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
MCR TAP UNDERWAY
Sleuth’s giddy to hear work has started at the ‘Lazy S’ building on Manchester Tap, Piccadilly’s answer to the fantastic Grade II-listed Euston Tap boozer by Euston station in London. The Euston Tap swallowed Sleuth, Gordo, the editor Jonathan Schofield and wine-junkie Neil Sowerby last week on a jolly down to visit all the Hawksmoor restaurants in London pre-Manchester opening (which, by the way, were outstanding). Needless to say Sleuth & co. missed their train back to Manchester and got royally bollocked by a ruffled PR lady. Sleuth expects the Manchester Tap to be equally as disruptive to travel schedules…
Old shop front being smashed out today. pic.twitter.com/fd0I0VdoAC
— Manchestertap (@tapmanchester) January 21, 2015
MORE NQ BARS
As Sleuth's colleague put it in this new NQ bar article, it is estimated that soon bars in Northern Quarter (like sheep in Wales, or scarecrows in Tokushima) will outnumber people. So imagine Sleuth's unsurprise when he heard that a new bar, Tariff & Dale, is planned for 45 Dale Street (main image) on the corner of, well... Tariff Street. Looks like Tariff & Dale is from those behind Chorlton's long-standing Lead Station bar restaurant on Beech Road. As Sleuth contemplated the 500% increase in bars in this Northern Quarter corner in the last two years alone, Sleuth turned round to see Franco from Solita had slapped a new premises licence on his car windscreen.
45 Dale Street
THE KITCHENS AT LEFTBANK
Sleuth’s glad to hear a whisper of news regarding Spinningfields Kitchens this week, which Sleuth thought had been binned after it failed to materialise in September last year. The idea is that a handful of small-fry food traders will be given a space in one of Leftbank's empty units to make a go of it on the riverside, with the eventual winner given the backing of Allied London for a fully fledged restaurant. Sleuth is told The Kitchens Leftbank will finally launch this spring. What with the new Dockyard pub, Scene Indian, the Cotton Building and David Gale's rumoured return, 2015 looks like a busy one for Leftbank. Finally.
Leftbank
MR COOPER'S WORLD BEATER
It seems global high-end magazine publishers Condé Nast (Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, Tatler) currently have the horn for Manchester. Not only did luxury travel mag Condé Nast Traveller name Manchester in their 'What's Hot For 2015' feature, and The French, Manchester House and Aumbry (ouch) make GQ's January addition, but they also named Mr Cooper's House & Garden at The Midland in the Top 9 cocktail bars in the world, alongside the Hotel Costes in Paris and Campbell's in New York. They say 'unlike other bars in town, there's nothing on the menu named after the Stone Roses'. They do, however, have one named after Mungo Jerry's famous 1970 hit.
Mr Cooper's
SLEUTH CRASHES ON THE PEAK
Sleuth learns a serious horror movie called Dark Peak by Ben Jagger has been filmed based around the many plane wrecks from the middle years of the 20th century up on the north Peak District moors. Many of these remain surprisingly intact, such as an American Super Fortress wreck at Higher Shelf Stones above Glossop. This wreck features in the trailer below.
The plot of the movie revolves around what befalls a group of hikers when they become lost in the mist and a nameless evil rises from the wrecks with predictably messy results. Sounds decent thinks Sleuth, smiling at how life imitated art during the shoot. This was a report last year from Mountain Rescue: "Called to assist Glossop MRT with an ongoing search on Bleaklow. A party of 18 filming at an aircraft wreck had split up and become lost whilst trying to make their way off the hill in the mist." Sleuth thinks be careful what you wish for.
GLOSSOP: UK HORROR CAPITAL
As Confidential's pal Thom Hetherington, who lives up on the hills, points out, the moors around Glossop (a short hop from the city) are getting a reputation. He has a point. Think of all the grim and macabre drama that goes on, League of Gentleman, Dark Peak, the recent bus crash in Corrie, the gruelling and bleak drama The Village, Hilary Mantel’s novel Fludd.
Meanwhile, the Longdendale valley nearby is the favoured place for crazy but wonderful Manchester mosaicist, Mark Kennedy (Affleck’s Palace mosaics and more) when he goes UFO spotting. The Longdendale lights apparently are beyond explanation – click here. But Sleuth reckons the true horror is that effing permanent traffic jam up to Mottram from Glossop on the A57 in either direction. Jeez, if anything needs examining out that way, that’s the bloody one.
The real horror at Glossop
TOFI NOT YAFI
Schofield, the editor, or ‘a pompous tosser’ according to a ranter on his Fumo review (click here), started a series of articles looking at Manchester’s illustrious dead (click here) last week. Sleuth noted the first person mentioned, one Lucius Senecianus Martius, a Roman, who bears the honour of being the earliest named individual associated with Manchester. Sleuth hears Lucius set up a restaurant in the Roman fort and settlement of Mamucium. This was a TOFI not a YAFI. The Original Fucking Italian not Yet Another Fucking Italian.
Even the centurion was looking forward to Lucius's famous taramasalata
THE OXNOBLE TRUTH: SLEUTH IS A VOYEUR
Sleuth had an early evening meal with a lady on Wednesday at the Oxnoble. There were quite a few people in, but at eye-level were flickering TVs with the sound turned down. They were annoying and distracting. “Excuse me,” said Sleuth to a member of staff, “do you really need the TVs on, nobody’s watching them and they are annoying and distracting. Could you please turn them off.” The first TV was extinguished but the not the second. Sleuth repeated the request saying, “pubs are about people watching, you can watch telly at home.” The waitress nailed Sleuth with a stare and said, “Maybe other people aren’t voyeurs like you, I like the rolling news.” Ah yes, service with a sneer. Marvellous stuff. "I am called Sleuth," pointed out Sleuth.
TVs don't make the best dining environment, especially for a voyeur
