The Blues Kitchen will be bringing a flavour of the Deep South to the city with live music, bourbon and BBQ!
A new two-storey venue comprising of a restaurant and bar, as well as a stunning concert hall, is set to open on May 20th.
Taking over 13 Quay Street, an old Victorian Eye Hospital, The Blues Kitchen will transform the site with new additions as well as restoring some of the original features.
The concert hall is set to open for seated performances on May 20th subject to further guidelines, before fully opening for standing gigs and club nights on June 21st.
Guests will be transported to the Deep South with flavours, sounds and smells of Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi & Texas all on offer.
The venue will be filled with décor that emulates the roots of Blues, with a gospel roof constructed with reclaimed 19th century tin plates from a derelict church in Manhattan.
Plus there will be a stained-glass ceiling, fashioned with the original stained-glass windows from Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey, where one of the true blues greats, Woody Guthrie, once resided.
There will also be an original 1920s Air Stream Caravan that has been revamped to provide the ultimate retro private party space.
Located on the ground floor is a restaurant and bar specialising in American Soul food and rare and vintage bourbon.
There will be everything from brunch, lunch, supper and dessert covered with proper classic comfort food.
Expect the likes of stacked-up burgers, creamy mac n cheese, finger lickin’ buffalo hot wings and succulent smoky ribs.
Behind the bar, guests will have the choice of 80 bourbons as well as a dedicated menu of cocktails, beers, wines and other spirits.
The whiskey menu covers everything from Single Barrel (aged 12 years), Rye, Corn & Wheated, Small Batch, Tennessee, Rare & Vintage as well as whiskeys from around the world.
Guests can also expect a curated live music programme every single day of the week on the ground floor while you sip on whisky and tuck into a burger.
Heading upstairs to the concert hall, the space will host concerts with international headliners to 500 guests. There will also be in-house gigs and club nights with a variety of genres.
Steve Ball, CEO of The Columbo Group, which owns The Blues Kitchen, said: “We’ve been looking for the perfect site in Manchester for years and have finally found it.
“We’ve taken a great deal of pleasure in restoring the building over the past year, and we’ve managed to get hold of some incredible vintage features from The States so it’s really going to be quite something. We’re really excited to reveal it all soon along with our entertainment programme once restrictions have lifted.”
Big news in the foodie world: Mancunians can now feast upon an Indian Delhi brunch with bottomless cocktails and fizz.
The Delhi House Cafe, located in the Corn Exchange, is marking its first birthday this week and, to celebrate, has launched its brand new bottomless brunch offer.
Available every Thursday to Sunday between 12pm and 4pm, guests can choose one starter, one main and then receive ninety glorious minutes of bottomless booze for just £31.95 per person.
On the drinks front, diners will get the choice of fizz, lager or some of Delhi House Cafe’s notoriously impressive cocktails, such as their Spiced Bloody Mary, Mango Mimosa and Rose Sangria.
And their food menu boasts an equally impressive selection: For starters, there is a choice of Dahi Poori; a popular street food snack of puffed puri shells filled with a mint and tamarind yoghurt, A.A.C; a tasty fried avocado and potato dish, and Moong Dall Ladoo; sweet lentil fritters served with radish and a tamarind yoghurt.
And as for mains? Diners will be able to choose from one of five dishes from Delhi House Cafe’s menu, including their famous ‘Not My Burger’; a tandoori chicken tikka naan sandwich served with chips, salad and homemade curry mayo, Creamed Chicken or Achari Paneer Kathi Rolls; rolled in a crispy paratha and served with salad and chips, or the Masala Chicken Scrambled Eggs served with hash browns and a toasted bun.
This epic brunch menu launches TODAY, so make sure to get down to try it out for yourself.
Remember those really tasty and sugary puddings dished up during school dinners? You know, the one’s you’d get before Jamie Oliver had stuck his nose in?
Well, there’s a new recipe that will enable you to recreate the iconic vanilla sponge cake from the comfort of your own kitchen.
Rekindling those childhood memories, Instagram baker @cakeontherun recently shared her recipe for a vanilla traybake, complete with icing and sprinkles on top.
@cakeontherun / Instagram
The recipe for Laura’s vanilla cake tray bake uses no eggs, so a vegan version can easily be made using dairy-free milk. So, what are the rest of the ingredients?
All you’ll need is 400g self raising flour (or all purpose flour with 1 tsp extra baking powder, or gluten free flour), 250g caster sugar, 200g margarine, 200g vanillaor plain yoghurt, 200ml milk, 2 tsp vanilla essence/extract, 1 tbsp baking powder, a splash of lemon juice,400g powdered icing sugar, a splash of cold water and sprinkles for the icing.
The method is straight forward, too: Firstly, you’ll need to pre-heat your oven to 180C/350F/ gas mark 4 before creaming the margarine and sugar together in a large bowl. Then, you’ll need to sift in the flour and add all of the other ingredients.
Mix together until combined – though be careful not to over mix! Once this has been done, line a baking dish with parchment paper and bake for thirty minutes (or when the top is golden and the sponge is cooked in the middle.)
@cakeontherun / Instagram
Then, remove the cake from the tin and paper and leave to cool on a wire rack. You can then make the icing sugar by slowly adding water to the powder in a deep bowl. When it’s runny and the cake is cooled, pour over the top and then scatter sprinkles. Then, you can cut into chunks and serve with custard to live out your primary school dream.
Other fun twists you can try is coconut (using coconut milk and desiccated coconut instead of dairy and sprinkles), almond (with almond milk and almond slices) and lemon.
Make sure to follow Laura’s Instagram pagefor more baking inspiration.
BAB, the Northern Quarter gourmet kebab joint after all our hearts, has launched its new menu and as you’d expect, it has some incredible new kebabs up for grabs.
BAB’s August menu boasts a number of new additions to its famous mezze dishes, including a Spinach and Feta Stuffed Flatbread with a feta and mozzarella dip for £6.50, Prawn Saganaki,£7, Octopus Terrine, £8.50, and Moussaka Croquettes filled with spicy minced lamb, aubergine and feta cheese, £6.50.
But, perhaps most excitingly, the new menu has brought with it a seafood version of their massively popular Mixed Kebab.
The new Seafood Mixed Kebab, priced at £15, features deep-fried calamari, soft shell crab and octopus, alongside a staple kebab shop salad, a creamy coriander and lime dressing and BAB’s special sauce.
It joins the OG Mixed Kebab, which comes topped with lamb adana, aleppo chicken and a portion of cheesy chips, all costing £14.50.
Also new on the menu is a vegan King Oyster & Mixed Mushroom Shawarma for £10, Octopus with a butternut squash tarragon puree, priced at £13.50, and a Chickpea Shawarma with huge fried halloumi chips, costing £10.50.
You can still also get BAB’s famous Flat Iron Steak Kebab, their Greek Fries and the always popular Scotch Bonnet Chicken Wings, and they’ve even added a Cookie Skillet (£6) that perfect for sharing, and a Pistachio Frangipani (£5.50) to the desserts.