Mezzaluna

Bury New Road, Whitefield

Mezzaluna is the latest addition to Whitefield’s very own festival of world cuisine. It’s an Italian restaurant serving up sourdough pizzas, pasta dishes and a selection of tapas. It may be the latest in a long line of Italian restaurants to have opened in the area, but this one aims to be a little different. It’s a family friendly pizzeria with a rustic and informal feel. It’s also the only local Italian eatery to boast a wood-burning pizza oven.

Housed in the former premises of previous Italian restaurant Antonio’s, and later Porto Conte, the interior has been drastically modernised to create an open, spacious establishment, complete with a large south-facing garden for alfresco dining.  The inside of the new restaurant is a vast improvement on the decor of the previous incarnation. The orange colour scheme is bright, fresh and modern, and the tiled floors in the entrance give it an authentic feel. The kitchen is open plan, so you can see the restaurant’s unique selling point, the huge pizza oven. The partition wall down the middle separates the majority of the tables from the open kitchen, so it’s not too noisy. The rest of it is quite minimalist: the magnolia walls are bare and the round, wooden tables are not dressed. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though. It suits the place: it’s a casual restaurant designed to appeal to families.

Upon arrival, I was surprised by how busy it was for a Wednesday evening, but it’s par for the course of a restaurant’s honeymoon period. In the main, the members of staff were attentive, although there was a slightly longer-than-average wait between courses. It was nothing to shout about, and I’ll put it down to teething problems and give them the benefit of the doubt. 

There’s a large menu, half of which is tapas dishes, the other half made up of pizza and pasta options. I didn’t quite know which angle to take: I was curious to try the tapas, but the freshly made pizzas caught my eye. I’m not a fan of pizza, it generally doesn’t appeal to me in the slightest, but on this particular night I was just in the mood.

I did, however, order a starter from the Cicchetti menu: croquettes di tonno – that’s tuna croquettes to you and I. They were nice enough, but they were a little bit dry. There was no dip to accompany them, which didn’t help. They weren’t particularly well presented either; they were just thrown into the middle of an empty plate, with no garnish, and lay there looking rather lost. And although tapas dishes are purposely small, for £6.50, a third croquette wouldn’t hurt. 

Croquettes di tonno

My friend’s starter looked much better. It was giant arancini - or the singular, arancino - stuffed with mushrooms and truffle oil. It looked delicious, and was better value at just £4. Still, I’m all about trying new dishes that I haven’t had elsewhere. 

White truffle and mushroom arancino

My main course was much more exciting. I had the Monte pizza, which was topped with pan fried wild mushroom, garlic, fresh sausage, broccoli spears and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil – all my favourite ingredients! The sourdough base was thin without being too crispy, perfect. They were generous with the toppings; the chunky pieces of sausage and the grilled mushrooms were extremely tasty, and the broccoli added another dimension of colour, flavour and texture. I didn’t expect broccoli to work on a pizza, but it does, although it does make slicing through it a little more difficult. It was fresh and colourful, a feast for the eyes as well as the palate. 

I’m one of those people who insist on eating pizza with a knife and fork. Cue controversy. I know it’s not the proper Italian way, but if I can avoid eating with my hands when I’m out, then I will.

Monte pizza

After we’d eaten our main courses, I had to ask to see a dessert menu. The waiting staff appeared to get lost among the hustle and bustle. Normally, after ten minutes or so, I’d give up on dessert and ask for the bill. On this occasion, I put it down to teething problems again. They were equally as slow when it came to providing the bill. For a brand new restaurant, however, the staff should be out to excel.

The dessert menu was fairly standard, not very exciting. There was only one choice that leapt off the page towards me – the Rocky Road Cheesecake. It’s supplied by Slattery’s, so excellence was inevitable. That said, I’d much prefer Mezzaluna to make their own desserts rather than buy in somebody else’s. It makes me question whether anything on the dessert menu is freshly made in house, or if they’re all just delivered and shoved in the fridge. 

