January 2026 - Neil Sowerby

All the winners from the MFDF Awards 2025 on a night celebrating community

The only hospitality awards that really count in Manchester continue to delight and surprise. Now in their 28th year the Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards returned to New Century Hall for a celebration of the resilience of the city and region in testing times. 18 winners were announced from food and drink establishments with 130 outstanding venues, producers and traders nominated, Standards were incredibly high

On the flip side were the restaurants and bars that went under in 2025. Some were listed by co-host Matt White in his introduction in a poignant reminder of the knife-edge hospitality is on. It was a lovely moment when Neighbourhood Venue of the Year Stretford Canteen paid tribute to fellow nominees fromdown the road, The Perfect Match, who didn’t make it into 2026.

he Restaurant of the Year wasn’t entirely unexpected – Michelin-starred Skof, just a stagger across Sadler’s Yard from last night’s awards venue. Its chef patron Tom Barnes, now in his mid-30s, was once a kitchen prodigy. The same applies to Matt Bennett, named Chef of the Year for his excellence at Prestwich’s The Pearl after sous chef stints at Mana, Ancoats and Gidleigh Park, Devon. Matt’s youthful looks were captured by Stanley Chow in a portrait presented on-stage by the acclaimed artist, who sponsored the category. A new MFDF innovation, it all added to the surprise value for 27-year-old Matt, surely our youngest ever Chef of the Year winner.

Overall sponsor of the Awards was Therme Manchester – in their words, a transformational large-scale wellbeing destination which will feature pools, saunas, waterslides, and wellbeing therapies set to complete construction in late 2028.

As part of the partnership this year’s awards saw the first, ‘Community Food and Drink Project of the Year’ created. This new category recognises and celebrates the outstanding food and drink initiatives making a real difference in Greater Manchester, the prize a £1,000 funding boost from Therme as well as a further £2,000 to kick off a joint legacy project. The inaugural (and well deserved) winner was Platt Fields Market Garden.

Ben Dutson, Head of Food Operations at Therme Manchester is looking forward to continuing their support: “We’re delighted to have sponsored this year’s awards and play a part in supporting and celebrating the brilliant food and drink businesses that make Manchester such a phenomenal place.

“Therme is all about living well and having fun – and making wellness more accessible for the community, so I can’t think of a better way of embodying that than by supporting all the great businesses and community groups that we have recognised tonight.”

AND THE WINNERS ARE…

Restaurant of the Year – Skof

Shortlisted: mana, Adam Reid At The French, Winsome, Higher Ground, Stow, Erst, Cantaloupe, Skof.

Chef of the Year – Matt Bennett

Shortlisted: Rosie Maguire (Higher Ground), Shaun Moffat (Winsome), Adam Reid (Adam Reid at The French), Mary-Ellen McTague (Pip), Patrick Withington (Erst), Jamie Pickles (Stow), Jack Fields (Restaurant Orme), Matt Bennett (The Pearl).

Newcomer of the Year – Stow

Shortlisted: Cantaloupe, Bangkok Diners Club, Kallos Cafe & Wine Bar, Café Continental,Winsome, Royal Nawaab Pyramid, Kung Fu Noodle, Stow.

Bar of the Year – Speak In Code

Shortlisted: Stray, Schofield’s Bar, Red Light, Pray Tell , Renae, Libero, Flawd Wine, Speak in Code.

Affordable Eats Venue of the Year (sponsored by Therme): Double Zero

Shortlisted: Noodle Alley, Pho Cue, Cafe Sanjuan, Hong Thai, Seoul Kimchi, Double Zero, Wow Báhn Mì, Rabbie’s Thai.

Takeaway of the Year – This & That

Shortlisted: Ceresi, Ad Maiora, Home Chinese, Viet Deli, Pancho’s Burritos, Rack, Mughli Charcoal Pit, This & That.

Cafe or Coffee Shop of the Year – Something More Productive

Shortlisted: Cafe Sanjuan, Oscillate Coffee, Federal Cafe Bar, Just Between Friends Coffee, Sipp Coffee, à bloc, The Old Fire Station Bakery, Something More Productive.

Wine offering of the Year – Flawd Wine

Shortlisted: Ad Hoc, Higher Ground, The Beeswing, Salut Wines, Reserve Wines, Where the Light Gets In, Kerb, Flawd Wine.

Food trader of the year – Rack

Shortlisted: The Little Sri Lankan, House of Habesha, Baity, Rita’s Reign, Taiko Ramen, Thatziki, Little Scarfs, Rack.

Foodie Neighbourhood of the Year – Stockport

Shortlisted: Urmston, Levenshulme, Chorlton, Monton, Salford, Altrincham, Sale, Stockport.

Independent Drink Producer of the Year – Track Brewing Co

Shortlisted: Balance Brewing & Blending, Pod Pea Vodka, Stiff Tea Brewing Company, Sureshot Brewing, Runaway Brewery, Seven Bro7hers, Weekend Project Brewing Co, Track Brewing Co.

