Tag Archive for: MFDF

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Unveiled: the fantastic 2025 MFDF Awards shortlist – cast your votes now

The 2025 Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards shortlist has been announced, and Therme Manchester, the UK’s first urban wellbeing resort under construction in TraffordCity, has been confirmed as the headline sponsor. 

The winners will be revealed at the MFDF Awards Dinner at New Century Hall on Monday, January 26 and the region’s food and drink fans are invited to vote for the winners now via the MFDF website. 

These are the most prestigious and longest standing awards in the North West and celebrate the region’s exceptional hospitality industry, with 128 nominees this year across 16 categories.

This year Therme Manchester is headline sponsor – a transformational large-scale wellbeing destination (imaged above) which will feature pools, saunas, waterslides, and wellbeing therapies set to complete construction in late 2028 and welcome 1.7 million guests in its first year. It promises a groundbreaking approach to nutrition, hydration, food sustainability and support for local producers, 

MFDF Awards Director Alexa Stratton-Powell told me: “As we welcome Therme Manchester as a partner it’s an opportunity to celebrate the next chapter for our world-class city region and champion the talent and communities that make it extra special. This year’s list of nominees is a phenomenal example of this innovation with talent from all quarters of Greater Manchester to celebrate -from takeaways in Trafford to Michelin star meals in Ancoats.”

It does look an exceptional list. Here it is in full:

Pho Cue
Panchos Burritos

AFFORDABLE EATS VENUE OF THE YEAR (sponsored by Therme)

Noodle Alley 

56A Faulkner Street, Manchester, M1 4FH

Pho Cue

52A Faulkner Street, Manchester, M1 4FH

Cafe Sanjuan 

27 St Petersgate, Manchester, SK1 1EB

Hong Thai 

140 Oldham Road, Ancoats, Manchester, M4 6BG

Seoul Kimchi 

275 Upper Brooke Street, Manchester, M13 0HR

Double Zero 

368 Barlow Moor Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, M21 8AZ

Wow Báhn Mì 

132 Oldham Road, Ancoats, Manchester M4 6BG

Rabbie’s Thai

Civic Centre, Wythenshawe Manchester, M22 5RQ

Last year’s winner: Nell’s Pizza, Manchester

TAKEAWAY OF THE YEAR

Ceresis

166, Northenden Road, Manchester, Sale, M33 3HE

Ad Maiora

84 Tib Street, Manchester M4 1LG

Home Chinese

16 Chorlton Street, Manchester M1 3HW

Viet Deli 

22 Blackfriars Street, Manchester, M3 5BQ

Pancho’s Burritos

Arndale Food Market, 49 High Street, Manchester, M4 3AH

Rack

Arndale Food Market, 49 High Street, Manchester, M4 3AH

Mughli Charcoal Pit

30 Wilmslow Road, Manchester, M14 5TQ

This & That 

3 Soap Street, Manchester M4 1EW

Last year’s winner: Fat Pat’s, Manchester

Old Fire Station
Kerb Wine

CAFE OR COFFEE SHOP OF THE YEAR (new for 2025)

Cafe Sanjuan

27 St Petersgate, Manchester, SK1 1EB

Oscillate Coffee

52 Flixton Road, Urmston, M41 5AB

Federal Cafe Bar 

194 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3ND

Just Between Friends Coffee

56 Tib Street, Manchester, M4 1LG

Sipp Coffee

105 Beech Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, M21 9EQ

à bloc

38 Stamford Park Road, Altrincham, WA15 9EW

The Old Fire Station Bakery 

47 Albion Place, Crescent, Salford M5 4NL

Something More Productive

9 Egerton Crescent, Withington, M20 4PN

WINE OFFERING OF THE YEAR (new for 2025)

