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Climat change! How cosy Covino spawned a wine-driven restaurant in the sky

Up on an eighth floor rooftop with a leaden Manchester skyline all around I’m talking ‘terroir’ with Chris Laidler. He gives me Montagny; I raise him Mercurey. We both agree solidly on Macon in the search for affordable Burgundy wine regions. He confirms Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (average retail price price £25,000) won’t be on the 250-strong wine list planned for Climat, described by my esteemed and wine savvy oppo Kelly as “the most exciting opening on our horizon.” And who am I to disagree?

Still a cluttered ‘work in progress’ at the top of Bridgewater House when I popped up a couple of weeks ago, Chris’s £500,000 wine-friendly dream project, with equally stellar food, is expected to open mid-November. Across Blackfriars Street from where the Treehouse Hotel will sprout next year with a Mary-Ellen McTague helmed restaurant, which will provide a major shot in the arm for the Cathedral end of Deansgate. 

The old Renaissance Hotel that Treehouse will transform remains an eyesore, but the rest of the panorama is urban invigorating. Personal preference: I much prefer restaurant views from this height – Le Mont/Rabbit In The Moon, Manchester House – to 20 Stories.

Chris’s plan is to have 40 per cent of Climat’s list sourced from Burgundy – reds (Pinot Noir and Gamay), whites (Chardonnay, Aligoté) and some surprisingly sophisticated sparklers. Unlike at Chris’s Michelin-rated Covino in Chester, there will be an actual wine list on the website and maybe in print. Rather than scanning the range of enticing, price-tagged  bottles ranked in country order on a ledge up near the ceiling.

To check out the whole project’s credentials we made the pilgrimage to that cosy but cool wine bar on Northgate, the city’s foodie main drag. Think Porta (now extended into what was Joseph Benjamin), The Cheese Shop, Francis Thomas greengrocer’s, Jaunty Goat Coffee.

Covino’s chef Luke Richardson (in the main picture) has moved up to be exec chef across both sites and while Chris enthuses about wine, his forte is food sourcing. Maybe a recent foraging foray into beech sap tapping has yielded a scant bounty, but there’s quality guaranteed from his regular commercial suppliers – Cornwall’s Flying Fish, Growing @Field 28 from up the road in Daresbury and one of my personal faves, Swaledale Butchers in Skipton.

I didn’t ask, but presumed our hogget had come from there. Everything we tried from the reassuringly compact menu was a delight, but this t-bone of teenage lamb was sublime, paired with crisped komatsuna, that mustardy Japanese green and barbecued cucumbers (£16.50). It bookended a meal that began with the fleshiest of Ortiz sardines, spinkled with dried wild oregano flowers and doused in olive oil (£10) and a (very) special of pink cod crudo (£14.50) served with creme fraiche and tiny flavour bomb elderberries. “Hard labour to gather. but worth it,” lamented Luke, standing in front of house. A debutant fellow server, up from London, told me had been recruited for Manchester and was very excited.

There was a pollock’s head dish on the specials board but we chose to order their other take on that undervalued fish. Two taut fillets on a bed of kuri squash were given some punch by a chimichurri sauce (£15.50). For 50p more a roast whole quail was more satisfying, if a little challenging to dismember to its bloodied core.  

My cold rice pudding with sticky damson jam was challenging in that it was such  substntial dollop. The works though was the Valrhona chocolate ganache with plums, the tiny morsel I was allowed to taste from across the table. Each cost £7.50 on a bill that mounted up but felt value. After two glasses of properly dry German Riesling we spent £43 on a bottle of Olga Raffault Chinon Les Barnabes, my kind of go-to late summer red, earthy and smoky. Vinous temptations were all around, a foretaste of things to come in Manchester.

So what to expect from Climat?

Well, a 100 cover restaurant is a big leap upwards (literally) from Covino, which started life as a 300 sq ft wine bar/shop in 2016. It soon expanded, moving site in 2018 to set up on Northgate Street adding small plates to its menu. They were matched by over 130 bottles from around the world ranging from the classics to the funky naturals. Holder of a wine degree, Chris may lean towards classic Burgundies but his 250-strong Manchester list should also reflect mutating wine trends.

As we surveyed the cityscape from the ‘bioclimatic pergola’ (it’s a feature of the terrace, whose plants will service resident bees in four hives on the actual roof) Chris told me: “It’s great to get our foot in the door in Manchester. It represents a big step up for us. The site has so much to offer and we’re going to add something special to a great city. The space will be unique to others with its panoramic views and we can’t wait to share our progress during the build leading up to opening in autumn. Ultimately we want our guests to have a great dining experience and come and share our passion for really good food and drink.”

The addition of Climat caps the final stage of Bruntwood Works’ multi-million-pound renovation of its Blackfriars site. The 1920s-built edifice has been transformed to accommodate workspaces of varying sizes, an auditorium, podcasting studio, ground floor lounge area and coffee shop.

Ye the Climat site really stands out, primarily being constructed of metal and glass, with  limestone floor that yearns to suggest a North Burgundian ‘climat’. Like me, Chris is a Chablis lover and bemoans how global warming is diluting the flintiness of this most mineral of whites. Yes, you can tell I’m really gearing up for this particular Manchester arrival.

Climat, Blackfriars House St Marys, Parsonage, Manchester M3 2JA.

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Why Chicago Lightning has never struck me before… but Joe’s creation is a Sterling effort

Chicago fleetingly came to mind at the launch of Sterling, a new cocktail bar from the Schofield brothers in the basement of Manchester’s Stock Exchange Hotel. All dark wood and sepulchral lighting with illuminated ranks of bottles the backdrop for some serious bartending. 

It’s the kind of joint you might slip into as dusk falls on The Loop, the Windy City’s old commercial quarter where Route 66 starts, the rumble of the CTA elevated railway a constant overhead. Easy to conjure up the ghosts of Al Capone and the speakeasy roisterers of the Twenties.

Chicago has it place in cocktail history for two different creations. One, The Old Fashioned, has conquered the world. Here’s my homage. The other has an altogether less salubrious back story. As in slipping  customers a Mickey Finn, in order to rob and pitch them into the street. This ‘special’ of raw alcohol, snuff-soaked water and a white liquid supplied by a voodoo doctor was invented over a century ago by Mickey Finn of the Lone Star Saloon in what is now the South Loop.

Unsurprisingly, there isn’t an example on the list at Sterling. Like the Bull & Bear restaurant upstairs the name is financial reference to the Norfolk Street building’s past as the city’s Stock Exchange. As soon as I am through its doors separate from the main hotel’s Joe Schofield presses on me his version of my favourite cocktail, the Negroni. It’s the best in town. He knows what I like. With his history of bartending in hotel, including the American Bar in some place called The Savoy Joe is steering The Sterling, while his brother Daniel looks after the shop at their eponymous bar off Deansgate, which picked up Bar of the Year in the Class Bar Awards 2022 and has just been named in the World’s Top 50 Cocktail Bar List. The brothers also run Atomeca at Deansgate Square.

