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
Thomas Restaurant Closes
Thomas Restaurant in the Northern Quarter has closed. The restaurant on Thomas Street has been taken over by another operator. Sleuth regrets this as he had several good lunches and meals at Thomas within its elegant if hard-edged interior. He wishes the entrepreneurs behind the restaurant, Nicky Rybka-Goldsmith, Yvonne Rybka-Erskine and Paul Astill the best of luck. Manchester needs people like them.
Thomas Restaurant
New Operator For Thomas
Sleuth understands that the Thomas Restaurant site won't be closed for long. A well-known local operator is moving into launch a bar with food on the lively strip that is Thomas Street. Let's just say woof. And then woof.
Sleuth Leads Way At Vogue Fashion Night Out
Sleuth loved Vogue Fashion Night Out on Thursday. All the European agencies and fashion houses came up to Manchester to take tips from Sleuth on male couture. The picture at the top of the page shows Alexandra Shulman and Matthew Williamson about to meet Sleuth. Top tip: this autumn corduroy elbow patches on jackets and cardies is going to be massive. You heard it here first.
Sleuth's Food And Drink Festival Ponderings
Sleuth also had a thought while watching the fashionistas strutting and tottering around town from shop to shop and venue to venue. Maybe the recently finished Food and Drink Festival could take a leaf out of this book. Do the festival thing over a long bank holiday with a Thursday launch where the restaurants, bars and pubs have an open night, crazy tasting sessions, music, yeah even fashion. Stalls in the streets too. Get a good sponsor and make the city alive with food in every quarter for five or six hours.
Manchester In An Hour Via Japan
Sleuth met Hiroko Togo of Japanese state TV during the week. She was researching a travel programme about Manchester to be filmed over the next two weeks or so. The idea is for an in-depth feature looking at the city to provide the Japanese with a real understanding of the place. The broadcast will last an hour - sixty minutes of Manchester. Normally when Sleuth helps out overseas travel shows it's for five minute segments. The Japanese it seems still have a proper attention span.
Hiroko Togo of Japanese State TV
Sleuth's Mate And The Stars' Wine Incident
Sleuth's friend had a little too much to drink the other night dining in Dough in the Northern Quarter. Whilst trying to find the toilet which seemed to have trickily moved, he crashed into a table of diners knocking a wine bottle off the table. Fortunately one of the diners caught the bottle. Sleuth's friend shakily focused on the table's occupants. Looking back at him open-mouthed was John Sim, Philip Glenister and the producer of the drama about the 1996 IRA bomb called From There To Here mentioned in last week's Sleuth. "Good," said our hero, staring at the bottle of wine and his starry audience, "no spillage then. Do you know where the toilets are by the way?"
Death Makes Beautiful Music
At the launch of the People's Business: 150 years of the Cooperative Movement exhibition at the People's History Museum the music was provided by a brass band. It was magnificent. Sleuth said to a man with a plastic bag and bald head next to him, "This is our folk music, we should be so proud of this tradition and cherish it as the Spanish or the Mexicans do their folk music. There's nothing as rousing." "And look," quipped the bald man, "the band's called the Cooperative Funeralcare Brass Band. Marvellous. Rousing as you say. Music to wake the dead."
Funeral power
Sleuth's Sweet Message To The World In The Town Hall Extension
Let's all go aargh over this sign.
Sweet message of Mancunian love
Sleuth's Magnificent Row Of The Week On Manchester Confidential Part One
Graham Stringer, MP, on HS2 started a nice debate with this article.
HS2
Sleuth's Magnificent Row Of The Week On Manchester Confidential Part Two
This article from David Blake about the closure of Queer Bar started a not very nice debate.
Sleuth And The Power Of Limited Democracy As Student Union Bans The Sun
The Student Union at the University of Manchester are a noble bunch, sticking up for humanity and crusading against the evils of the world. Already the Union has claimed the scalps of Coca Cola and Nestle by banning their products from the Union - the corporations are quaking in their boots. The Union’s recent crusade was against the evilest newspaper of all, no not The Daily Mail but The Sun and its prehistoric, Page 3 breasts feature. This week they announced they had indeed banned the paper after a student wide vote that consisted of a total vote of 20 people, eighteen people for and two against - out of some 36,000 plus students. It's how democracy works. Sadly the Spar across the road has yet to vote on the matter so should some student dinosaurs require titillation all is not lost.
Sleuth's Favourite Twitter Account Of The Week - Angry Beetham
Sleuth is charmed by shouty, angry Beetham Tower with his angry eyes and his little arms on this Twitter account. Ask him something folks, ask him. Feel the snarl. Get a reply in yelly upper case.
Sleuth's TWITTER ACCOUNT OF THE WEEK. GRRR
Sleuth's Most Confusing Sign Of The Week
Every seven days or so Sleuth is stopped in the street and asked by policemen, concierges, Philip Glenister, John Sim, topless ladies, Matthew Williamson, Alexandra Shulman, angry towers, Japanese TV producers, Thomas and all the brass bands of the world: "Where can I find a physically difficult sign to obey in the city centre?"
"Why," says Sleuth. "That would be in Piccadilly Gardens."
And to prove this he showed the policemen, concierges, Philip Glenister, John Sim, topless ladies, Matthew Williamson, Alexandra Shulman, angry towers, Japanese TV producers, Thomas and all the brass bands of the world, this picture.
The impossible sign