Independent Food Producer of the Year – Pollen Bakery

Shortlisted: Long Boi’s Bakehouse, Holy Grain Sourdough, Littlewoods Butchers, Lily’s Vegetarian Indian Cuisine, Wong Wong Bakery, Half Dozen Other, Mayya Bakery, Pollen Bakery.

Neighbourhood Venue of the Year – Stretford Canteen

Shortlisted: Fold Bistro & Bottle Shop, The Pearl, Lupo, Cantaloupe, Tawny Stores, The Perfect Match, Gladstone Barber and Bistro, Stretford Canteen.

Pub or Beer Bar of the Year – Marble Arch

Shortlisted: Victoria Tap, Runaway Brewery, City Arms, The Magnet Freehouse, Café Beermoth, North Westward Ho, Track Taproom, Marble Arch.

Great Service Award – Maray

Shortlisted: Tast Catala, Atomeca, Higher Ground, Adam Reid at The French, Federal Cafe Bar, Blacklock, Kallos Cafe & Wine Bar, Maray.

Low or No Offering of theYear – Nell’s Pizza

Shortlisted: Cloudwater Brew Co, Dishoom, Red Light, Blinker Bar, Hinterland, Lina Stores, Speak in Code, Nell’s Pizza.

Community Food and Drink Project (sponsored by Therme) – Platt Fields Market Garden

The Howard and Ruth Award for Outstanding Achievement – Rustica

• As usual, across all categories (bar the last) shortlisted venues were put to the public vote via the MFDF website where thousands of food and drink fans voted for their favourite winner. Scores from a mystery shopping visit, carried out by members of the judging panel, were also combined with the public vote for some of the awards to determine the winners.

27 January 2026/by Neil Sowerby

Food, Travel

A slice of my sweet, sweet sausage? You’ll be tasting a very Catalan dish

Christmas morning and my main present is an electric meat grinder with sausage-making attachments. It has me salivating, but there’s a bronze turkey to be roasted, Gran Reserva Rioja to be uncorked and, among other parlour games, The King’s Speech to be avoided, so road-testing my gadget just has to wait.

Not for long, mind. Before 2026 with its many scary portents clocks in I will have produced some exemplary Merguez sausages using natural casings and lamb shoulder bought locally and the finest Tunisian harissa to be sourced in the UK.

A surprising triumph, but now I’ve now assembled the ingredients to tackle making a more divisive banger. Will I have the nerve to recreate a Catalan speciality I first tasted in Girona? The Botifarra Dolça is a sausage but not as we know it. First up, it is disconcertingly sweet. Down to the presence of sugar and cinnamon in the pork filling. Fittingly, it is offered to me with a slice of caramelised apple from a stall in the city’s El Mercat del Lleó.

I had been expecting to sample the other, savoury, versions of this Catalan rival to Spain’s ubiquitous chorizo, differing primarily through the absence of pimenton. The basic Botifarra Blanca is a coarse textured, white sausage, seasoned with salt and pepper, sometimes enriched with egg, the Negra a blood sausage and the Botifarra de Perol contains offal. But I get the Dolça. It tastes like a combination of mince pie and pork pie. A Marmite moment? Maybe.

My sugar rush along the streets of Girona

As it turns out, it is the sweetest local speciality I encounter during a morning’s sugar rush courtesy of my Girona Food Tour. It started with my introduction to the Xiuxo. It’s the Catalan cousin of the churro but more luscious – a deep-fried, sugar-coated, viennoiserie cylinder filled with crema catalana (custard). It dates back to the 1920s and the Casamoner bakery chain is a good place to sample it.

Across the Carrer de Santa Clara there’s further sweet temptation from the Rocambolesc Gelateria. Think an ice cream-led spin-off of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, harvesting the creativity of a three Michelin star pastry chef.

Hugely popular, it launched over a decade ago at the time when founder Joan Roca and his elder brothers Jordi and Josep saw their En Celler San Roca twice named World’s Best Restaurant. Quite a contrast Rocambolesc’s cartoonish backdrop for a riotous assembly of toppings for their soft-serve ices. Despite the day-glo all ingredients are natural. The fun element ramps up with the popsicles, where 3D moulds are used to make fantastical creations. Who fancies a polo (popsicle), made from strawberries and rosewater and shaped like Jordi Roca’s nose?

Origins of the Botifarra Dolça and what to do with it?

20th century Catalan writer Josep Pla ascribed the Botifarra Dolça’s origins to the medieval monasteries, which makes more sense than linking such a pork-based product to flavours associated with the Muslim Conquest (Girona is home to beautifully preserved Arab Baths).

What we can be sure is there few cultures more inventive in their sausage production. In his magisterial Catalan Cuisine: Europe’s Last Great Culinary Secret (Grub Street, 1997) Colman Andrews identifies 17 officially recognised varieties.

Traditionally they were made in farmhouses in the pig-slaughtering season before winter, now the commercial varieties are available all year round.