Joe with his slicked back hair and white staff uniform looks the part. His globetrotting CV includes being named International Bar Tender of the Year in 2018 while working in Singapore and he remains creative director of bespoke botanicals specialists Asterley Bros in London. Both his mixology skills and Asterley’s Estate Vermouth were to the fore in my next drink – a Chicago Lightning (£13.75). The rest of the blend? Rabbit Hole Bourbon, Cacao Nib, Campari and Orange Curaçao,

I was convinced it was a stone cold classic and with that Chicago connection I sought its origins online and across my small but perfectly mixed cocktail book collection – Wondrich, Morgenthaler Jerry Thomas,. In vain. Not a mention.

The reason. “It’s my own creation inspired by interest in Chicago of the Roaring Twenties,” Joe tells me. “Lightning was the Chicago gangsters’ nickname for gunfire.”

Explosive stuff then? All guns blazing? Actually pure mellow magic from a great cocktail list that also includes further Schofield Brothers’ own creations, including Aguila (Herradura Blanco Tequila, pineapple, lime, avocado, coriander, red chilli, black pepper) and Butterscotch (butterscotch, butter, Singleton 12 scotch, lemon, egg white) an classics such as Artist’s Special (Highland Park 12 scotch, redcurrant, sherry lemon) and the Martinez (Roku Gin, Asterley Bros. Estate Vermouth, dry cherry, orange Bitters.

Equally impressive is the wine offering from Sterling and Atomeca co-founder James Brandwood (pictured above with Joe in the wine tasting vault). Originally from south Manchester, James began his 20-year hospitality career at university in Leeds, developing a passion for wine after moving to Australia in 2007. He managed venues across Sydney including the prestigious Rockpool Bar & Grill. General manager is Paola Mariotti, whose 5-star hotel CV includes the Beaufort Bar at the Savoy and The Blue Bar at The Berkeley in London. 

The bar snack menu is courtesy of Lush by Tom Kerridge, the two-Michelin starred chef responsible for Bull & Bear restaurant located on the former trading floor. Expect truffle cheese gougeres, whipped taramasalata, squid ink tapioca cracker, pickled red onion and crispy potato bites, creme fraiche and caviar.

Sterling, with a guest capacity of just over 100, is now open for bookings and walk-ins – Tuesday-Friday 5:30-12:30pm and Saturday 2pm-12:30pm. Bookings are available via this link. Stock Exchange Hotel, 4 Norfolk Street, Manchester, M2 1DW.

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Fresh, green and sustainable – how Indy Man and JW Lees are making a great hop leap forward

It’s the beery equivalent of Beaujolais Nouveau – well kind of. I’ve never twigged why, Kent apart, we don’t celebrate the UK’s new ‘green’ hops harvest by brewing with them. Virtually straight from the stalk. It’s a big thing in the craft ale heartlands of the USA.

On a road trip stop-off in Washington State’s hop capital, Yakima, we were devastated to discover we were one week early to join in the annual ‘Fresh Hop Party’. Bet it was an epic celebration in the heart of the fertile volcanic soil where 75 per cent of American hops are grown. Cascade, Chinook, Centennial and the rest.

Victoria Baths on Hathersage Road becomes the epicentre of UK beer culture for four days

At Indy Man Beer Con at Manchester’s Victoria Baths (Sept 29-Oct 2) we aim to make up for that miss in a small way by sampling ‘Hops are Green’, an Extra Special Bitter created by JW Lees specially for the festival, returning after a  two year hiatus. 

We suggest you do the same. Nominally sold out, IMBC have just released a batch of extra tickets.Tickets are available for the following sessions: evenings 5:30pm-10.30pm  Thursday/Friday/Saturday; daytimes 11pm-4pm, Friday/ Saturday; and on Sunday 1pm-6pm. Buy via this link but hurry!

Of all the area’s traditional family brewers 200-year-old Middleton-based Lees are the ones who get down most with the craft beer kids. They’ve long shared with Cloudwater some of their legendary, long-lived yeast strains. Just this week I tasted a Cloudwater ‘JW Lees’ DIPA in a can that was quite splendidly balanced – at 9%!

Lees’ own ‘Hops are Green’ is a quite different beast, inspired by a need to start a conversation about sustainability in beer. The industry is facing multiple challenges from climate change and inflation to water shortages and demographic shifts. 

Independent Manchester Beer Convention (to give its full title) and JW Lees wanted to explore how you might brew with a lower carbon footprint, which helps the brewer run a successful business, delivers a beer which the craft beer drinker loves, but which doesn’t break the bank. Beer brewed and drunk locally, with more locally sourced ingredients could be part of the answer.

That means marking the sustainble progress made by domestic hop growers rather than importing from far-away Yakima (or even New Zealand). Groundbreaking Brook House Hops in Herefordshire fits that bill admirably.

Matt Gorecki, Head of Beer at the festival told me: “We all love American Hops and we have for years, but we can’t ignore what people like Brook House are doing right here on the doorstep.They’re growing some mega stuff! When we first spoke to JW Lees and heard Michael’s story about working with the same farmers and fields as his grandfather we just felt that we could bring together the best of both worlds.”

Lees were definitely up for it. Head Brewer Michael Lees-Jones, said: “We are experienced in adapting as the world changes around us.  In order to stay relevant and to keep pouring beer for the next 200 years we need to remain curious and to experiment with different ideas. We think it is great that the IMBC team are asking questions about sustainability in beer as we consider how we can be a more sustainable brewery.”

I haven’t tasted ‘Hops are Green’ yet, but like the sound of it – an Extra Special Bitter. “Typically a malt forward brew using English yeast and firm but not over the top hopping, it will be finished using freshly harvested green hops from the forward thinking hop growers at Brook House.” 

So what are Green or ‘Wet’ Hops?

An ingredient  with a lower carbon footprint due to their lack of time in an energy intensive kiln, where hops are usually cured to preserve and intensify their flavour. They’re used in an array of seasonal beers in the US around harvest time but curiously not so much in the UK. They’re grown in Herefordshire and were transported to the brewery by road. It will preview at the festival and be available at several JW Lees pubs as well as Port Street Beer House.

This beer is the first in a series of beers produced with sustainability in mind, with Cheltenham based Deya Brewery, picking up the baton to create the next product following the festival. Any brewery wishing to get involved can contact the IMBC team through their social media channels.

Welcome back Indyman

Since its inception in 2012 Independent Manchester Beer Convention (Indy Man Beer Con/IMBC) has proved a world class showcase for the most forward thinking breweries from the UK and beyond. Everything about it (apart from the amount consumed) is different from the traditional beer festival. Not least the venue – the Grade II listed, architectural gem Victoria Baths.