Ad Hoc

28 Edge Street, Manchester, M4 1HN

Higher Ground

Faulkner House, New York Street, Manchester M1 4DY

The Beeswing

KAMPUS, 24a Minshull Street, Manchester, M1 3EF

Salut Wines 

11 Cooper Street, Manchester, M2 2FW

Reserve Wines

1 Eagle Street, Manchester, M4 5BU

Flawd Wine

9 Keepers Quay, Manchester, M4 6GL

Where the Light Gets In 

7 Rostron Brow, Stockport, SK1 1JY

Kerb

49 Henry Street, Manchester, M4 5DH

House of Habesha
Stockport Underbank

FOOD TRADER OF THE YEAR

The Little Sri Lankan

House of Habesha

Kargo MKT, Salford M50 3AG

Baity

Kargo MKT, Salford M50 3AG

Rita’s Reign

Piccadilly Street Food Market, Piccadilly, Manchester, M1 1LY

Rack

Arndale Food Market, 49 High Street, Manchester, M4 3AH

Taiko Ramen

1 Eagle Street, Manchester, M4 5BU

Thatziki 

Kargo MKT, Salford M50 3AG

Little Scarfs 

17A Lower Hillgate, Stockport, SK1 1JQ

Last year’s winner: Honest Crust, Manchester

FOODIE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE YEAR

Stockport

Urmston

Levenshulme

Chorlton

Monton

Salford

Altrincham 

Sale

Last year’s winner: Prestwich

Balance Brewing & Blending
Littlewoods Butchers

INDEPENDENT DRINK PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

Balance Brewing & Blending

Unit 10, Sheffield Street, Manchester, M1 2DN

Pod Pea Vodka

Ten Locks, Fairhill Road, Irlam, Manchester, M44 6BD

Stiff Tea Brewing Company 

3 Hoyle Street, Manchester, M12 6HG

Sureshot Brewing 

5 Sheffield Street, Manchester, M1 2DN

Runaway Brewery 

9-11 Astley Street, Stockport, SK4 1AW

Track Brewing Co

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

Seven Bro7hers

Unit 63, Waybridge Enterprise Centre, Daniel Adamson Road, Salford, Greater Manchester, M50 1DS 

Weekend Project Brewing Co  

Hulme Lane, Lower Peover, Knutsford, WA16 9QH

Last year’s winner: Cloudwater BrewCo, Manchester

INDEPENDENT FOOD PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

Long Boi’s Bakehouse

40 Forest Range, Manchester, M19 2HP

Holy Grain Sourdough

253 Deansgate, Great Northern Mews, Manchester M3 4EN

Littlewoods Butchers

5 School Lane, Heaton Chapel, Stockport, SK4 5DE

Lily’s Vegetarian Indian Cuisine 

85 Oldham Road, Ashton-under-Lyne, OL6 7DF

Wong Wong Bakery

32 Princess Street, Manchester M1 4LB

Pollen Bakery 

Cotton Field Wharf,, Manchester M4 6FQ

Half Dozen Other

Unit 17 Redbank, Cheetham Hill, Manchester, M4 4HF

Mayya Bakery 

32-34, Duncan Street, Salford, M5 3SQ

Last year’s winner: Great North Pie Co, Wilmslow

Gladstone
City Arms

NEIGHBOURHOOD VENUE OF THE YEAR

Fold Bistro & Bottle Shop

7 Town Street, Marple Bridge, SK6 5AA

Stretford Canteen

118 Chester Road, Stretford M32 9BH

The Pearl

425 Bury New Road, Prestwich, M25 1AF

Lupo

Mountheath Trading Estate, Unit 65 Ardent Way, Manchester, M25 9WE

Cantaloupe 

71 Great Underbank, Stockport, SK1 1PE

Tawny Stores

1 Upper Hibbert Lane, Marple, SK6 7JQ

The Perfect Match 

103 Cross Street, Sale, M33 7JN 

Gladstone Barber and Bistro

Unit 3 Pattern House, Castle Street, Stalybridge, SK15 1NX

Last year’s winner: Bar San Juan, Chorlton-cum-Hardy

PUB OR BEER BAR OF THE YEAR

Victoria Tap

Victoria Station Approach, Manchester, M3 1WY

Runaway Brewery 

9-11 Astley Street, Stockport, SK4 1AW

City Arms 

46-48, Kennedy Street, Manchester M2 4BQ

The Marble Arch Inn

73 Rochdale Road, Manchester, M4 4HY

The Magnet Freehouse

51 Wellington Road North, Stockport SK4 1HJ 

Café Beermoth

Brown Street, Manchester, M2 1DA

North Westward Ho 

19 Chapel Walks, Manchester, M2 1HN

Track Taproom 

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

Last year’s winner: Mulligans, Manchester

Service is important
Hinterland

GREAT SERVICE AWARD

Tast Catala

20-22 King Street, Manchester, M2 6AG

Atomeca 

1B, Deansgate Square, Owen Street, Manchester, M15 4YB

Higher Ground

Faulkner House, New York Street, Manchester M1 4DY

Adam Reid at The French 

16 Peter Street, Manchester M60 2DS

Maray

14 Brazennose Street, Manchester, M2 6LW

Federal Cafe Bar 

194 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3ND

Blacklock Manchester

37 Peter Street, Manchester M2 5GB

Kallos Cafe & Wine Bar

3 Bankside Boulevard, Salford, M3 7HD

Last. year’s winner: Schofield’s Bar, Manchester

LOW OR NO OFFERING OF THE YEAR (new for 2025)

