Sleuth is a sideways glance at the city every week, it's the truth, but Sleuth's truth. He's several people all at once. Sometimes Sleuth even gets serious @mcrsleuth
MANCHESTER FOOD AND DRINK FESTIVAL LAUNCH
Sleuth was at the launch of the Manchester Food and Drink Festival in Iberica and then at the 'hub' in Albert Square on Thursday. It was a jolly event featuring fine live music in the festival tent plus good food from the likes of Mowgli and others. The fat was chewed and the jokes flowed fast. There are some seriously good events this year. Sleuth is looking forward to the BBC's Great British Menu contestant and Head Chef at The French, Adam Reid's tasting menu in the square from Tuesday 4-Thursday 6 October. Book if you can.
Buzzing hub
MASSIVE DISCOVERIES REVEALED
During the revels at the Food and Drink Festival launch, Sleuth discovered two things: One that Gordo walks with the straightest back ever whilst trying to disguise the fact he's drunk, and secondly you can fold the new plastic £5 notes so that Winston Churchill stares back at you. Now that folks is how to have fun. Real fun.
Definitely not drunk - really
Fab fiver fact
FAST SKULLS IN ART SHOW
Sleuth was at the Buy Art Fair and Manchester Contemporary over the previous weekend. He was standing by Drang gallery having a chat, but had to move for all the dust kicking up. The Damien Hirst kit in the gallery's offering was creating a fuss. Within an hour of opening the £10,000 crystal skull, called 'For The Love Of God', had been snapped up. It kept going like that for the weekend across the whole fair, let alone Drang. "This feels like a game changer for the north west in terms of art sales, even the more rarified pieces in the Manchester Contemporary are selling," said one art lover. Sleuth couldn't reply as he was still choking on the dust.
Skull appeal
CABBAGE LAUNCHES IN DIDSBURY - AKA HISPI
Hispi opens next week on Friday 7 October. This is the latest restaurant from award-winning Sticky Walnut chef Gary Usher and it's coming to Didsbury in the former Jem&I unit. The name Hispi is apparently derived from a type of cabbage although most cabbages don't cost almost £60,000 of crowd-funded dosh. Sleuth wishes Usher well with his New British World Crossover Continental Cuisine (that's a new cusine type Sleuth has just dreamt up, it'll catch on somewhere).
Anyway Sleuth has made a note not to upset Mr Usher. Frost, the mouthy Chorlton butcher, tweeted him in August saying 'get back to work and stop tweeting' - which was a bit rich coming from Frost. Usher took offence and came over to Chorlton to 'sort him out'. Gary even took a scary photo of himself outside Chorlton Precinct where Frost's shop is located. It was well after closing time, so luckily the gobby butcher wasn't there, or it could have been hispis and sausages at dawn. Careful with those complaints folks.
Hispi in cabbage...green...er... teal
Run Frost, Run
MACCLESFIELD AND THE TEMPLE OF BREAD
Sleuth was down in Macclesfield giving a speech about Manchester and how it's changed. He popped into the exquisite parish church for a mooch around. He found a loaf of bread giving a sermon. "Have you replaced the vicar?" said Sleuth to a sweet older lady who was preparing for harvest festival. "I wondered where that had gone," she replied. "I was just putting it out of the way while I was sorting things." Sleuth tweeted the picture and the wit of Twitter followed. 'Bread of Heaven' was the popular winner but Devaney, Confidential's Boston correspondent, did better with 'The Body of Crust' and 'The Gospel according to Warburtons'. Sleuth joined in with the 'Holy Loaf of Gob.' High art knows no boundaries.
Heavenly vision (unsliced)
THE ORGAN CLIMBS HIGHER AND HIGHER
Sleuth bumped into Anthony O'Connor of Manchester Cathedral in Exchange Square and after a brief chat they went their separate ways. "Oh, by the way," shouted O'Connor, half-turning, "don't you think it looks magnificent." "What?" called back Sleuth. "The organ," bellowed O'Connor. "I saw it going up on Sunday," screamed Sleuth as they moved further away, "it looked huge." Several people in the square jumped at all this apparent filth. But they were innocent comments. Here's a picture of how that fine £2.5m organ is beginning to look in Manchester Cathedral. It should be ready to 'pull out all the stops' by December. And Anthony O'Connor is right. It really is a magnificent erection. As with high art, wit knows no boundaries.
A magnificent erection
METROLINK £5 FLOPS
Those slippery, shiny, aforementioned new fivers seem to perform well in most self-service tills. Not so well in Metrolink ticket machines. Sleuth couldn't use one at Firswood on Monday. "There's been a delay in issuing the software," an operator told Sleuth. "You can only use the new £5 notes in the city centre and Altrincham presently." Sleuth is sure it's just a coincidence the roll-out didn't start in Droylsden or Eccles - you know, the less wealthier places.
A MUSICAL INTERLUDE AND MORE ART
Sleuth got down to the Whitworth Art Gallery for the launch of the Marcantonio Raimondi and Raphael print exhibition. It's lovely, go. Sleuth and the guests were treated to a fine performance from the University Renaissance Singers that hit all the right notes as evidenced below. Less in tune was the otherwise fine speech by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University, Colin Bailey, who kept referring to the 'expedition' rather than the 'exhibition', but since Sleuth had drunk as much of the free wine as he could and was finding it difficult to focus who is he to talk.
SLEUTH'S NATIONAL COFFEE DAY CELEBRATION
Sleuth was bombarded with press releases this week about Thursday 29 September being National Coffee Day. Since he drinks ludicrous amounts of coffee he decided to celebrate the day by not drinking any at all. God, he felt healthy, thanks National Coffee Day.
MORE CAFFEINE CULTURE
Sleuth might be prepared to java himself up on 5-6 November at Victoria Warehouse for the Manchester Coffee Festival. Apparently there will be tastings, workshops, roasters, brewings, talks and, rather confusingly, a cinema. Sleuth is racking his brains for coffee scenes in films and is just hoping to God the cinema won't be offering endless reruns of Friends with episodes from that smug bloody coffee shop. The festival comes via Cup North and features one of his favourite NW businesses, Atkinson's of Lancaster, masters of coffee and tea. They've recently announced that they're moving into Manchester city centre permanently (see this story) as part of Altrincham Market's replication in the Mackie Mayor building.
Victoria Warehouse for coffee, cinema and hopefully no bloody Central Perk
NORTHENDEN DEVELOPMENT OF TATTON ARMS - BUT IT'S NOT THEM
Sleuth is pleased that the run down Tatton Arms might finally see some action. This pub was once the playground of south Manchester with its fine position on a bend of the River Mersey in Northenden. There used to be regattas and festivities all summer long. Now though it appears south Manchester, in particular, hankers for bars in ex-shop units that fit fifty people max. The huge Tatton Arms appears out of time, so sadly the Arms won't re-open, instead it's to be turned domestic with flats and townhouses. The architects are OMI and their design seems an apt solution for a property that has been boarded-up and a blight for too long.
However Sleuth was shocked when he saw the developer was the Britannia Group. Good lord, that devil of a company that allowed the fine London Road Fire Station to moulder for thirty years? No, phew, turns out this is a different Britannia Group. Sleuth was thinking 70% positive responses from 300 submissions was beyond anything the world's worst hotel chain could manage. Still, maybe developers should think of a change of name. Anyway the designs seem popular, during the neighbourhood consultation on Thursday the locals decided to drop resistance to building on the Green Belt. So life might come back to that section of the river at last.
Tatton Arms proposals
The Tatton in it heyday with boat house too
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