Inclusivity and diversity are part of its appeal. And great street food. This year’s focus on sustainability and environmental awareness of the impact of the brewing industry sees special, cross-Atlantic collaborative brewing and innovative approaches to recycling spent products.

It’s a big step up from that first pioneering IMBC, created by Jonny Heyes, founder of Common & Co (Common, The Beagle, Nell’s Pizza, Summer Beer Thing). Just two rooms were used, hosting only 20 breweries. Nowadays more than 60 breweries will occupy every nook and cranny . From the main ‘stages’ in the old swimming pools to tasting areas and snug bars in the Turkish Baths, the breweries will pour a selection of their beers to thousands of beer lovers and converts alike.

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Will ‘Queen Beer’ Jaega go for the jugular in the MFDF battle versus the cocktail kings?

Question. What the devil is the owner of ‘the UK’s toughest pub’ doing at Manchester Food and Drink Festival debating the food matching merits of craft beer over cocktails?

Of course, every city boasts a roughhouse contender but the Kray twins’ locals around London did have the Wild West edge back in the Sixties. Notably the Blind Beggar in Whitechapel, a local of mine too for a while, as it happens. a quarter of a century after Ronnie Kray notoriously shot gangster rival George Cornell there in 1966.

Brewer and media star Jaega Wise now runs another past Kray haunt, the Victorian Tavern on the Hill in Walthamstow, which once had a “a reputation for being a bloodbath,” according to Sky TV’s Britain’s Hardest. It’s not like that these days with a Jamaican food menu and beers from Jaega’s award-winning brewery, Wild Card, samples of which should feature in the Octopus Books showcase at the MFDF Hub on Saturday, September 24.

Jaega, named Britain’s best brewer in 2018 by the Guild of Beer Writers and winning an equivalent award this year, is promoting her recently published Wild Brews (Kyle hb, £22). At 6pm she comes up against Joel Harrison and Neil Ridley, co-authors of 60 Second Cocktails, to determine if beer or cocktails should be crowned the winning beverage.

It’s not a straight stand-off, hops and malt versus spirits and botanicals, since her primer for home brewers is subtitled “from sour and fruit beers to farmhouse ales”. A sophisticated far cry from the Boots kits of yore, then.

34-year-old Jaega’s talents are spread interestingly these days. I listen to her regularly when she presents on BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme. Her most recent assignment explored the racial connotations of fried chicken. Her telly career includes Channel 5’s The Wine Show and Beer Masters, available on Amazon Prime, where Jaega and James Blunt judged “Europe’s best home brewers going head-to-head across five challenges brewing popular beer styles and taking on creative and technical challenges.” Think Bake-off with ‘stuck mash’ instead of ‘soggy bottoms’.

Filming the latter show appropriately coincided with the gestation of Wild Brews. “The book took me three and a half years… writing’s not really my thing,” Jaega laments. Modesty from a Nottingham girl, who once considered studying English at university before a volte face into chemical engineering. “You see my scientific training in the technical side of the book, but I was determined to make it accessible. It’s both an introduction for the beginner and of use to a more advanced brewer, who wants to be more adventurous with styles.”

Certainly when Wild Card was launched a decade ago sours and saisons, lambic and goses didn’t trip off the average beer tippler’s tongue. London, where Jaega had moved, had only 10 breweries. Multiply that many times now.

She had dabbled in home brewing at university. But it was not until, disillusioned with the day job, she started working in a pub, she was swept up in the hop-driven zeitgeist, joining friends William Harris and Andrew Kirkby, who had first dreamed up Wild Card over a kitchen table. After nomadic years ‘cuckoo brewing’ on others’ kit Wild Card eventually  found their first Walthamstow site, before moving to the nearby Lockwood brewery in 2017.

Result: today’s mini-empire at the northern end of the Victoria Lime with a taproom at Lockwood and another in their Barrel Store, plus the Tavern, overlooking gentrifying Walthamstow, with a Jamaican food residency from The Jam Shack.

Jaega says: “We are very proud to have taken over the pub, the only one in the Higham Hill area. Pubs are incredibly important. They and the role of the publican are not given enough credit. There are issues of loneliness that they can help combat. Weddings, funerals, all kinds of community activity –  pubs can be central.”

And, of course, there’s the beer. Like pubs, it’s under threat too in economically perilous times. Wild Card, by necessity, concentrated on more traditional styles to start off but is now in the forefront of US-inspired ‘craft beer’ with – you guessed it – benchmark NEIPA. Matthew Curtis in his definitive Modern British Beer (my review) described it as “redolently juicy with a fruit cocktail of flavours including peach, apricot, melon and pineapple that’s typically characteristic of the New England IPA.”

Peruse the Wild Card website, though, and you’ll discover a much more diverse array of beer styles that live up to the ‘Wild Brews’ tag. Alongside the current Twilight NEIPA there’s an Amaretto Sour, a Damson Sour, a Cuvee Saison sharing bottle and a Tropical Stout. 

I wonder which of these head brewer Jaega will bring up  to Manchester to pair with probable barbecue accompaniment? “You’ll have to wait and see,” she says.

What she can reveal: “This is the food and drink world I’m lucky enough to operate in. We are so lucky in this county to produce drinks of such  high standard. Our whisky is so delicious, and then I can get the used barrels and the chance to ply with flavours. It’s my life.”

That professional life has obviously encountered pitfalls. As a young woman of Caribbean heritage from the most deprived area of Nottingham entering a male-dominated profession. “Change is slow,” she says. “Statistics clearly show considerably fewer women in senior positions across the whole UK economy, not just in brewing.”

Jaega is obviously not one to shirk a challenge. So watch out Team Cocktail this Saturday.

“Wine has for too long been seen as the obvious match for food and I can see cocktails pairing well with some dishes, but beer is hard to beat. It handles spice better and is a perfect accompaniment to cheese.”

If you don’t catch Jaega at MFDF’s Octopus Cookbook Confidential on Saturday, September 22 don’t fret. She’ll be back in Manchester the following weekend as Wild Card makes its pouring debut at IndyManBeerCon.

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It’s later than you think! But delayed MFDF has jettisoned none of its bumper foodie appeal

Delayed by a week out of respect for the national mourning period for Queen Elizabeth II, the programme for the 25th Manchester Food and Drink Festival has emerged remarkably unscathed. Amid much rearrangement only the MFDF Curry Club has been postponed and will be rescheduled as soon as possible, while the the MFDF Wine Fest will now be taking place October 7 and 8 just after the Festival at the amazingly refurbished New Century.

Following guidance from Manchester City Council the The Festival will now start on Thursday, September 22 and run until Sunday, October 2. The Awards Gala Dinner,customarily the closing event of the Festival, remains on its scheduled day, Monday, September 26, at Escape To Freight Island.