Nell’s Pizza 

22 Minshull Street, Kampus, Manchester M1 3EF

Cloudwater Brew Co 

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

Dishoom 

32 Bridge Street, Manchester, M3 3BT

Red Light 

4-2 Little David Street, Manchester, M1 3GL

Blinker Bar

64 -72 Spring Gardens, Manchester, M2 2BQ

Hinterland 

16-20 Turner Street, Manchester, M4 1DZ

Lina Stores 

17 Quay Street, Manchester, M3 3HN

Speak in Code 

7 Jackson’s Row, Manchester, M2 5ND

Schofields Bar
Bangkok Diners Club

BAR OF THE YEAR

Stray 

1 Eagle Street, Manchester, M4 5BU

Schofield’s Bar

Sunlight House, 3 Little Quay Street, Manchester, M3 3JZ

Red Light

4-2 Little David Street, Manchester, M1 3GL

Speak in Code

7 Jackson’s Row, Manchester, M2 5ND

Pray Tell 

Unit 6 Stanley Square, Sale, M33 7XZ

Renae

45-47 Thomas Street, Manchester, M4 1NA

Libero

2A Kings Court, Railway Street, Altrincham, WA14 2RE

Flawd Wine

9 Keepers Quay, Manchester, M4 6GL

Last year’s winner: Hawksmoor, Manchester

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

Cantaloupe

71 Great Underbank, Stockport, SK1 1PE

Bangkok Diners Club 

17 Blossom Street, Ancoats, M4 5BR

Stow

62 Bridge Street, Manchester, M3 3BW

Kallos Cafe & Wine Bar

3 Bankside Boulevard, Salford, M3 7HD

Café Continental 

5 Melbourne Street, Stalybridge, SK15 2JE

Winsome

74 Princess Street, Manchester, M1 6JD

Royal Nawaab Pyramid

The Pyramid Kings Valley, Stockport, SK4 2JU

Kung Fu Noodle 

48A George Street, Manchester, M1 4HF

Last year’s winner: Skof, Manchester

Mary-Ellen McTague
Mana

CHEF OF THE YEAR

Rosie Maguire (Higher Ground)

Shaun Moffat (Winsome)

Adam Reid (Adam Reid at The French)

Matt Bennett (The Pearl)

Mary-Ellen McTague (Pip)

Patrick Withington (Erst)

Jamie Pickles (Stow) 

Jack Fields (Restaurant Orme) 

Last Year’s winner: Tom Barnes (Skof)

RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR

mana 

42 Blossom Street, Ancoats, Manchester, M4 6BF

Skof

3 Federation Street, Manchester, M4 4BF

Adam Reid At The French

16 Peter Street, Manchester M60 2DS

Winsome

74 Princess Street, Manchester, M1 6JD

Higher Ground

Faulkner House, New York Street, Manchester M1 4DY

Stow

62 Bridge Street, Manchester, M3 3BW

Erst

9 Murray Street, Ancoats, Manchester, M4 6HS

Cantaloupe

71 Great Underbank, Stockport, SK1 1PE

Last year’s winner: Where The Light Gets In, Stockport

The shortlist reflects the incredible culinary diversity of Greater Manchester

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

The shortlisted nominations have been compiled by the MFDF Judging Panel, taking into account award submissions from the hospitality industry. The panel is made up of the region’s leading food and drink critics, writers, and experts. The awards are now open to public vote on the MFDF website. 

As well as the public vote, a  mystery shopping period will now commence where judges will visit nominated venues in some categories or an anonymous dining visit and will score venues based on their experiences. 

The mystery shopping and public voting period will end at midnight on January 12, 2026 when the polls will be counted and combined with the judges’ scores and the winner of each category will be chosen. 

The MFDF 25 Award Winners will be announced at the MFDF Awards Dinner on Monday 26th January and tickets can be purchased by emailing isabella@foodanddrinkfestival.com.

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All the 2022 Manchester Food & Drink Awards Winners – and my blurry green oasis

Back to normal, post-pandemic? Well, not quite. Manchester’s food drink scene faces further unprecedented pressures with the current cost of living and energy crises. Yet the daring, innovative flame still burns bright and hell, do they all know how to party. My morning after lifesaver was the recuperative vibe of the city’s glorious new Mayfield Park.

That’s the ‘back garden’ of Escape to Freight Island, again the venue for the Manchester Food and Drink Awards, where there was a rapturous reception for a parade of independent heroes. As fascinating a set of winners as I can recall. Name me another UK city where the big four awards would have gone to such an eclectic quartet as Where The Light Gets In, Eddie (Walled Gardens) Shepherd, Another Hand and Speak In Code. 

