Manchester food news ft. free pints at Brewdog, Salvi’s Northern Quarter debut, Blossom Street Social and more

The folks at Brewdog know better than most how to attract drinkers into their bar and a couple of free lunchtime beers seems to be another sure fire winner. Between noon – 2pm every day this week, office workers in the city centre can get down to one of the two Brewdog bars in Manchester and claim a beer for them and a co-worker as part of Brewdog’s Out Of Office promotion. Aiming to get more people away from their desks and, presumably, into their bars, all you need to do to claim the beer is put one of the suggested Out Of Office replies on from BrewdogOOO.com and show it at either bar to claim your beer.

One of Manchester’s most popular Italian restaurants has opened a fourth city centre spot in the Northern Quarter. Opposite Oklahoma and round the corner from Federal, it’s only a (fairly long) stone’s throw from their original spot in the Corn Exchange which now houses a deli, a mozzarella bar and a restaurant. There will be much familiar to fans of the original Salvi’s restaurants but head chef Salvatore Angelica has come up with a whole new restaurant for the new space. Fried courgette flowers stuffed with ricotta and pumpkin and Italian sausage risotto will sit alongside classics such as their sharing boards and pasta dishes from the deli. It’s open now and will be every day until 11pm.

One of Salvi’s close neighbours from the Cathedral side of town is also making its move up Shudehill and it seems the new bar from the team behind Hanging Ditch isn’t far from opening. The new logo is up in the window of the wine bar opposite Hip Hop Chip Shop and just up from the recently reopened Halle St Peter’s and, though it was thought to be opening at the start of this year, it seems finally about ready. With the bar set to be an all day and night social and drinking space, it’s sure to fit in to the rapidly expanding food and drink scene in Ancoats.

Ancoats Marina has been growing over the last couple of years and last month saw Northern Eudaimonia, a dessert parlour, add to the ranks of Pollen and Cask. If you’ve a sweet tooth but not yet found yourself taking the stroll down the waterfront to check them out, they’re hoping they can tempt you in with a free coffee this Thursday (28th Nov). After opening back in October, they hope to spread the word about their stacked Belgian waffles as well as treats for your four legged friend, with doggie ice cream available. We’d suggest sticking to the human ice cream that comes from fine frozen purveyors, Northern Bloc.

If you’re looking for a slightly less traditional trip to a Manchester Christmas Market, the new Kampus development off Aytoun Street may be just the spot for you. Starting from this weekend  (Friday 29 November) and continuing every Friday – Sunday until Sunday 22 December, Stall At Kampus will gather Manchester’s creatives and artisan makers for a more independent feel to Christmas market stalls. From the brains of the GRUB street food organisers, there will be stalls to pick up gifts (either for yourself or loved ones) and, of course, 12 local lines to sup whilst wandering the store. The new bottle shop from GRUB, OFFY, that will be a resident at Kampus, will also be open, as will plenty of street food traders to keep you fed and watered. If you’re looking for even more alternative Christmas markets, Hatch are hosting Manchester’s first sustainable Christmas markets this weekend as 25 eco friendly brands pop up to ensure you can avoid too much plastic and packaging whilst still getting into the Christmas Spirit.

As seems to be the case every week, there’s some pizza news around Manchester. The first comes from Crazy Pedro’s, where, as part of their five year birthday celebration, they are giving away the ultimate Christmas present to a pizza lover. If you sign up here you are in with a chance of winning free pizza for life when the draw is made on Saturday 25 December. So lucky you if you see Santa carrying a suspiciously large square stocking this year. Also grabbing a pizza the action is Foundry Project, on the old Bluu site, which has recently won the ‘Best Technical Pizza’ at the National Pizza Awards. The winning pizza from chef Ilias Kazantzidis used pulled lamb and harissa aubergine to scoop the award.

Manchester’s wine lovers have been patiently waiting for the much trailed Isca to debut and have finally been rewarded with an early Christmas present as it swung its doors open last week. The natural wine bar and organic food restaurant in Levenshulme, set up by Season’s Eatings Issobel Jenkins and Where The Light Gets In Sommelier Caroline Dubois, focuses on sustainable and natural wines and ingredients and will also have wine to take away, including special Christmas selections available to keep you ticking over come the end of December. If you want to try it out, be prepared for a wait for a seat as the bar only seats 13 at a time.