The free-to-enter Festival Hub is once again on Cathedral Gardens, but the dates have been switched to Thursday September 22-Sunday September 25 and Thursday September 29-Sunday October 2. The Hub is closed Monday to Wednesday. The full programme is now as follows… 

AT THE FESTIVAL HUB, CATHEDRAL GARDENS

The Manchester Beer Bar x Joseph Holt 12pm-11pm.
Brewing up the road since 1849 and with 127 pubs across the region, Holts are official lager partner and will brew a special 25th Anniversary Festival beer and ale. The bar will also be serving beers from 25 further Manchester breweries.

MFDF Street Food Village 

THU SEPT 22–SUN SEPT 25. 

Il Forno – pizzas from the wood-fired oven and Italian classics.

Super Bao – fluffy buns with savoury fillings.

House of Habesha – Eritrean and Ethiopian soul food.

Cyprus Kouzina – Greek Cypriot regional treats.

Hip Hop Chip Shop – chippy tea with a twist from the ‘hood. Recommended.

Meksikan – handcrafted tacos.

Mi & Pho – Award-winning Vietnamese food. 

Heavenly Indian – authentic street faves.

Cafe Cannoli – Sicilian pastry tubes of joy.

Guzzle – Vintage caravan with ice cream and a retro espresso machine.

THU SEPT 29–SUN OCT 2.

Senor Paella – Spanish rice kings.

I Knead Pizza – Neapolitan wood-fired pizzas.

What’s Your Beef – Ethically sourced, grass-fed beef burgers. 

Parmogeddon – North East’s parmos with their own twists.

Herbivorous – 100 per cent vegan comfort food.

Bab K – Korean using fresh, local ingredients.

Mama Sue’s – Dogs with an array of toppings.

Cha Cha Churros – Vegan take on the fried dough.

Spoon Desserts – Crepes and waffles.

MASTERCLASS KITCHEN AT THE HUB

Octopus Cookbook Confidential with top chefs and industry experts

Saturday September 24, Festival Hub Kitchen

12.30pm – Pip Payne and Nicky Corbishley: dinner budgeting tips.

1.30pm – Joe Woodhouse, Josh Katz & David Bez: veggie recipe inspiration.

2.30pm – Edd Kimber and Rahul Mandal: discussing their love of puddings.

3.30pm – School of Wok’s Jeremy Pang: giving a demo from his latest book and introducing his simple Wok Clock cooking technique.

4.30pm – Kate Humble and Lia Leendertz: talking about their books Home Cooked and The Almanac respectively.

6.pm – Jaega Wise (pictured above) v Joel Harrison in conversation with Neil Ridley: a friendly debate about booze. Theme: beer v cocktails.

MFDF Cookery School at the MFDF Masterclass Kitchen
Sunday September 25 and Sunday October 2
Come and join a selection of local chefs and expert producers as they share their tips. Join the likes of Tampopo and Ancoats Coffee as they share some of their secrets.

The Leftovers Kitchen with Recycle for Greater Manchester

Saturday October 1, Festival Hub Kitchen

This year, MFDF are teaming up with Recycle for Greater Manchester and Open Kitchen MCR to host ‘The Leftover Kitchen’ – a full-day event surrounding demonstrations on how to ditch excess food waste and cook amazing meals with leftovers from the fridge. 

MFDF ARTISAN MARKET
Festival Hub, Cathedral Gardens, 12pm-11pm

Thursday September 22-Sunday September 25 and Thursday September 29-Sunday October 2.

Split across two weekends you can expect….

Dghnt MCR – Freshly made brioche doughnuts.

Paradiso Authentic Italian – Italian desserts including tiramisu.

The Flat Baker – Brazilian-influenced breads and pastries.

DevilDog Sauces – Small batch chilli sauces and seasonings.

Prodjuice Juicery – Cold pressed raw juices.

Gourmet Jay – Rolls, pies and pastries.

Two Lasses – Made-from-scratch British rum and rum liqueurs.

Small Farmers Coffee – Jamaican Blue Coffee specialists.

The Doughnuteers – Handcrafted doughnuts.

Global Nomad – Sauces, spices and preserves.

Ancoats Distillery – Gins, rums, vodka and ales.

The Chocolate Cafe – Popular Ramsbottom dessert spot come to the city.

Prendi il Biscotti – Italian biscuits and sweet treats handmade in Saddleworth.

World Famous Hot Sauce – Small batch all natural, gluten free and vegan hot sauce. from DJ Elliot Eastwick.

Root2Ginger – Alcohol-free ginger drinks. 

Prestwich Gin – Award-winning local small batch craft gin.

FESTIVAL FIREPIT

Thursday September 22-Sunday September 25 and Thursday September 29-Sunday October 2.

A Festival first, coming to the Hub for both long weekends to create the ultimate British barbie. Sponsored by Weber, the Festival Fire Pit will invite some of the region’s best loved chefs to cook over fire for a massive festival feast. Among the line-up Caroline Martins, founder of the Sao Paolo Project, Francisco Martinez from Fazenda and Robert Owen Brown. 

Coffee Rave with Factory Coffee
Friday September 30, 12pm-3pm
MFDF Coffee Shop of the Year nominee Factory Coffee, will be serving the ultimate pick-me-up with their viral ‘Coffee Rave’. Enjoy a free espresso or flat white. Or, in partnership with Rogue Artisan ice cream, a complimentary affogato. All soundtracked by a local DJ.

OUTSIDE THE HUB… THE FESTIVAL FRINGE

A fantastic programme of events is taking place across the city too showcasing some of Manchester’s most exciting restaurants, bars, cafes and chefs. Highlights from the Festival Fringe are below. For the full programme, details and T&Cs visit this link.

Wine Fest

New Century, Friday October 7-Saturday October 8

The first event to take place at the revamped New Century in Manchester’s NOMA district features the best win retailer line-up in years – the local likes of Its Alive, Sip, Suppher, Grape to Grain, Cork of the North, Italy Abroad, UkiYO Republic and Isca Wines,. Tickets can be purchased from the MFDF website and are £15 a had.

Unicorn Grocery, Chorlton

Saturday September 24
Wholefood legends Unicorn Grocery are celebrating 26 years of providing M21 and beyond with wholesome groceries and fresh produce. Expect free food from Tibetan Kitchen – Authentic Tibetan Food and music by genre bending brass outfit Twisted Tubes.

Platt Fields will host a Harvest Festival celebrating urban market gardening

Eat Well MCR Harvest Festival

Platt Fields, September 17-18. 

Platt Fields Market Garden is the venue celebrating a variety of autumnal produce alongside lovely food, drink, music and amazing vibes. 

£25 for 25 years Offer
To celebrate MFDF’s 25 years, Manchester’s restaurant community has put together a host of special menus to showcase what they do at an appropriate special price. All restaurants taking part will provide a meal and drink offer for £25 per person. Venues include:

District – The Thai barbecue cookery experts are serving up three new wave Thai dishes. Embankment Kitchen – The brasserie’s ‘A Taste of Embankment’ for two offer includes a host of dishes from the seasonal menu with a couple of their win cocktails thrown in.

