Birthday Tea at Sam’s Chop House
To celebrate the birthday of LS Lowry who will be 126 years old on November 1 (albeit a little dead around the edges), Sam’s Chop House will have a special menu of the painter’s favourite party bites. Surprisingly, cheese and pineapple on sticks does not feature. Instead, the fixed price menu (two course £17.50, three courses £21.50) will include smoked trout, steak and kidney pudding and Eccles cake as well as rice pudding with jam. The latter was Lowry’s favourite pud, apparently. You’ll find the birthday boy propping up the bar in his usual place if you want to buy him a celebratory drink. He's been there for almost three years now. Surely he must be pissed?
Lowry - almost three years at the bar and still astride his stool
Return of the Curious Teepee
The Curious Teepee will be returning to The Oast House, Spinningfields, for the festive season. Santa’s elves or some such will be working through the night on October 29 to install the tent ready to welcome the public on November 1. There will be animal skins, mulled wine and all the usual wintry gubbins, including the Oast House nosh, but it’s still not clear what is curious about the teepee. Maybe it's because traditional native American teepees didn't have hanging kebabs (the Oast House signature dish) as a regular part of family dining, nor a range of long-queue-at-the-bar cocktails. Confidential is pleased, however, that these can be bartered if you have the requisite number of beaver skins. Maybe. What is certain is that this is always the best looking Christmas pop-up in town by a mile.
Teepee - curious
Post Office Sell Off
No, not the cut-price share farrago, the Rochdale grade II listed building on The Esplanade is the post office in question. The town centre landmark, completed in 1927, could be transformed into a bar and restaurant if local developers, Hurstwood, get their way. If it all goes ahead, the post office will parcel up its business and move to an as yet unknown location in the town. Real business across Britain now has to cope with cramped spaces under stairwells as the magnificent buildings that once housed them become places for slackers to loaf. Strange these transformations. Let's hope if this goes ahead the building doesn't become another Wetherspoons or some vile species of Pubco chain bar with 2-4-1 offers. Rochdale Esplanade, the grandest in the UK, deserves better. This has got Pizza Express written all over it.
Rochdale Post Office, left - please not another terrible chain bar 2-4-1 hell-hole
Oak Street Café Bar Spells Out Its New Menu
This little café in Manchester Craft and Design Centre is a perfect place to stop for a meat-free bite between buying up all the crafty, quirky presents on offer in the studios. Confidential loves it. They are launching their new Christmas menu and there is plenty for even the fussiest eater. The vegetarian menu contains loads of wheat free options and a range of vegan options too. The food on offer changes daily, but expect homemade soups, sandwiches, frittatas and cakes baked on site. If you get down there quickly, October’s Café Special is Alphabetti Spaghetti to tie in with the Forming Words exhibition.
Oak Street Café in the Craft and Design Centre - Thanks to Hungry Hoss and his estimable blog spot for the composite picture
Love Beer? Love Chorlton Love Beer Festival
South West Manchester Cricket Club on Ellesmere Road in Chorlton will be holding Chorlton Love Beer Festival and celebrating all things beer between November 29 and December 1. The handpicked selection of ales will represent the best the local area has to offer with beers from Marble, Boggart, Quantum, Hornbeam, First Chop, Blackjack and Magic Rock just waiting to be quaffed. If all that beer drinking leaves you peckish, Guerilla Eats will be on hand to provide sustenance and local Manchester artists will provide the tunes. As an added attraction outside is the lovely cricket ground, an oasis in the centre of suburbia, great for a wander to clear the head.
South West Manchester Cricket Club - thanks to Chorlton Life for the picture
World Food Buffet Opens in Printworks
Peachy Keens, a new operator in the multi food buffet market has opened in The Printworks. There are Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Mexican, Malaysian, Indian, Portuguese, Fine Dining and Martian options available (Have you read the press release right with those last two? Ed). In other words you can travel the world and beyond without ever leaving The Printworks. Heaven forbid. Would have saved Phileas Fogg eighty days though. There will also be live cooking stations so you can watch the chefs prepare your food with tender love and care. Peachy Keens might be a good bet for big groups where inevitably everyone wants something different, for diners who are just plain indecisive and for the gluttonous. Let's hope it's a cut above slop-land Red Hot World Buffet which was disapproved of by Snoop Dogg, Damon Albarn, Sinead O'Connor and Bjork when we took them along a while ago.
A Peachy Keens experience
Red’s True BBQ Hotfoots it over the Pennines
Popular Leeds eatery, Red’s True BBQ will open in Manchester in February. The American inspired restaurant, with its offerings of mountainous pulled pork sandwiches, burgers and glazed ribs, might not exactly be a revelation on the Manchester food scene but given its success in Yorkshire it will probably be packed. Red’s True BBQ will open in the former Livebait restaurant on Lloyd Street and promises to be a great place to play hipster bingo. Slaw – tick. Pulled pork – tick. Mac ‘n’ Cheese – tick. Things being described as ‘dirty’ – tick. House!
Reds - dirty, mucky, porn food, and so forth
Kosmonaut host Design Manchester ‘13
TastyThe Northern Quarter bar on Tariff Street will be holding events and an exhibition throughout the festival week running from Monday 28 October. On Thursday 31 October Kosmonaut will be holding the DM13 Social so Manchester creatives can meet and mingle. There will be food and drink offers available to Design Manchester ticketholders. Photography by Sebastian Matthes from the recent 10x10 exhibition will also be on display in the bar.
The Real McCoy, that's Yuzu
Confidential was talkng to the Japanese film crew who for more than two weeks have been in Manchester filming an hour long travel show. They've loved it. We asked them if they'd tried our Japanese restaurants. They had. "Some are not so good," said Kenko, the presenter, "but Yuzu is really good. Very authentic, real Japanese food. Just like home." Yuzu (main picture at the top of the page) became the first Manchester Japanese restaurant to make it into The Good Food Guide this year. It seems it deserves all the accolades it receives.
Yui Nagama of the fine establishment told Confidential in September: "I was delighted when we received the letter (from The Good Food Guide) of course. I couldn't believe we would be on it. And also felt that our hard work had finally paid off, as we make everything from scratch unlike other 'Japanese' establishments that use frozen products." Subtle, or rather unsubtle, dig at the less authentic rivals there. Gordo's review of Yuzu here.
Confidential met the Japanese on a cold night and backed them into a doorway