These winners were chosen by a combination of a ‘mystery shopping panel’ selected from MFDF judges, including yours truly, with a measure of public input. Independent Food Producer and Independent Drinks Producer were judged by a panel taste test. The rest of the awards followed last year’s precedent and were solely the result of the (impressively large) public vote. 

Across the board there was evidence of a strong commitment to sustainability, local sourcing, cultural diversity and community values. Buzz words all but sometimes just talking the talk. Not here.

Take the aforementioned ‘big four’. Stockport’s Where The Light Gets In sources produce from The Landing, its own urban gardening space on top of the town’s Merseyway Shopping Centre. Eddie Shepherd is even more hyper-local; his plant-based ‘underground restaurant’ in Whalley Range is driven by the bee hives and herbs in his (walled) garden diners look out on.

In the city centre Another Hand is a committed purchaser of fruit, veg and herbs from Cheshire’s groundbreaking Cinderwood market garden, which supplies several of the establishments on the Awards shortlists. Vegan cocktail specialists Speak In Code, a four minute walk away from Another Hand, is remarkably hands-on. The bartending staff craft the various veg, fruit and spice-led cocktail concoctions alongside plant-based snacks and their own customised ice.

Nathan Larkin of Speak In Code
Eddie Shepherd
Sam Buckley of WTLGI

Finally a hugely deserved award cementing the resurgence of Stockport as a gastronomic destination. Restaurant of the Year WTLGI and its baked goods sibling, Yellowhammer, which was also up for an award, had to share the limelight with two of the North’s canniest events operators. I’ve known John and Rosemary Barratt for nigh on three decades and Foodie Fridays, packing the cobbled ginnels around Stockport Market Place, is their benchmark achievement. On the night it earned them both Pop Up/ Project of the Year and the coveted Outstanding Achievement Award. Their on-stage celebration, below, was a fitting climax to a special night.

Here is the list of this year’s winners…

Restaurant of the Year – Where The Light Gets In

Shortlisted: 10 Tib Lane, Erst, The Sparrows, Another Hand, Mana, The Firehouse, Where the Light Gets In.

Chef of the Year – Eddie Shepherd (The Walled Gardens)

Shortlisted: Caroline Martins (Sao Paulo Project), Joseph Otway (Flawd), Sam Buckley (Where the Light Gets In) Patrick Withington (Erst), Adam Reid (The French), Julian Pizer (Another Hand), Eddie Shepherd (The Walled Gardens).

Newcomer of the Year – Another Hand

Shortlisted: The Alan, The Black Friar, Bundobust Brewery, Flawd, Yellowhammer, 10 Tib Lane, Another Hand.

Bar of the Year – Speak In Code

Shortlisted: Blinker Bar, Flawd 9, Henry C, Ramona, Schofield’s Bar, 10 Tib Lane, Speak in Code.

Pub or Craft Ale Bar of the Year – The King’s Arms, Salford

Shortlisted:Bridge Beers, Heaton Hops, House of Hops, Nordie, Track Taproom, Station Hop, The King’s Arms (Salford),

Independent Food Producer of the Year – Dormouse Chocolates

Shortlisted: Great North Pie Co, Holy Grain, La Chouquette, Long Boi’s Bakehouse, Polyspore, Yellowhammer, Dormouse Chocolates.

Independent Drinks Producer of the Year – Hip Pop

Shortlisted: Cloudwater Brew Co, Into the Gathering Dusk, Bundobust Brewery, Stockport Gin, Steep Soda, Track Brewing, Hip Pop.

Pop Up/ Project of the Year – Foodie Fridays, Stockport

Shortlisted: Platt Fields Market Garden, Sao Paulo Project, Suppher, Eat Well Spring Festival, Bungalow at Kampus, Heart and Parcel, Foodie Fridays. 

Neighbourhood Venue of the Year – Bar San Juan, Chorlton

Shortlisted: Baratuxi, The Easy Fish Co, Nila’s Burmese Kitchen, Ornella’s Kitchen, Osma, The Perfect Match, Bar San Juan.

Food Trader of the Year – Burgerism

Shortlisted – House of Habesha, Little Lanka, Lovingly Artisan, Mira, New Wave Ramen, Pico’s Tacos, Burgerism.

Affordable Eats of the Year – Salt & Pepper MCR

Shortlisted: Aunty Ji’s, Bahn Mi Co Ba, Cafe Sanjuan, Levenshulme Bakery, Go Falafel, Mama Flo’s, Salt & Pepper MCR.