Mi&Pho – Northenden’s award-winning Vietnamese restaurant is offering any to starters and any two mains for the 25 quid.

20 Stories – Enjoy a three course dinner and glass of wine with a spectacular view.

Harvey Nichols – Antipasti fanatics should head over to the Deli Bar @ Harvey Nichols, where £25 a head will provide a charcuterie board, accompanied by two glasses of white, red or rose wine.

Head to theMFDF website for details on all offers. 

The Festival Fundraising Banquet with Eatwell MCR Hello Oriental will now take place on Wednesday, November 30, 7.30pm-10.30pm. 

Non-profit, social enterprise Eat Well MCR’s fund-raiser is hosted by underground Chinese market hall Hello Oriental, showcasing Manchester’s best East Asian and Southeast Asian food producers. The line-up includes…

Hello Oriental – The hosts celebrate East Asian street food across three floors. Comprising a restaurant, bar, cafe, bakery, events space and fully-stocked supermarket, it received a rave review from Sunday Times critic Marina O’Loughlin, who called it a ‘northern powerhouse… grungy, futuristic and fun’.
Neon Tiger – A new urban drinking and dining space serving rural Thai barbecue snacks and small plates. Neon Tiger will curate a gin-based cocktail using Manchester Gin.
Rice Over Everything – Burmese-born home cook May Kyi Noo is best known for her range of incredible chilli oils that focus on complex flavours, not just heat.

New Wave Ramen – Nominated for ‘Best Food Trader’ at this year’s Manchester Food and Drink Awards for their umami-rich ramen bowls served up at the Mackie Mayor food hall.
Tampopo – The East Asian street food pioneers have been delighting customers for 25 years with their vibrant flavours, their influences stretching from Yangon to Kuala Lumpur.
WowYauChow – Not your standard Chinese, Henry Yau’s operation sets its sights on impeccable street food combined with British Chinese favourites.
Diners can expect platters of sushi and sashimi, dim sum, salads, umami-rich ramen, fiery aromatic curries and platters of fragrant rice, followed by a selection of desserts.
Tickets are £70 per person and are currently available to purchase here. All proceeds from tickets will help provide meals to people in need across Greater Manchester.


MFDF AWARDS

Don’t forget to vote for your favourite food heroes in the Awards via the website. But make haste. Closing date for votes is midnight on September 16. The Gala Dinner presentation is sponsored by Bruntwood and is taking place at Escape to Freight Island on Monday, September 26.  

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Cooking on sizzling coals, Libertine is the latest hot property in a former bank

In a world of indie hospitality unease it’s wonderful to encounter a bold opening in a suburb. Yet even at the launch party for Libertine, featuring fire-grilled meats, cool cocktails and a real feelgood vibe, the very surroundings set me thinking. 

Back in the day this beguiling building was home to Withington’s Old District Bank. You can imagine some mutton-chopped, fob-watched, pin-striped bank manager encouraging or foreclosing on some entrepreneurial dream or other. It’s been ever thus, even if these days investment contact is more disembodied. 

What is certain is that many businesses are now counting the pennies and it’s not adding up. Come the autumn when our ‘zombie government’ has reassembled and we match the new PM’s promises to actions, we will surely discover if the cost of living crisis and energy price armageddon can be mitigated. Help is certainly needed for bars and restaurants, which are not subject to the energy cap.

Meanwhile, on the brighter note, let’s all relish the greatest gift that banks have given to the food and drink industry – an array of sumptuous venues across Manchester, a riot of marble and mahogany, stained glass and fancy ceilings. 

Libertine, as you’d guess from the team that brought us Cottonopolis and the Edinburgh Castle, takes a different tack from the conversions that dominate King Street and the city’s traditional financial quarter. 

Gordon Ramsay for Jamie’s old joint. Is it a banker?

Take the trio of Edwardian banks, credited to Charles Waterhouse – the NatWest at 53 King Street, Parr’s Bank and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank, neighbours where Spring Gardens meets York Street. Respectively they are now L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, Brown’s and Rosso, none of them offering cutting edge cuisine, but all boasting spectacular interiors. If, let’s say a bit on the blingy side.

Across King Street is the big daddy of them all. Sir Edwin Lutyens was the mastermind behind the Midland Bank, leaving the nuts and bolts to a local firm. It’s now divided into Hotel Gotham and what was Jamie’s Italian. The hot rumour is that a certain Gordon Ramsay has plans to re-open the vast Jamie site and install a version of his (critically panned in London) Lucky Cat.

Lucky man if he gets his wish. The main Banking Hall (below) could not be skylit, so Lutyens designed arcading on all four sides and wooden galleries as in Wren churches. In the basement is the original vault, a mini-Fort Knox. Fingers crossed such a wonderful space can be appreciated again, but how much will the heating bills cost? 

The heat is on at the Libertine thanks to a centrepiece grill

What sets my new favourite Withington haunt apart is the scuffed chic. Like at mothership Cottonopolis bar in the Northern Quarter Libertine’s original features are not buffed up. There has been sympathetic restoration of the finely carved frieze and balustrade parapet at roof level and of the marble pillars and previously concealed mosaics. The stripped-back walls in contrast create a rustic patchwork effect.

There’s a similar aesthetic, though smoother, going on at the wonderful Coin bar inside the former Lloyds Bank in Hebden Bridge, one of over 6,000 local branches across the UK have shut in the last decade – a third of the total. Salvaged Libertine is a more ambitious project, offering a restaurant, bar and music space with the emphasis on a ‘community focus’. Cocktails are impressive and there are 20 keg lines and four cask beer lines.

The restaurant is centred on live cooking over wood and charcoal. Veg, not just meat. Even so the trio of dishes that impressed at our soft launch meal involved za’atar herb-crusted lamb rack, oak smoked pork belly with harissa and 35-day Himalayan salt-dried beef pave with salsa verde, all the global flavours handled deftly. Expect brunch and roasts too, while prices are not exorbitant

So a valuable addition to the Withington scene. Even as we tighten our belts and prepare to turn down the thermostat a notch, the message is go out if you can to a local bar or eaterie. Use them or lose them. They are banking on you.

Libertine, 437 Wilmslow Road, M20 4AN. Dog-friendly.

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Hi Timber! How an English sparkler became the essential high life accessory

Twenty years ago Le Mont restaurant opened at the top of Urbis. Aspirational dining in the Manchester building that most symbolised renewal in the aftermath of the IRA bombing. I was a beneficiary of this bright new dawn, accompanying chef Robert Kisby and his team on a pre-launch photoshoot in the Bollinger Cellars and vineyards. The tie-in? Spreading the glitzy glad tidings that Le Mont was to host the first Bolly bar outside London.