The straight Bottifara is the one you find grilled with white beans or wild mushrooms, useful too as a stuffing. The sweet version offers more of a challenge, usually being served off-puttingly as dessert. When raw it is bright pink; when left to dry it is a pinkish grey. Grill them, fry them, combine with apple.

The Empordà wine region, north of Girona and inland from the Costa Brava, is particularly proud of its food specialities, awarding them the Productes de Empordà seal of approval. There alongside Palamos prawns, Pals rice, and the ricotta

cheese from Fonteta sits the sweet Botifarra.

Will my Yorkshire Botifarra Dolça live up to such billing? Will I really get the taste? Will my dinner party guests, surprised by their sausage surprise dessert?

The recipe I’ve lifted from the ‘Provincial Guild of Charcuteros and Butchers of Girona’ uses 2.5ks of pork, 2kg (yes, 2kg) of white sugar, the rind of 2.5 l3mons, 25g of salt and and and 3g of cinnamon.

What is worrying me is this instruction: “This mixture must rest between seven and 15 days. If it were directly placed in the gut at the end it would explode due to the volume increase that occurs when the meat releases water and absorbs the sugar.”

Watch this space!

20 January 2026/by Neil Sowerby

Food, Travel

Hot lemons! Lonely Planet’s ready Med answer to those January blues

Baltic, Gothic, Brothers Grimm, Hanseatic League, pagan forests, schnapps and herring – I have increasingly bought into Jonathan Meades’ championing of what he called the Magnetic North in his 2008 BBC documentary with that title. This spring I’ll be off to Utrecht and Lübeck – and hopefully my beloved Berlin – to further consecrate my soul to Northern Europe.

Meades’ brilliant two-parter was a defiant debunking of our British obsession with its polar opposite, the Mediterranean: “The South; we all want to be there. It’s an ideal that draws us to it. It’s a mythical place …The south causes the North to suffer a collective delusion about itself, we deny our Northern-ness. We deny it to such an extent we’re unfamiliar with those countries which share our climate.”

His splenetic case against the Med was amplified when he included the full text in his selected essays, Pedro and Ricky Come Again (Unbound, £30).

“To Britons today the south is exuberant vines, guiltless hedonism, excitable olives, the immemorial ruins of immemorial civilisations, primary-coloured emotions. It’s a promised land. We vertically tan in order to look southern – oranges do come from the south, from Valencia and Seville. And, of course, an orange patina covers up blue skin when you’re wearing next to nothing in snowbound Newcastle because you believe you’re still in Ibiza. Or wherever.

“British architects are forever going on about remaking run-down Pennine towns as Tuscan hill villages. Barnsley is really San Gimignano. Todmorden is uncannily akin to Pienza.”

I take his ironic point as I consider this in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, my home town for 40 years (and never likely to match Pienza’s UNESCO World Heritage status). Still we have miraculously avoided snow bombs and 99mph winds to rock up on a January Monday morning that is undramatically penumbral and drenching.

In front of me is The Mediterranean (£37.50 from any good bookshop or via this link), a siren call tempting me to Meades apostasy. A coffee table extravaganza whose 250 beautifully illustrated pages explore the “stories and secrets of the Mediterranean Coast”.

At my elbow I have a “beaker full of the Warm South”, a glass of Xinomavro red from near Thessaloniki – one of the Lonely Planet’s top seven off-the-beaten-track destinations in this new publication. Here is my own verdict on Greece’s second city , praised by Lonely Planet for its “bar hopping culture and gastronomy rivalling any in the Med.”

The other cities in focus include marvellous Med melting pots that have higher profiles – Marseille (where the contradictory Meades himself now lives) and Napoli. My digital report on the city of Maradona, Margherita and Vesuvius has vanished into the ether, but for me offshore Ischia (and its wonderful lemons – main picture) was the kind of island surprise that features heavily in this book. Which bizarrely neglects this setting for The Talented Mr Ripley – shame on them.

So what exactly is Lonely Planet celebrating?

Not all the obvious over-touristed destinations and when it does feature them it is keen to stray off the beaten track, enlisting a cast of local chefs, architects, curators and craftspeople – to “share their secrets” of 30 different cities. The scope is ambitious, so surface scraping is inevitable, but it had this much-travelled reviewer jotting down a bucket list. Put me down for an abundance of lemons, olives and wine.

Who knows? In 2026 or 2027 I might find myself in another of the ‘magnificent seven’, Brač off the coast of Croatia. relaxing by the Adriatic on the stunning Zlatni Rat beach, or hiking to Vidova Gora, the highest point in the Adriatic islands. If city breaks aren’t your focusThe Mediterranean also suggest 15 weekend-long road trip itineraries.

In these difficult times globally it is good to be reminded of the wonders of intelligent, independent travelling. When the Med has so much to offer who needs the hassle of Trump’s hostile American borders? I for one won’t be renewing my Esta any time soon.

• All the images are my own (apart from Thessaloniki), not from the book

12 January 2026/by Neil Sowerby