Award-winning bakeries, casual Japanese dining and an exciting new venture from the Schofield’s team, there’s plenty of great new food and drink to tuck into across Manchester this February.
The group behind Schofield’s, Atomeca and Sterling have announced their first restaurant venture, taking over the former Bull and Bear site within the Stock Exchange Hotel.
The Stock Market Grill, which is pencilled in for this month, is described as a British Brasserie, with touches of elegance from continental Europe, all served with homely and comforting flavours from the UK.
Head-Chef Joshua Reed–Cooper will be at the helm when the restaurant launches. His impressive CV includes working for Simon Rogan at The French, Sam Buckley at Where The Light Gets In and Manchester’s only Michelin-starred restaurant MANA, where he helped the team achieve their esteemed accreditation.
Serving a mouth-watering selection of artisan sourdough breads, pastries, sandwiches and cakes alongside its specialty House Blend coffee, GAIL’s Bakery is now open for the first time in the North of England with a brand new Wilmslow branch and additional locations in Altrincham and the City Centre to open later in the year.
Founded in the early 90s by Yael (Gail) Mejia, GAIL’s has grown from a single unit in Hendon into a beloved cafe and patisserie with over 70 branches across the South. By embarking on a Mancunian expansion, GAIL’s Bakery reinforces its ties to the local area following the success of its wholesale bakery in Openshaw, which has supplied high-quality artisan breads to some of the region’s best hotels and restaurants since 2017.
Disorder is set to open its doors this February, with executive chef Bryan Barber adding a Mancunian tinge to menu inspired by Izakaya bars in Japan, which are small family-run venues that offer drinks alongside a small menu of sharing plates designed for grazing.
Dishes include the Manc-hi, a Japanese Menchi sando which adds black pudding, while the KFPB is a fried chicken stack, with lemongrass peanut satay sauce and a spiced berry jam. Bryan will be cooking a significant amount of the menu on a konro grill, which is a traditional Japanese grill where food is cooked on a ceramic pot over charcoal. He will also be making all gyoza on the menu by hand and has incorporated unique twists such as mustard, sage and apple into a pork five-spice gyoza, to give it a British twist.
Beloved pastry-makers Great North Pie Co are to become the latest food trader to join the Kampus neighbourhood, very welcome news to anyone who has tucked into their award-winning pies before.
Slightly further afield this one, but chef Gary Usher’s latest project will open in late February. The beautiful Churton country pub has been lovingly restored over the last few months, and bookings will soon be open. If the offering at Kala, Sticky Walnut and Hispi are anything to go by, guests will be in pretty safe hands. Keep an eye on their Twitter for the latest.
Described on their Insta page as ‘hot, savoury and a lil’ bit Chinese’ Waffle Kart are the latest trader to take over Ancoats General Store’s rotating kitchen, specialising in impossibly crispy fried chicken and waffles…obviously.
- Words:
- Bradley Lengden
- Published on:
- Thu 2 Feb 2023
Since opening their canal-side wine spot on Ancoats marina, Flawd’s rave reviews have been near-enough constant, so news of them relaunching their concept restaurant, Higher Ground, as a permanent fixture is more than welcome.
The 50 cover British bistro and bar will open in the city centre next month, offering seasonal dishes shaped using locally sourced ingredients with a particular focus on organic, small-scale agriculture and small heard, whole carcass cookery.
Menus will change daily and seasonal produce will come from a variety of local farms including their own partner farm, Cinderwood Market Garden in Nantwich.