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
NEW OPENINGS
Just when Sleuth thought we’d maxed out on Americana, comes the news that the Northern Quarter will welcome a new American diner in 2016. Alabama’s All American Eatery is a new breakfast and brunch place (no evenings, Sleuth is told) by one of the blokes behind El Capo and Whiskey Jar and will open in the old pizza shop on Newton Street, beneath one of Sleuth’s favouritely titled Manchester institutions, Master Chu’s Lion Dancing Club, and next door to the former Roadhouse where chef Mary Ellen McTague is supposed to be launching a new Aumbry but Sleuth thinks has gone suspiciously quiet.
Anyway, milkshake pancake maple bacon doughnut peanut sriracha horchata smoothie hoagie Johnnycake eggbake protein shake waffle scoffle Texas toast French toast strudel toast biscuits shrimp grits butter… lots of butter. Beer. Something like that anyway.
New bar news now as Sleuth spots a licence application in for the Seven Brothers craft beer bar in Ancoats. The seven Salford-born chaps (actually all brothers) will open in the Ice Plant building on Blossom Street after gaining planning in November, joining the likes of Rudy’s, the Cutting Room and Ancoats Coffee Co. on Ancoats’ awakened public square. Proposed opening hours are midday to midnight.
Meanwhile, Arcane bar, which nobody knows diddly-squat about, is set to open on South King Street next month. But then again with a name like that it was bound to be a mystery.
Cutting Room Square and the Ice Plant SLEUTH HAS FORESIGHT
Last week Sleuth wrote this as a cheeky skit about the floods. ‘Manchester has been flooded with huge waves of buildings from very few architects. Unexpectedly high levels of structures from Ian Simpson, Stephen Hodder, Roger Stephenson and latterly Denton Corker Marshall and Mecannoo have submerged the city centre.’ On Thursday Confidential received the news that the tallest tower – much taller than Beetham Tower – outside London is planned, for Manchester together with three others, all on Owen Street. The smallest tower will be 38 storeys high and the highest 64. The CIS Tower, the city's tallest from 1962 to 2006, is 24 storeys. Oh and the architects of the vast new project? Why, SimpsonHaugh of course, also architects of Beetham Tower and so much else. SimpsonHaugh clearly have friends in high places who want them to build more high places. Read here
New Owen Street proposal from SimpsonHaugh - surprise, surprise
SLEUTH AND LAZY ARCHITECTS AND DEVELOPERS
Sleuth has found it disturbing recently that architects and developers are issuing press releases about new skyscrapers and never including the height of the building – we only get the number of storeys. How mealy mouthed and miserable. Given the height of each storey in a building depends on its function whether its commercial, residential or hotel (and also how much dosh there is) the number of storeys reveals nothing of the height.
There’s been debate about how actually high 64 storeys is on the proposed Manchester tower. The best Sleuth has discovered is ‘in excess of 200 metres’. That's 660ft. The UK’s second tallest building is One Canada Square on Canary Wharf, which is 235m (771ft) but only has 50 storeys. The proposed Owen Street building will have 64 but appears to be much shorter. It’s confusing, so come on architects and developers reveal the actual bloody height would you? Give us the juice not the technocratic facts.
Canada Square (above) is 50 storeys and Manchester's proposed Owen Street is 64... but which is taller?
THE MEN THINK JUST LIKE US - IF A LITTLE LATER
Speaking of lazy, Sleuth wonders if these two sentences are in any way related. They're both about the proposed new mega tower for Owen Street in the city centre.
On Thursday we included this sentence in our report (click here): 'The standout detail in every way is the proposal for a 64 storey tower which would create the second tallest building in the UK - just nine floors lower than the 309m (1013ft) Shard in London.’
The following day the MEN wrote this sentence in their article (click here): ': 'The 64-storey high tower would become the second tallest in the UK, just nine floors lower than the Shard in London'.
What a remarkable coincidence thinks Sleuth. Dear me.
FUN WITH COLUMNS
The editor-at-large Schofield was taking pictures of the columns outside Manchester Art Gallery. A young man in a hi-vis jacket was watching him and couldn’t help himself but came over and said: “What you doing mate?” “I’m taking pictures of these because I’m writing an article on the various types of columns in Manchester,” said Schofield. The man stared for a minute and said, “F**king hell mate, you must be the life and soul of the party”.
SLEUTH'S MOST VERBOSE UBER APOLOGY
Blimey...
ALDERLEY EDGE CATALOGUED WITH THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE BOOK ABOUT A VILLAGE EVER
Sleuth has been presented with a 1,032 page book called The Story of Alderley, Living with the Edge. Sleuth thinks it defines epic in its pursuit of every last Alderley fact. It’s edited by A.J.N.W.Prag – the person with the most forenames ever. It’s published by Manchester University Press, costs £50 and aside from the usual history you’d expect there’s exhaustive detail on all life in Alderley Edge. All life. Even very small life. There’s seven pages on spiders alone, yes just spiders – in which the writer sort of unbelievably laments the ‘incompleteness of our knowledge of the spiders of the Edge’.
Strangely the wildlife section fails to mention wideboys in fast cars and giggling bronzed girls. Then again the completeness of our knowledge of them is remorsely catalogued in the MEN's Diary page.
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All-derley you need to know
SLEUTH'S DISH OF THE WEEK
Sleuth popped in to the soon-to-open Busaba this week and fell in love with their calamari with ginger and peppercorn and joy, cooked lovingly by the happiest chef Sleuth has ever met, Jude Sangsida. Fancy that? A jolly chef. You must try it. Sleuth's thinking of writing a 1032 page book about it. Any chance Manchester University Press?
SLEUTH'S WEIRD PROMO VID OF THE WEEK
Come to Burger & Lobster, where the servers are overburdened bumbling fools and the manager is, fittingly, a cow.
