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
Damson: Manchester Gets A Lovely New Restaurant
The new Damson at MediaCity is gorgeous - see below. Roomy, comfortable with a spectacular kitchen and chef's table (click here). The views out across MediaCity's lovely landscaped area to the tram station and then over the Ship Canal to The Imperial War Museum North is the best view from a Greater Manchester restaurant along with that from Kaleido above Urbis. Sleuth can't wait to lose a night there.
Damson, Salford Quays
The views are amazing
Salford's Magic Kitchen
Damson will be helping train young chefs from Salford College. Thus it has a very impressive and very big kitchen with big stockpots, a butchering desk, and lots of shiny metal kit. "This apparatus is very clever," said Steve Pilling pointing to a vast thing above his head. "It extracts, purifies and cleans at the same time." "Is it magic?" said Sleuth. "Yes," said Steve Pilling.
Steve Pilling's head and the magic machine
Chef's table
Longest Name Launches In The Old Socio Rehab
The new Socio Rehab has relaunched under the name Luck, Lust, Liquor & Burn. Those mad Almost Famous Burger boys eh? Sleuth is going along for a look-see very soon.
Gordo And The Incautious Bar Operator
So Gordo of Confidential was in Aubaine, the generally very good restaurant, in Selfridges. Ross Mackenzie, one of the bosses behind the Blackdog Ballrooms and The Liars Club bars was dining with Gordo. The fat one was reviewing Aubaine on the sly. The manager came over to take the food order off the men. “Are you reviewing this place?” said Ross Mackenzie just at that moment. “Because then we should order different things. Er, why are you looking at me like that? Oh right, I see.”
Sleuth Finds Further Fibbing Performer
The Liars Club is extending upstairs from its basement venue off Bridge Street. It will be taking over the former Starbucks outlet (back in the day George Best's shop Edwardia). Sleuth is pleased by that. There's a good terrace outside although the surface area inside is quite small. They should do a range of lunchtime snacks reckons Sleuth, specialising in Porkie Pies that turn out to be salads. In any case there can never be enough places to tell lies in, can there?
Adolphe Valette Goes To The Gents In The Art Gallery
A colleague of Sleuth from the tour guiding fraternity was trying to find the Adolphe Valette pictures in Manchester Art Gallery now they've been scattered across the venue. Frenchman Valette was one of the best painters of Manchester 100 years ago. The tour guide found the classic 'Albert Square' painting and stopped to study it. Then she realised it was sited right next to the gents. "Not the best place to linger," she said, "and why is it that so many men wait until they're leaving the gents to do up their trousers?"
Valette toilet
It's A Gym, Jum, But Not As We Know It
One of the Confidential staff was doing some research on gyms and saunas in Greater Manchester. While ringing up places listed in Rochdale the naive young lady made an interesting discovery. "You wouldn’t come here if you wanted to get fit, love," said the gravel voiced lady at the other end of the phone. "It's not what we specialise in if you know what I mean. It's all about entertaining men."
Sleuth And Some Massive Meat
Every seven days or so Sleuth is stopped in the street by policemen, firemen, concierges, Adolphe Valette, Rochdalian 'masseurs' and the complete cast of Les Miserables, and asked "Where can we buy a massive piece of meat close to Piccadilly Station in Manchester?"
"Why," says Sleuth, "that would be Smoak at the Malmaison and the wing rib of prime steak with huge bones of bone marrow. It takes two weeks to eat." And to prove it he showed this picture of the steak to all the policemen, firemen, concierges, to Adolphe Valette, Rochdalian 'masseurs' and the complete cast of Les Miserables.
Big meat
Sleuth, Singers And Dancing Girls On Tables
Singer/songwriter Labrinth, made an appearance at Circle Club on Thursday as brand ambassador for French vodka brand Ciroc. Sleuth isn’t a massive a fan of the Simon Cowell spawned star, but one reveller who would beg to differ was local socialite and Viva Magazine co-owner Emma Wilkinson. Upon seeing the hit-maker use a Circle Club booth as his stage, Emma decided to rise above the crowds and get closer to the star, much to the horror of the Circle Club’s safety conscious bouncers and the Ciroc PR team. Still, there was no stopping the excitable Emma as she gyrated above the masses. Even the bouncers gave up as she sang ‘Yeah! We can make an earthquake up in here’ at the top of her lungs whilst stillettoing the Circle Club’s upholstery. Everyone was annoyed, except for Sleuth who’d never been so close to a natural disaster before. There's a picture gallery from the event below.
Go, girl, go
Labrinth turns it on for the crowd
