SleuthSleuth is a sideways glance at the city every week, it's the truth, but Sleuth's truth. He's several people all at once. We give £25 for every story/rumour and piece of absurdity you find for us to publish. Sleuth sometimes even gets serious. We ask for the money back if any legal action follows. Follow Sleuth on twitter @mcrsleuth
The Hardest Restaurant To Find In The World Opens
Sleuth was told about the hardest to find new restaurant in the world by Bonnie Yeung, daughter of Harry Yeung, Emperor of the Yang Sing restaurant. Bonnie runs press and marketing for the Yang Sing amongst other things, lives in the city centre and loves it.
Viaduct crampedThe new restaurant she was talking about is on Mirabel Street. It's called Umezushi. It lies between two viaducts close to Manchester Arena. Literally blink and you miss it - and that's while walking very slowly, never mind driving.
A couple of young chaps have opened the nineteen seater restaurant in a railway arch - see main picture above. "What do you serve, boys?" asked Sleuth. "We use the best British ingredients to deliver Japanese food using modern techniques as well as traditional," came the reply. Confidential will be reviewing soon. We can't wait.
"How did you find out about us?" asked one of the fellas as Sleuth was leaving. "Bonnie Yeung told me," Sleuth said. "Yeah, she really liked us," said Terry Huang, one of the owners. "She came in twice on one day she liked us so much, checking to make sure the food was as good a second time."
Go on, seek it out
Annie L Says No
Annie with her photographsSo the Confidential editor, Schofield, was interviewing Annie Lennox about her new photography exhibition at The Lowry Hotel featuring Manchester and Salford views. He forgot to ask the Scottish Eurythmics polymath a question during the interview, so later at the opening of the show he caught up with her. "What you think of Scottish independence, will you be supporting it next year?" he asked. "First off, I can't vote as I live in London," she said about the 2014 referendum, "but if I could I'd vote against splitting the UK." The discussion continued. "As you say," she said, "we don't want the Balkanisation of Britain. I think Scotland would be a lesser country if independent, and so would Britain. We all be the poorer for it."
Fountains And Regrets And Honest Artists
Silly artworksSleuth while seeking out the restaurant discussed above, came across the fountains being tested at Greengate Square just over from the Cathedral in Salford. There were two men coordinating the testing from a canvas shelter. One was Mel Chantry who has designed the steel towers here and helped out with the fountain design along with a company called The Fountain Workshop. Let's hope for once these Manchester and Salford fountains do work, Manchester's record in particular is shocking with fountains. Sleuth remembered something though. "Are you the Mel Chantry that designed those ludicrous steel structures that used to be outside the Corn Exchange when it was called the Triangle?" "Oh dear," said Chantry, "that was my first job. They weren't very good were they? I'm glad they're gone, Exchange Square is much better without them."
Water vapour and lights - fountains in Salford
Sleuth's Seagull On A Wall Picture Of The Week
Sleuth loves this lost bird on the old viaduct wall close to Beetham Tower. Who put it there and why? Anybody know?
Seagull
Sleuth And The Angel
Sleuth went to the Angel just off Rochdale Road to sample the new scran there. The chef is the excellent Ken Calder, who people may recall from the Marble Arch. Ken is a Scouser with an accent so strong he could probably fry bacon with it. The dish below, mackerel and puy lentils was lovely, despite coming on a slate. Review to follow. Sleuth was also charmed by Ken's dish description placemats. He's drawn them in a childish, naive manner very like French artist Lionel Koechlin's work.
Nice mackerel
Clever placemat
Sleuth's Transit Vans On The Track Picture Of The Week
Thanks to Jonathan Oswald for this curious image of vans on the choo-choo track. They will be clogging a street near you shortly.
White van railway men
Sleuth And The Honest Gallery Owner
£3,000Sleuth had a dig at one of the gallerys in The Manchester Contemporary show recently - click here. He thought that £3,000 for some gilded carpet grips was probably a bit steep. He also called the owner of Seventeen, the gallery displaying them, 'grim'. Sleuth would like to apologise to David Hoyland. He's clearly a genius. This was the description he'd supplied for The Manchester Contemporary. “Seventeen is a poorly organised exhibition space, based in East London. While struggling to co-ordinate the basics of running a gallery, such as putting on exhibitions and looking after our artists, Seventeen displays not only a lack of imagination but a lack of dignity, lurching from one mismanaged catastrophe to the next.”
David Hoyland recommending that people should perhaps try another gallery