Coffee Shop of the Year – Pollen

Shortlisted: Cafe Sanjuan, Factory Coffee, Grind and Tamp, Grapefruit, Just Between Friends, Station South, Pollen

Plant-based Offering of the Year – Wholesome Junkies

Shortlisted: Four Side Pizza, Herbivorous, Otto Vegan Empire, Ruyi, Sanskruti, The Walled Gardens

Wholesome Junkies.

Food and Drink Retailer of the Year – Chorlton Cheesemongers

Shortlisted: Ad Hoc, Hello Oriental, Coopers Lets Fress Deli, Le Social, Out of the Blue, Wandering Palate, Chorlton Cheesemongers.

Foodie Neighbourhood of the Year – Ancoats

Shortlisted; Chapel Street Salford, Monton, Prestwich, Ramsbottom, Sale, Stockport, Ancoats.

Great Service Award – Dishoom

Shortlisted: Bull & Bear, Hawksmoor, Flawd, Schofield’s Bar, Speak in Code, 10 Tib Lane, Dishoom.

Howard and Ruth’s Outstanding Achievement Award – John and Rosemary Barratt (Foodie Fridays, Stockport)

The Manchester Food and Drink Festival, delayed for a week by the Period of National Mourning, continues until Sunday, October 2. Here is my lowdown.  Event images mostly courtesy of Carl Sukonik

And finally a plug for the 25 Eventful Years of The Manchester Food and Drink podcast, which I did with festival founder Phil Jones, top food PR Siobhan Hanley and the doyen of Blue Badge guides, Jonathan Schofield. It was a hoot. Listen here.

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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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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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Five Manchester Food and Drink Festival star turns to sink your teeth into

The Manchester Food and Drink Festival kicks off on Thursday, September 16 with the full raucous backing at the Cathedral Gardens Hub of Mr Wilson’s Secondliners (above). As usual the Festival is packed with events and should profit from a huge public appetite for some kind of tasty ‘new normal’. Here is my choice of five very special MFDF opportunities to enjoy yourself and support a resurgent hospitality industry…

Bull & Bear Festival Hub Takeover, Cathedral Gardens, 7pm, Mon, Sep 20. £55. 

Tom Kerridge’s posh operation in the Stock Exchange Hotel will will be bringing the pub to the hub on Monday 20 September for a three-course feast with music, too. Expect potted Loch Duart salmon with apple jelly and cucumber chutney to start and a braised beef and cheese pie with English mustard for your main and a pud of banana custard with dates, pistachio and honeycomb. The Festival Beer Bar is there to add to the pub experience.

MFDF x Eat Well Dinner, Mana, Blossom Street. Tue Sep 21. £200.

This is the big one – a collab between some of the city’s finest chefs at its only Michelin-starred establishment, all to raise money for Eat Well, a social enterprise tackling food poverty in Manchester. Participating are Mana’s own Simon Martin, Mary-Ellen McTague (The Creameries), Ben Humphries (District), Eddie Shepherd (Walled Garden) and Anna Søgaard (Erst), each preparing one course. Tickets go on sale Friday, September 10. 25 spots only are available. Book here.

Elnecot x It’s Alive Supper Club, Blossom Street. 6pm onwards. Tue Sep 21. £65.

Much-loved Ancoats pioneer Elnecot are joined by their wine suppliers It’s Alive for a menu inspired by the British Isles. Natural wines will be paired with the likes of a Yorkshire hogget broth, a surf and turf and a rendang doughnut.

Tast Meets The Macallan, Tast, King Street. 6.30pm Thu Sep 23. £125. 

Exec chef Paco Perez and head chef Julià Castelló have designed a five-course gastronomic tasting menu that includes octopus, oysters, autumn rice with mushrooms, cheese and figs plus poussin, beetroot and truffle. There’ll also be one limited-edition Macallan whisky that pairs with this feast. Choose Barcelona but also choose Scotland via Manchester. Choose a ticket that costs £125.

Sustainable Wine Evening, Open Kitchen Cafe & Bar. 7pm, Thu Sep 23. £28.

Launching a run of seasonal events, Open Kitchen, inside the People’s History Museum, showcase a selection of wines from the Bolney Estate in Kent, a winery known for its sustainable land management since 1972. Taste six wines across the evening (I particularly recommend the Lychgate red) with table snacks and a wider small plates menu available to purchase.

Check out our preview of MFDF – Manchester’s Biggest Chippy Tea Is In The Bag and Your Vote Counts for Everything for a full list of MFDF Awards nominees. For the latest updates on the programme (Sept 16-27) and to vote for your favourites off the shortlists visit the MFDF website.

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