It all came rushing back the other evening on the 19th floor rooftop terrace of 20 Stories, with its stupendous view across the city (Le Mont at half at the height was hindered by the architect’s choice of window frosting). In my hand was a glass of bubbly, but not Champagne. Nyetimber Classic Cuvée to accompany some canapés. Cementing the brand’s partnership with the glamorous restaurant/bar du jour. The link is due in no small part, I suspect, to the arrival of D&D London’s northern head sommelier Andreas Rosendal (pictured above), an English Wine regional judge for the Decanter Magazine Awards.  

The country’s sparkling wine has undoubtedly been spearheaded by Nyetimber, created by pioneering Americans who had made their fortunes in the dental industry. They saw the potential in a Sussex terroir not unlike Champagne. Did they also anticipate the boost climate change might bring to the ripening process?

The first Nyetimber vines were planted above Pulborough in 1988, the debut harvest was four years later and then Eureka! The first wine, the 100 per cent Chardonnay 1992 Premiere Cuvée Blanc de Blancs won gold at the 1997 International Wine and Spirit Competition. It was the springboard for a procession of awards as Nyetimber expanded to blend the full range of Champagne grape varieties – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier.

I sampled the current version of Blanc de Blancs (£18.50) during our visit to the vine-strewn terrace of 20 Stories. It was gorgeous. I concur with the tasting note of one of the sommelier team, Callum Black: “Aromas of citrus and honeysuckle lead into subtle brioche and vanilla characters. The palate offers generous yet elegant notes of baked lemon and white peach with the warmth of the vintage shining through. Subtle mineral notes accentuate the fresh, crisp acidity, leading to a long and complex finish.”

Over the years the Nyetimber operation has changed hands. There was an obvious chuckle to be had when it was sold to Andy and Nichola Hill, best known for writing the Eurovision winner, Making Your Mind Up, for Bucks Fizz (sic). But the real push towards Nyetimber’s current eminence came when ex-venture capitalist Eric Heerema bought it fr £7.4m in 2006 and soon installed Canadian duo Cherie Spriggs and Brad Greatrix as winemakers. They’re still there, sourcing grapes from over 260 hectares of vineyards (with on stream a further 70 hectares planted across various sites). 

It’s big business. Millions of pounds have been invested in a new winery and state of the art equipment with yearly production predicted to reach 2 million bottle by 2025. Yet when Robin Skelton, for his 2019 book, The Wines of Great Britain, asked Heerema if there was a profit on the horizon he replied: “Yes, but not yet within our grasp.”

Skelton admires this single-minded dedication to quality and so do I. Impressive though the early wines were, they are far more impressive now, underpinning classic bread and apples on the nose with a distinctive tinge of mushroominess, then freshness on the palate and great length, even at entry level (they also now offer daringly expensive prestige versions).

According to Jancis Robinson’s magisterial website the Classic Cuvée regularly gets better scores than non-vintage equivalents from Roederer, Pol Roger and, yes, Bollinger. So still more than holding their own against burgeoning number UK claimants for the UK sparkling crown – Gusbourne, Rathfinny, Wiston and the rest. My own favourite in The Trouble With Dreams from Dermot Sugrue’s boutique South Downs operation. He severed a 16 year connection with Wiston this year and was once winemaker at Nyetimber. Dynastic? Who would have ever have believed in such a wondrous world  of bubbles.

20 Stories is offering an End of Summer celebration dinner, four courses paired with Nyetimber wines

20 Stories’ Vineyard in the Sky promotion continues with the Classic Cuvée at £14.95 a glass with five other Nyetimbers right up to the Prestige Cuvee 1086 Rosé at £330 a bottle.

A good chance to sample the range and match with food comes on Thursday, September 29. Th venue is offering a four course ‘End of Summer Dinner’, wines included, for £70 a head. Book here.

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Stunning shortlists for the 2022 Manchester Food and Drink Awards – make your vote count

It’s been amazing stepping back inside restaurants and bars post-pandemic. From those first, tentative socially distanced steps to the current slightly strained normality in these difficult economic times.

Still the sheer joy of shared conviviality fuels my renewed enthusiasm for the Manchester Food and Drink Awards (here’s my preview). As a veteran judge, helping to assemble the 2022 shortlists just announced, that sense of responsibility returned but also admiration for the quality of contenders – 113 nominees across 16 award categories and so many worthy indie heroes who just missed the cut.

A special word of praise for a new arrival, the Great Service Award. There’s no hiding from front of house shortages, so a public vote celebrating the heroes who keep the hospitality wheels rolling couldn’t be more important.

Last year’ MFDF Awards ceremony packed Escape to Freight Island with the cream of the hospitality industry

The Manchester Food and Drink Festival, celebrating its 25th anniversary, is all about post-COVID recovery and it seems appropriate to continue to give the public a greater say in who wins its coveted Awards. 10 categories will be judged entirely by your vote. Here’s the MFDF voting link.

The winners of four more, Restaurant of the Year, Chef of the Year, Best Newcomer and Bar of the Year, will be chosen by a combination of a ‘mystery shopping panel’ selected from MFDF judges with a measure of public input. Independent Food Producer and Independent Drinks Producer will be judged by a panel taste test. 

All the shortlists have been compiled by the MFDF judging panel, consisting of the region’s leading food and drink critics, writers and experts.  Businesses were able to self-nominate for their chance to gain a spot on the shortlist and the categories have been carefully considered and curated with an absolute passion for the city’s industry at their heart.
This year’s MFDF Awards are sponsored for the first time by Bruntwood. The closing date for votes is September 16.
The 2022 Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards nominations:


PLANT BASED OFFERING OF THE YEAR 

Four Side Pizza 559 Wilbraham Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, M21 0AE

Herbivorous Unit 7, Hatch, 103 Oxford Road, M1 7ED

Otto Vegan Empire 26A Bramhall Lane South, Bramhall, Stockport, SK7 1AF

Ruyi 101 Manchester Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, M21 9GA

Sanskruti 93-95 Mauldeth Road, Manchester M14 6SR

The Walled Garden Whalley Range

Wholesome Junkies Unit 4 Mirabel Street, Manchester, M3 1PJ

INDEPENDENT DRINKS PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

Bundobust Brewery St James’ Building, 61-69 Oxford Street, Manchester M1 6EQ

Cloudwater 7-8 Piccadilly Trading Estate, Manchester, M1 2NP

Hip Pop Manor House Farm, Station Road, Dunham Massey, Altrincham, WA14 5SG

Into the Gathering Dusk

Stockport Gin 19B St Peters Gate, Stockport, SK1 1EB

Steep Soda 73 Temperance Street, Manchester, M12 6HU

Track Brewing Unit 18, Piccadilly Trading Estate, Manchester, M1 2NP

INDEPENDENT FOOD PRODUCER OF THE YEAR 

Dormouse Chocolates Unit O, Deansgate Mews, Manchester M3 4EN

Great North Pie Co Market House, Altrincham, WA15 1SA 

Holy Grain 253 Deansgate Great Northern Mews, Manchester M3 4EN

La Chouquette 812a Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, Manchester M20 6UH

