200 different menu combinations too.
M&S has brought its popular Valentine’s Day dining deal for two back for 2022 / Credit: M&S
Some of the options on the menu include Leek & Cheese Soufflé Tarts, and an Oak Fired Melting Camembert to start, as well as a creamy chicken ‘Pie Love You’, or Sirloin Steaks with Heart Shaped butter for the main, before tucking into ‘I’m Bananas for You’ banana sponge with a caramel blonde chocolate mousse and salted caramel sauce, or perhaps the indulgent Billionaires pots.
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Sides include sweet potato fries, buttery mashed potato, and mac and cheese, while some of the drink choices range from the Echo Leyda sauvignon blanc, to the Norton malbec.
For those following a plant-based diet, you can get the Plant Kitchen Vegan Duck Croquettes, two Plant Kitchen Smokey Saffron Aubergine Steaks, Plant Kitchen Sweet Potato Fries, Plant Kitchen Love Heart Churros, and a bottle of Conte Priuli Prosecco
M&S’s Valentine’s Day dining deal for two is available to buy online and in-store from Monday 9 February.
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This means you don’t have much longer to wait to take these tasty treats home, but it’s worth noting that the offer does actually end on Valentine’s Day itself, so you’ll want to make sure you’re prepared if you’re keen to make the most of the offer.
Viral sportswear brand Gymshark is holding a huge free fitness event in Manchester this weekend
Daisy Jackson
Some of the biggest names in the fitness community are coming together for a huge Gymshark event at Manchester Central this weekend.
The fitness brand’s previous Lift events have had queues stretching down the street as thousands flock to see figures from the worlds of lifting, fitness and bodybuilding.
Gymshark’s first post-pandemic Lift event is taking place right here in Manchester, featuring a programme of athlete seminars, meet and greets, competitions, challenges, and prizes – and it’s free.
It promises to be their biggest event yet, with the huge events space split into four zones.
There’ll also be a pop-up shop selling the brand’s activewear range, loved by fitness influencers across the globe.
A previous Gymshark event with Whitney Simmons. Credit: SuppliedGymshark Lift in Manchester in a previous year. Credit: Supplied
Famous faces appearing at Lift this weekend will include Whitney Simmons, whose hilariously honest and educational fitness content has pulled in 3.5m Instagram followers (plus another 2.1m on YouTube and 1.4m on TikTok).
Also taking part are Gymshark’s creative director of lifting David Laid, Instagram star Libby Christensen, and power lifter Jamal Browner.
More than 10,000 tickets have already been sold for Lift at Manchester Central.
Gymshark itself was founded by Ben Francis in his garage in 2012. He used YouTube tutorials – and a little help from his grandmother – to learn to sew.
Now, there are more than 18 million Gymshark customers across 180 countries, and it’s achieved ‘unicorn’ status after being valued at more than £1bn.
The brand turned over around £500m in its last financial year and employs around 800 people worldwide.
You can book your spot at Gymshark’s Lift event at Manchester Central, taking place on 1 and 2 April, here.
The GIANT £375 chocolate Easter egg that’s ‘too beautiful to eat’
Daisy Jackson
One of the north’s most legendary hospitality businesses has created an Imperial Easter Egg, and the effort that goes into crafting it is wild.
Coming in at 10kg, 22 inches tall, and £375, Bettys enormous chocolate treat shows off a whole lot of artistry.
The iconic tearoom, which has sites across Yorkshire, has shared the behind-the-scenes video to its TikTok page, drumming up almost half a million views.
The mouth-watering video shows first milk chocolate being hand-painted onto a chocolate egg-shaped mould to create the Easter egg’s beautiful textured appearance, The Hoot reports.
Then layer after layer of melted chocolate is poured in from a chocolate tap, before being trimmed and tidied.
Bettys, which has tearooms across Harrogate, York, and Leeds, uses the finest Swiss Grand Cru chocolate for its imperial Easter egg, and every bit that’s trimmed away is melted down to reuse elsewhere.
Then a pastry chef at the tearoom will spend up to an hour PER EGG piping on the ornate decorations, carefully piping on coloured white chocolate stems and ferns.
Then colourful royal icing flowers are placed on its surface, each one again hand-piped by their cake decorators.
The end result is a whopping Spring-time masterpiece covered in shades of green, yellow and purple.
Bettys Imperial Easter Egg weighs in at a massive 10kg and stands at 22 inches tall.
Bettys says: “Celebrating the creativity and craft that makes Bettys unique, our handmade Imperial Easter eggs continue a tradition stretching back more than a century, when our founder Frederick Belmont designed eggs which were ornately embellished with hand-piped icing designs.
“Containing over five kilos of Grand Cru Swiss chocolate made from prized Venezuelan criollo cocoa beans, the Imperial Egg is a true work of art, showcasing the highest skills of our chocolatiers and cake decorators.
“Each Imperial Egg carries an array of delicate, individually crafted spring blooms and foliage including primroses, narcissi and pansies, with hand-piped stems as a final perfect touch.
“Our Imperial Easter Egg is made to order and is only available for collection from one of our Yorkshire shops.”
Emily Sergeant -
3rd February 2022 