The Rocky Road Cheesecake was spectacular. A New York style vanilla cheesecake on a sweet biscuit base, topped with a conglomeration of confectionery: Jaffa cakes, Oreos, Rolos, Maltesers, chunks of fudge, marshmallows and those white chocolate discs disks plucked straight from the school tuck shop. Served with sticky chocolate fudge sauce, it was sensational. Whilst it was certainly one of my favourites, it was, however, very stodgy. It had the texture of a baked cheesecake that had been subsequently refrigerated for slightly too long. The fudge sauce was slightly too thick and gooey. I struggled to finish it (yes, really), but, like a trouper, I managed. I’m a cheesecake fiend, I’ve had hundreds upon hundreds of them, so I can’t help but be a little bit picky.

Rocky Road Cheesecake

Mezzaluna is a welcome addition to Whitefield’s restaurant scene, offering a more relaxed and casual dining experience. It’s perfectly suited to families, their niche market, and is certainly much more affordable than many of the other new builds. It’s also nice to have an independent pizzeria beyond the mediocre chains such as Pizza Hut and Pizza Express. The food was delicious, and although the interior is warm, it could do with a little more character. If they people to keep flocking in after the honeymoon period is over, the service needs to improve a tad. 

The menu can be found on the restaurant's Facebook page. 

Quote of the Week - Week commencing Monday 31 July 2017

"No man is lonely eating spaghetti; it requires so much attention." 

Christopher Morley, an American writer

Quote of the Week - Week commencing Monday 24 July 2017

"A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand."

Barbara Johnson, an American literary critic and translator

Sugar Rays

Newton Street, Manchester

Sugar Rays is one of the newest additions to Manchester’s Northern Quarter. It’s a polished underground cocktail bar which serves gourmet hotdogs and waffles alongside a huge array of cocktails, whiskeys and beers.  Situated on Newton Street, next to Alabama’s All American Eatery, it brings the vibes of New York City to the streets of Manchester.  

It’s subtle, blink-and-you’ll miss it exterior is nothing more than an open door on the pavement, with an A-board inviting you inside. You descend down the half-a-dozen steps into a modern, stylish cocktail bar, complete with wooden panelling, dark finishing and chesterfield sofas. The music wasn’t booming but it could have been slightly more subtle, considering we were in a desolate bar at one o’clock on a Sunday afternoon. Granted, though, the atmosphere was alive and kicking and there was a fine selection of soul and disco classics being pumped out.  It definitely has the feel of a cocktail bar. Dining alone in the middle of the day didn’t feel quite right. 

Sugar Rays

The staff were friendly and welcoming, inviting us to sit anywhere. I’m sure I’m not the only one who becomes overwhelmed when given free reign of seating. I’d much rather be directed to a table.

It’s a select menu, but it does what it says on the tin. There’s a choice of eight hot dogs and four waffles, all £7.50. As always, truly dedicated to my cause, I knew from the get go that I had to try both a hotdog and a waffle. Whether or not you’re supposed to do that is another matter. Judge me at your will.

I chose the Deli Dog, which was topped with sliced pastrami, dill pickles, mustard aioli (a posh term for mayonnaise) and Swiss cheese. Hot dogs are not usually my forte, thanks to the rubbery texture of the processed sausage meat. Thankfully, these were proper sausages with a smoky flavour and a meaty texture. It was a case of meat overload, as there was heaps of pastrami piled on top. The mustard was subtle, thankfully, as I’m not a fan of an overpowering mustard flavour. Along with the Swiss cheese, it was necessary, otherwise the hotdog would have been too dry. 

It was a case of not one but two ‘firsts’ for me. It’s the first time I’ve ever had a hotdog served in a brioche bun. It worked very well. Brioche is slightly sweet, which added an extra dimension of flavour to this meat-fest. It’s also very light and fluffy, which meant the hotdog wasn’t stodgy or heavy, so it didn’t sit like a brick on the chest. It’s also the first time I’ve ever had to eat a hotdog with a knife and fork. Much like a burger, when it’s simply too messy to even think about picking it up, you know it’s something special. 

Deli Dog

Again, waffles are not something I would generally order in a restaurant, but when in Rome and all that. This decision was an easy one: it had to be the Cookies and Cream variety. No description could have prepared me for the towering spectacle which was delivered. It was a triple stack of waffles, with Nutella and crushed gooey cookies sandwiched between each layer. Nestled on top were four whole Oreos and an enormous splodge of whipped cream. Add to that a scoop of chocolate ice cream and a jug of maple syrup for pouring, and it was the sweetest, stickiest creation you could imagine: a glorious sugar heaven.

