YVETTE FIELDING, famous for her TV work including Most Haunted and Blue Peter has opened a tea shop in the city. The venture is called Proper Tea at Manchester Cathedral.
This will apparently 'provide tea fans with a focus on quality loose-leaf teas and homemade food crafted with local produce'.
The seasonally changing menu will be provided by local suppliers including the use of herbs and honey grown and harvested in the Cathedral grounds.
The idea is to serve a menu of cakes, afternoon teas, hearty stews, soups and sandwiches in the Cathedral Visitors Centre, a building that comes complete with a medieval bridge exposed in its basement. There are ghost stories attached to the bridge so Fielding should feel right at home.
YvetteThe seasonally changing menu will be provided by local suppliers including the use of herbs and honey grown and harvested in the Cathedral grounds. The tea room will seat 54 covers, with further seating available outside in the warmer months.
Fielding said: “I have been a tea fanatic for some time and wanted to give my hometown a unique offering. Now that my dream has come true I have to pinch myself, even more so than when I did Blue Peter and Most Haunted as it’s so different to anything I’ve ever done before.”
The business is a joint venture by Yvette and her long-term friend, Manchester entrepreneur, Gary McClarnan, the owner of the Northern Quarter’s successful Teacup restaurant, Bonbon Chocolate Boutique and a number of other ventures.
Proper Tea at Manchester Cathedral will become the flagship store for The Proper Tea Company, a loose-leaf tea brand set to launch in Spring 2014.
Proper Tea is open now. Reservations can be made for parties of six or more by calling 0161 832 3220. The restaurant is child friendly and wheelchair accessible, with accessible bathrooms and baby changing facilities. The Cathedral Visitors Centre is located directly opposite the Cathedral entrance.