Long Boi’s Bakehouse 40 Forest Range, Levenshulme Manchester M19 2HP

Polyspore

Yellowhammer 15 Lower Hillgate, Stockport SK1 1JQ

FOODIE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE YEAR 

Ancoats, Chapel Street Salford, Monton, Prestwich, Ramsbottom, Sale, Stockport 

COFFEE SHOP OF THE YEAR 

Cafe Sanjuan 27 St Petersgate, Manchester, SK1 1EB 

Factory Coffee 38 King street West, Manchester, M3 2WZ

Grind and Tamp 45 Bridge Street, Ramsbottom, Bury, BL0 9AD

Grapefruit 2 School Road, Sale, M33 7XY

Just Between Friends 56 Tib Street, Manchester, M4 1LG

Station South 975-977 Stockport Road, M19 3NP 

Pollen Cotton Field Wharf, 8 New Union Street, Manchester, M4 6FQ

FOOD TRADER OF THE YEAR

Burgerism 18 West Ashton Street, Salford, M50 2XS

House of Habesha Stretford Foodhall, Chester Road, M32 9BD

Little Lanka 238 South Wellington Road South, Stockport, SK2 SNW 

Lovingly Artisan Altrincham Market, Greenwood Street, Altrincham, WA14 1PF 

Mira Ancoats General Store, 57 Great Ancoats Street, Manchester, M4 5AB

New Wave Ramen Mackie Mayor, 1 Eagle Street, Manchester, M4 5BU

Pico’s Tacos Mackie Mayor, 1 Eagle Street, Manchester, M4 5BU

AFFORDABLE EATS VENUE OF THE YEAR

Aunty Ji’s 987 Stockport Road, Manchester, M19 2SY

Bahn Mi Co Ba 87 Oxford Street, Manchester, M1 6EG 

Cafe Sanjuan 27 St Petersgate, Manchester, SK1 1EB 

Levenshulme Bakery842 Stockport Road, Levenshulme, Manchester, M19 3AW

Go Falafel 3 Newton Street, Manchester, M1 1HW

Mama Flo’s314 Buxton Road, Stockport, SK2 7DD

Salt & Pepper MCR Black Dog Ballroom, 52 Church Street, Manchester M4 1PW 

POP UP OR PROJECT OF THE YEAR

Platt Fields Market Garden Platt Fields Park, Fallowfield, Manchester, M14 6LT

Sao Paulo 51 Blossom Street, Ancoats, Manchester, M4 6BF

Suppher

Eat Well Spring Festival Platt Fields Market Garden, Fallowfield, Manchester, M14 6LT

Bungalow at Kampus Aytoun Street, Manchester M1 3GL

Heart and Parcel

Foodie Friday

PUB OR BEER BAR OF THE YEAR

Bridge Beers 55 Melbourne Street, Staylbridge, SK15 2JJ

Heaton Hops 7 School Lane, Stockport, SK4 5DE

House of Hops 1 Pendlebury Road, Swinton, Manchester, M27 4AG

The Kings Arms 11 Bloom Street, Salford, M3 6AN

Nordie 1044 Stockport Rd, Manchester M19 3WX

Track Taproom Unit 18 Piccadilly Trading Estate, Manchester, M1 2NP

Station Hop 815 Levenshulme Road, Manchester, M19 3BS

BAR OF THE YEAR

Blinker Bar 64-72 Spring Gardens, Manchester, M2 2BQ

Flawd 9 Keepers Quay, Manchester, M4 6GL

Henry C 107 Manchester Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, M21 9GA

Ramona 40 Swan Street, Manchester, M4 5JG

Schofield’s Bar Sunlight House, 3 Little Quay Street, Manchester, M3 3JZ

Speak in Code 7 Jackson’s Row, Manchester, M2 5ND

10 Tib Lane Tib Lane, Manchester, M2 4JB

NEIGHBOURHOOD VENUE OF THE YEAR 

Baratuxi1 Smithy Street, Ramsbottom, Bury, BL0 9AT

Bar San Juan 56 Beech Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, M21 9EG

The Easy Fish Co 117 Heaton Moor Road, Heaton Moor, SK4 4HY

Nilas Burmese Kitchen 386 Third Avenue, Trafford Park, Stretford, Manchester, M17 1JE

Ornellas Kitchen 10 Manchester Road, Denton, Manchester, M34 3LE

Osma 132 Bury New Road, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 0AA

The Perfect Match 103 Cross Street, Sale, M33 7JN

FOOD AND DRINK RETAILER OF THE YEAR

Ad Hoc 28 Edge St, Manchester, M4 1HN

Chorlton Cheesemongers 486 Wilbraham Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, M21 9AS

Hello Oriental Unit 3B South Pavilion 2 Symphony Park, Manchester, M1 7FS

Coopers Lets Fress Deli 70 Bury Old Road, Whitefield, Prestwich, M45 6TL

Le Social Container 147, Pollard Yard, 15 Pollard Street E, Manchester M40 7SL

Out of the Blue 484 Wilbraham Rd, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, M21 9AS

Wandering Palate 191 Monton Road, Eccles, Manchester, M30 9PN

GREAT SERVICE AWARD

Sponsored by Manchester Evening News

Bull & Bear 4 Norfolk Street, Manchester, M2 1DW

Dishoom 32 Bridge Street, Manchester, M3 3BT

Hawksmoor 184-186, Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3WB

Flawd 9 Keepers Quay, Manchester, M4 6GL

Schofield’s Bar 3 Little Quay Street Sunlight House, Manchester, M3 3JZ

Speak in Code 7 Jackson’s Row, Manchester, M2 5ND

10 Tib Lane Tib Lane, Manchester, M2 4JB

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

Sponsored by Bruntwood

Another Hand Unit F, 253 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 4EN

The Alan 18 Princess Street, Manchester, M1 4LG

The Black Friar 41-43 Blackfriars Road, Manchester, M3 7DB

Bundobust Brewery St James’ Building, 61-69 Oxford Street, Manchester M1 6EQ

Flawd 9 Keepers Quay, Manchester, M4 6GL

Yellowhammer 15 Lower Hillgate, Stockport, SK1 1JQ

10 Tib Lane Tib Lane, Manchester, M2 4JB

CHEF OF THE YEAR 

Caroline Martins Sao Paulo Project, Blossom Street Social, 51 Blossom St, Ancoats, Manchester M4 6AJ

