Manchester food news ft. Tib Street CBD Cafe, An Evening with Tom Kerridge, Blossom Street Social & more

A difficult unit on Tib Street is the site of Manchester’s Amsterdam-style vape and CBD cafe. Hemp is hoping to tap into the growing CBD market in the UK, which sees CBD added to spirits, oils and vapables for a supposed extra bit of relaxation. CBD is an extract of hemp that contains smaller amounts of the active THC compound and is alleged to be good for stress and anxiety. If you wish to check out the CBD craze, the Tib Street unit is open now from 9am until midnight.

Disused banks aren’t too unusual a spot for a pub or bar as The Bank on Mosley Street and the newer Flok on Stevenson Square can attest too. Now, Rochdale is set to get their own financial bar as an old Royal Bank of Scotland is made over by Amber Taverns. The Grade II listed building will join the company’s Hogarth’s chain of pubs after planning permission was granted for a bar on the ground level. The bar is set to feature over 100 gins as well as private seating in the old vaults and a future plan for a huge beer garden. The pub is set to open in the two century old building sometime this year.

A special tenancy shaped Christmas present arrived just before Christmas Day for Manchester’s music fans with news that The Star & Garter’s medium term future is secure. The perennially threatened music venue has signed a ten year lease with new owners The Mayfield Partnership, which may mean an end to the much loved ‘last ever’ club nights that the venue hosted when it looked like its future was at threat. As part of the regeneration of the back of Piccadilly station and Mayfield Depot, The Star & Garter will see the partnership invest in the venue to ensure it stays as a music venue and maintains its unique charm.

If you can feel that you’re going to be wanting to put on your dancing shoes before the month is out, Hatch have you covered. The shipping container units on Oxford Road welcome house and disco DJs Surco to the space on Friday 24 January for a special takeover as they turn the space under Mancunian Way into a disco haven. Tickets are free and the event runs from 6pm-11pm with food and drink traders throughout.

Fresh from opening his first Manchester restaurant, Tom Kerridge is back in the city to promote his Lose Weight and Get Fit cookbook as well as to talk about the first few months of The Bull and Bear in The Stock Exchange. After famously shedding the pounds without missing out on high quality food, Kerridge has been a surprising star of the get fit cookbook world and will be talking to Emily Heward of the Manchester Evening News at the Blackwell’s organised event. Tickets are still available for the event at Central Library this Friday evening.

The much anticipated Ancoats outpost from the Hanging Ditch team has opened its doors. Blossom Street Social on, well, Blossom Street, opposite Mana and Hip Hop Chip Shop quietly pushed its doors open just before Christmas, serving the same high quality wine and drinks as one can expect at the Ditch’s Cathedral Gardens spot. As well as a range of craft beer, the bar will also be offering small plates using local suppliers such as Trove.

One of Manchester’s favourite Thai restaurants has closed after 12 years in the city centre. Chaophraya has said goodbye to its home on Chapel Walks after more than a decade but will continue to operate its other sites around the country as well as its sister restaurant in Spinningfields, Thaikun.