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. Sleuth sometimes even gets serious @mcrsleuth
THE BEST TRIBUTE?
Sleuth hears there are new plans for the former Grenache restaurant in Walkden which announced its closure in April. The site on Bridgewater Road will apparently become a new champagne and cocktail bar named No.7 – in honour of United legend George Best and his shirt number. Now, stop Sleuth if he’s wrong, but doesn’t naming a bar after a virtuoso footballer who famously drank himself to death…twice…seem a bit, well, perverse? What next? An offie named after Gazza, perhaps... No.7 Champage & Cocktail Bar
No.7 will open at No.15... eh?EXPERENTIAL DINING
Sleuth sees plans are being fleshed out at Menagerie, the new million quid 200-cover 'experential dining' restaurant to open this summer in the recently completed One New Bailey office block on the Salford side of Leftbank. Bosses have voiced plans for a restaurant catwalk (doesn't Yo Sushi have one of those?), 'dancing angels' dangling from the ceiling filling flutes of champagne, and even a bath tub... in the restaurant. "The bath tub will make for great theatrical dining," bosses told Sleuth. "But it's practical too. When the performers are finished in the tub we're going to stick our pot washer up there and have our diners simply whip their dirty plates at the tub.
"Obvs it's a bit dangerous, but this is 'interactive' dining," they continued. "People don't just want to sit down and enjoy good food, wine and conversation anymore. Punters want sex, danger, women in bikinis hanging from the ceilings and the chance to frisbee a plate at some poor sod's bonce in a giant bath tub once in awhile. Plus it saves on water, which is like, well green."
Menagerie opens in August.
METROPOLITAN NAMING GAME
Sleuth was in a meeting with MMU this week and looking through their fine brochure of events. Some of the names in the ‘Dolly Birds and Swinging Cities’ event on Thursday 19 May caught Sleuth’s eye. “What a cracking surname, Katie Milestone,” said Sleuth, before trying out a few sentences, “Milestone at keynote lecture. Milestone in research history. A Milestone for the doctor.” Another speaker at the event was a Dr Mel Gibson. “It’s a woman by the way,” said the MMU officer. She paused and added, “But the winner of the best name of a visiting academic to MMU surely goes to Silke Panse.”
ALE THAT ISN’T
Sleuth was in El Gato Negro on a hot day this week. He asked a staff member if there was any ale or did they only sell lager. “I don’t really know the difference,” she said. Sleuth looked at the drinks menu. He pointed at one of the two draft beers and said, “Could that be an ale do you think?” “Oh it could be,” said the staff member, “it is very orangey with a frothy bit on top, does that sound right.” “Let’s try it,” said Sleuth trying not to giggle, the whole exchange was sort of charming. The drink arrived. It wasn’t ale, it was lager.
El Gato Negro: 'a pint of...er...thing, please'THE SALUTATION’S LAST STRAW
Sleuth popped into the Salutation for a pint with a friend. “Have you got coffee?” she asked. “No, sorry the kettle broke and we can’t make one,” said the barman. “I’ll have an orange juice then,” she said. “Sorry, we’ve run out of orange juice,” said the barman. “A lime and soda?” she wondered. “Yes I can do that,” said the barman. He poured it and put it on the bar. “Have you got a straw to mix up the lime and the soda?” Sleuth's friend asked. “Sorry we’ve run out of straws,” said the barman.
No coffee, orange or straws but still there's the lovely exteriorSLEUTH’S BEST COMPUTER NONSENSE
The editor-at-large has a website for his Manchester tours. Occasionally people leave messages about the tours or the occasional diary he keeps on the site. Usually it’s some mad computer generated message. The one he got on Thursday took the biscuit for total nonsense. It read: ‘Pointers upwards! Sift about disclosing! Lessees for this feline, the outgrowth fossil coal help full, My husband furthermore i wanna mandate clamps for doing this, My husband besides i narrows expensive the result, My husband besides i repeat ratify this dilemma following, lessees.’ Sleuth finds those sentences hard to disagree with all those he's not sure about mandating clamps.
SLEUTH'S MOST CONFUSING STREET
Sleuth sometimes gets annoyed with taxi drivers, at least, the ones that come into Manchester from the satellite towns during busy periods but don't know the way to Piccadilly Station. Still, Sleuth couldn't blame the taxi driver for not recognizing this street off Spinningfields...
Er... which one is it?SLEUTH FIXES THE WARDROBE
The editor-at-large, Jonathan Schofield, is leading a tour next week before the Landscapes of Identity Symposium for Manchester Histories Festival. The theme of the event is the IRA Bomb of 1996 and Schofield is exploring the area affected by the bomb and the subsequent re-development that took. But for such a tour what should he wear? Sleuth had a think and the answer was obvious...
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