Eddie Shepherd The Walled Garden, Whalley Range

Joseph Otway Flawd, 9 Keepers Quay, Manchester, M4 6GL

Sam Buckley Where the Light Gets In 7 Rostron Brow, Stockport SK1 1JY

Patrick Withington Erst, 9 Murray Street, Ancoats, Manchester M4 6HS

Adam Reid The French, The Midland Hotel, 16 Peter Street, Manchester M60 2DS

Julian Pizer Another Hand, Unit F, 253 Deansgate, Manchester M3 4EN

RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR

Sponsored by Stephenson’s

10 Tib Lane Tib Lane, Manchester, M2 4JB

Erst 9 Murray Street, Ancoats, Manchester M4 6HS

The Sparrows 16 Red Bank, Cheetham Hill, Manchester M4 4HF

Another Hand Unit F, 253 Deansgate, Manchester M3 4EN

Mana 42 Blossom Street, Ancoats, Manchester M4 6BF

Where the Light Gets In 7 Rostron Brow, Stockport SK1 1JY

The Firehouse 40 Swan Street, Manchester M4 5JG

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Are you ready for a grilling? Firestarter Rob and BBQ brigade toast of MFDF 25th Anniversary

Cast your mind back a quarter of a century. ‘Craft beer’ didn’t exist, street food was probably a bag of chips and fusion sounded like something electrical. OK, a certain Robert Owen Brown (above) was probably spit-roasting a whole steer in a car park somewhere, but without his carnivore core audience baying for a commentary. How the scene was about to change.

Flash forward to the 25th Manchester Food and Drink Festival (September 15-26) – a landmark event guaranteed, given I’ve been there from the beginning, to make me feel old. As will the climactic Manchester Food and Drink Awards gala dinner. So many of the places I’ve been instrumental in garnering gongs for as a veteran judge are no longer with us.

Melancholy aside, what a remarkable transformation for the better has taken place in our expectations and how they are catered for. This is reflected in the first wave of the 2022 programme, full details of which are on the website. Cathedral Gardens will once again host the free to attend Festival Hub with its array of street food traders and bars…  plus the Artisan Food Market, open from 15th–18th and 22nd–25th from midday to 7pm.

Among the special events and masterclasses my initial enthusiasm is for the first ever Festival Fire Pit Takeover, coming to the Hub for both long weekends. Sponsored by Weber, it will invite some of the region’s best loved chefs to cook over fire. These will include Caroline Martins, founder of the Sao Paolo Project, Fazenda exec chef Francisco Martinez and, yes, Robert Owen Brown.

The Hub will also feature the Octopus Cookbook Confidential demo kitchen on Saturday 24th September in collaboration with the publishing house of that name. Top chefs and industry experts will come together to share their tips and knowledge in cookery demos and debate. Spaces are free but limited and can be booked now.

Best known of the participants is probably telly’s Kate Humble, but my hot tip is don’t miss Jaega Wise, award-winning brewer/TV and radio presenter, going head to head with spirits guru Joel Harrison in conversation with Neil Ridley, subject Beer vs Cocktails.

Away from the festival hub, an array of activities will be taking place across Manchester city centre. Tickets are available to buy here for the Wine and Fizz Festival in a new home that’s the talk of Manchester. It will be the first event to be held in NOMA district’s New Century, currently being repurposed to open as new events hall and food hub from September. Cork of the North, Grape to Grain and sake masters UKiYO Republic re the first names on the team sheet for that kick-off.

Look out, too for a £25 for 25 years menu collaboration for the duration of the festival. Already signed up to provide these menu bargains are District, Embankment Kitchen, Three Little Words, Mi and Pho, Shoryu Ramen, Tast and Society.

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Festival fever as Track and Rivington are my hoppy headliners in build-up to Indy Man

Glastonbury 2002’s over. Just the stragglers still dispersing as the litter clearers descend. The wag who flew a ‘Work Event’ flag by the Pyramid stage has furled it up and taken it home with his washing, probably still humming ‘Hey Jude’.

My big festivals preview was about the beer variety. Hence my rallying cry: ‘Go Aleish, not Eilish!’ Though several fests have already been and gone the thirst for such communal participation shows no sign of abating and what is great to see is the emphasis on championing our local brewing operations.

Prominent among these is Track Brewing Co, which has never looked back since upsizing from its Piccadilly railway arch to large and stylish new brewery and taproom in Ardwick, Manchester. . They seem to be leading the way with collabs with other breweries and recently significantly upgraded their food offering by hosting a kitchen takeover by Liverpool-based restaurant group Maray, who are close to opening their new Manchester venue in Lincoln Square.

Food is a big deal in the first of two further Manchester mini-festivals they are helping generate this summer. Beers In The Garden will take place in Platt Fields on Friday and Saturday, July 8-9, curated by Track and Cheltenham’s Deya and featuring stellar names such as North Brewing, Burning Sky, Verdant, Pressure Drop, Newbarns, Donzoko and, a personal fave, St Mars of the Desert.

The food on offer? Pizza from Honest Crust and barbecue from Where The Light Gets In. The MUD kitchen will prepare dishes using ingredients from the garden there and Levenshulme’s ISCA will offer seasonal dishes and natural wines. The will be four sessions; tickets at £10 available here.

On Saturday, August 27, celebratinga successful first nine months in their new home on the Piccadilly Trading Estate (and the arrival of their beer garden), Track bring us Welcome to the Neighbourhood. There are two sessions with tickets £40 a head, to include all DRAUGHT beer at the festival, a glass and a programme. Tickets available here.

For your money you’ll have access to beers from an amazing array of North West stars – including Track, of course, Rivington, Sureshot, Balance, Red Willow, Pomona Island, Chain House, Bundobust, Squawk, Runaway, Cloudwater and Blackjack – plus DJ and street food. 

The first four days in September see the bucolic Farm Trip festival. Venue a hilltop farm-based brewery above Horwich I have lauded previously For its outstanding views and brews – Rivington (founder Ben Stubbs, above). Their first Trip was hastily assembled in 2021; the follow-up is more measured, promising 120 beers poured through 41 lines. Do check it out.

It’s a nice little autumn chaser before the eagerly anticipated return of Indy Man Beer Con  at Victoria Baths (September 29-October 2), the UK’s best craft beer festival. Capitalising on its absence last year, the Manchester Craft Beer Festival, is heading back to Mayfield Depot, across the weekend of July 22-23. Expect fire pit food and sizzling sounds from Goldie and David Holmes. All a bit high octane for me and to get full value beerwise out of the £55 session ticket you have to be a very canny queue hopper. The likes of Marble, Track and Union Lager are representing Manchester, but this is very much a national brand that straddles several UK cities.

Before then another metropolitan cuckoo descends. Camden Town Brewery Tank Party Roadshow is nesting at neighbouring Escape to Freight Island on Friday, June 24 and Saturday 25.A single brewery tour hardly counts as a festival really, even coming with its own raft of DJ and street(ish) food. The selling point is its unfiltered version of Hells Lager with an estimated 23,000 pints being poured ‘fresh from the tank’ during the Party’s parade across the UK. Camden’s owners, ABV Inbev, the world’s largest brewing operation, sure know how to market a very ordinary product.

I’d recommend, in these difficult times for our breweries: Think Local, Drink Local.

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