Gary Usherhas confirmed his Elite Bistro restaurants will be reopening across the north from next month.
The chef, who runs half a dozen venues in the UK, posted a video to his Twitter on Tuesday morning (July 21) confirming his restaurants will all relaunch on Friday 7 August.
Both the award-winning Hispi in Didsbury and Kala in Manchester city centre are now taking bookings – with tables ready from Wednesday to Sunday afternoon every week.
Wreckfist, Pinion, Burnt Truffle and Walnut will also reopen.
Good morning my loves. Here’s a little video explaining elite bistros new plans. Booking lines are now open to take reservations. Follow the elite bistro link in the bio above if you’d like to book in one of our bistros. We’ve missed you Xhttps://t.co/lgnMsFEyh0
Usher promised there would be a new menu and wine list accompanying the relaunch of his Elite Bistros, explaining that the new chapter was “actually really exciting.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Pan-fried sea bream, pork ribeye and warm salad of king oyster mushroom dishes have all been added to the mains list, along with a variety of sides including truffle and parmesan chips, tenderstem broccoli and roasted beetroot.
Hispi will be serving braised featherblade of beef, Miso glazed squash, pan-roasted cod loin and smoked lamb rump, as well as braised octopus and baked crottin among the starters.
ADVERTISEMENT
Kala has announced an epic-sounding Sunday lunch menu: featuring roast beef, fishcake, pan-fried sea bream and stuffed & rolled pork belly.
?ANNOUNCEMENT?
KALA BISTRO WILL RE-OPEN ON 7TH AUGUST! NOW TAKING BOOKINGS! Link in bio! We absolutely cannot WAIT to welcome you back to Elite ☺️ pic.twitter.com/YAtzFJKr5Y
With regards to hygiene and safety measures, Usher stated: “You can rest assured that we are on top of that and safety is paramount, and we will open according to the new guidelines that the government has set.”
“Come and join us, we’ve missed you, we can’t wait to see you.”
You can book a seat at one of Usher’s famous Elite Bistros online.
Eats
You can get FREE pasta at this UK Italian restaurant chain – but only for one day
Thomas Melia
Popular Italian restaurant chain Bella Italia is giving away free pasta for one day only, and all you have to do is make a donation.
Whether its a colourfully-topped pizza or a seriously slurpy spaghetti, Bella Italia has been serving up a little taste of Italy on our high streets for more than 20 years now, and this Italian eatery’s dishes include everything from calzones, cannelloni, and carbonaras to a variety of pizzas like the meat feast, and the vegetariana – you can’t go wrong.
Even more so when you take advantage of the chain’s latest deal, which sees the company offer out free pasta for one day only.
Taking inspiration from the recent BYOB (Bring Your Own Booze) trend, Bella Italia has put an Italian twist on things, opting for a BYOP (Bring Your Own Pasta) instead.
Bella Italia is offering diners the chance to try one of its tasty pasta dishes for free / Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Pixabay
This Wednesday (15 October) for one day only, diners can bring in a packet of unopened pasta and trade it for a free pasta main of your choice.
The pasta that you bring in will be transformed into some of Bella Italia’s delicious dishes, before being donated to local food banks across the country.
This deal is valid for tables of up to six at a time, as long as every guest brings a packet of pasta with them when they dine in.
So, if you’re up for sampling some classic pasta dishes while also saving a pretty penne or two, make sure you head down to Bella Italia for this one day only offer.
The closest Bella Italia location for Mancs would be one of its three Greater Manchester sites in Ashton-under-Lyne, Bolton, and Salford Quays – but you can find your nearest spot HERE.
Bella Italia is hosting its BYOP day (Bring Your Own Pasta) on Wednesday 15 October, and all you have to do is trade an unopened packet of pasta to receive a FREE pasta main.
Featured Image – Aleksandra Tanasiienko (via Unsplash)
Eats
Five fantastic freebies and offers for the 2025 Manchester Half marathon
Danny Jones
It’s nearly time: not just for the Manchester Half but, more importantly, the freebies and offers you can get for running it.
Let’s be honest, not everyone loves running for literal miles just for the sake of it; a lot of people need motivation, and besides an inspiring cause, you’d be surprised how many people will get out of bed for something as simple as free stuff.
You might be one of them – you are here reading this, after all.
There’s no long-winded preamble or intro needed to set this up, so let’s just crack on. Here are five brilliant freebies you can get with a 2025 Manchester Half Marathon medal.
What freebies you can get with a Manchester Half finisher’s medal
Now, you’ll be glad to know that most of these are completely gratis, but we thought we’d mention some others that stuck out to us as well.
1. Free fizz on The Refuge
First up, how about some free fizz? Well, that’s exactly what you can get this Sunday, 12 October, if you’ve just run the 2025 Manchester Half-marathon.
Participants can head to The Refuge inside the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel after the race to claim a well-earned glass of prosecco – available to the first 100 finishers on a first-come, first-served basis.
2. Complimentary food and drink at Circolo Popolare
Next up, it doesn’t get much better than a free pizza and a cold one; that’s what Circolo Popolare in Gary Neville’s stunning St. Michael’s building are offering.
Just show your medal and enjoy a free margherita pizza plus your choice of either an ice-cold beer or a refreshing virgin cocktail. Prego!
3. You’ve got to be quick to get House of Social’s freebie
Speaking of free drinks, the first 50 runners who use the last of their energy to dash over to House of Social this Sunday and enjoy a pint on the house.
All you have to do is present your medal when ordering to snap up a beer at absolutely no cost. So we’ll see you there, basically.
Self-explanatory, really. The student favourite that used to be the old Footage pub on Oxford Road is offering up a limited amount of free pints to runners, just make sure you show your medal at the bar.
To be honest, even if it wasn’t free, we’d still probably spend a good few hours here sinking affordable pints because it is absolute VIBES at this gaff.
Last but not least, if you’re looking for a lovely carby reward in the city centre, you’re obviously spoilt for choice, but Italiana Fifty Five are offering a free starter when booking and presenting your 2025 finisher’s medal upon arrival.
Available at all Greater Manchester locations, the Italian eatery formerly known as Cibo always delivers good offers, and race day for the MCR Half is no different.
🏃♀️ Running the MCR Half this Sunday?
Celebrate your finish line moment at Italiana Fifty-Five, Manchester 🇮🇹
Show us your medal and enjoy a FREE starter with your meal! 🍝✨
Oh yeah, it might not be a freebie per se, but as one of the busiest post-marathon celebration spots anywhere in Greater Manchester, The Wharf is obviously getting involved beforehand as well.
This year, the canalside Castlefield favourite is serving up sausage and bacon butties from 10-11:30am before the usual Sunday roast service kicks in as normal from 12pm. Now we’ve just got to pray for good beer garden weather.
We hope you get to make the most of these freebies and others Manchester Half offers after your race is run, because let’s be honest, running 13.1 miles (21 and a bit kilometres for you metric heads) is a fair bit of effort, so you deserve a treat.
It goes without saying that there’s probably plenty more SWAG to be snapped up in and around the city that we’ve missed, so make sure to let your fellow runners know about them down in the comments.
Finally, if you’re still feeling uncertain about anything to do with the race itself, you can find our full Manchester Half Marathon guide down below.
The Manc -
21st July 2020 