Cookies and Cream Waffles

Priced at £7.50, it’s no more expensive than you would expect for a dessert in the city centre, but it was double the size. The sheer volume of constituents is just unbelievable. Oreos, cookies, Nutella, waffles, ice cream, all in one.

Sugar Rays is a sleek and stylish cocktail bar which makes you feel as though you’re in the middle of the Big Apple. The hot dogs and waffles are ‘gourmet’ in every sense of the word, I doubt you’ll find better anywhere else. We were the only people in there for the duration of our lunch, but even so there was still a vibrant atmosphere, so by night it must be electric. I’d like to return for a (non-alcoholic) cocktail.

Their extensive drinks menu can be seen, alongside their hotdogs and waffles, on the venue’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/sugarraysnq/

Quote of the Week - Week commencing Monday 17 July 2017

"A party without cake is just a meeting."

Julia Child

Quote of the Week - Week commencing Monday 10 July 2017

"We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie."

David Mamet 

Quick Cake Stop - Weenie Bakes

We haven't had one of these for a while, so here goes...time for another Quick Cake Stop. 

I recently went to see Shirley Valentine at The Lowry Theatre in Salford. On this particularly sunny Saturday afternoon, the Makers Markets were on at The Lowry Outlet Mall, just across the way. I’ll be entirely honest here and tell you that, really, I was only interested in the food stalls. Jolly good they looked too. Here’s a little tip though: this is something you should never do on an empty stomach. It’s dangerous.

Allow me to elucidate. Those never-ending Metrolink engineering works that have been taking place in some form or another every weekend since the animals came off the ark meant that it was another replacement bus day. My timing is generally impeccable. On a good day, you can set your watch by me. However, thanks to having to take a detour on an overcrowded bus slap bang in the middle of my journey, it took me far longer than anticipated to get to Media City. This meant that I didn’t have time to stop for lunch before the two o’clock show. Now, as we all know, food is at the centre of my universe, so the thought of skipping a meal brings me out in a rash. Sadly, on this occasion, I didn’t have a choice. 

Come 4.15 pm, when the curtain came down on the sensational performance, I was so ravenous I could have started chewing off my t-shirt, so I went for a mooch around the market to see what I could pick up to satisfy the hunger pangs. I came across a splendid little cake and brownie stall that traded by the name of Weenie Bakes. They’re a Manchester based company who specialise in hand-crafted cupcakes and custom made bakes for all occasions.

I’d never heard of them before, but it’s a discovery I’m glad I made. They had a selection of scrumptious looking brownies, all of which merged several of our favourite flavours together. It was a cake-lovers heaven.

First of all, there was the Lemon Cookie Dough Cheesecake Slice. Now, cheesecake is my all-time favourite dessert. When there’s cheesecake around, nothing else gets a look-in. That’s just the way it is. Lemon is one of my favourite cake flavours (lemon drizzle cake, hello) and cookie dough, well, that’s one of life’s greatest guilty pleasures. Merging these three flavours together was a taste sensation.

Lemon Cookie Dough Cheesecake Slice

It had a biscuit base, followed by a layer of lemon cheesecake. It was then topped with sponge and white chocolate chips. Hey, presto! What a creation.

My second purchase, which wasn’t for me but I had to try it for research purposes, was the ‘Slutty Slice’. This was a chocolate fudge brownie containing Oreo chunks on a biscuit base and topped with chocolate sponge. Normally I wouldn’t choose a chocolate brownie, as I find they can be too rich and stodgy, but this was delightful, which I think was due to the fact that it was primarily milk chocolate, rather than dark.

Slutty Slice

So, thank you, Weenie Bakes, for enhancing my weekend with your mouth-watering, inventive creations. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my over-indulgence and look forward to sampling some more of your delights in the future. 

For more information on Weenie Bakes, visit the Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/weeniebakes

Twitter: @weeniebakes

Instagram: @weeniebakes

The Restaurant Bar & Grill

John Dalton Street, Manchester

As I dragged myself into Manchester City Centre last Wednesday morning, beads of rain rolling down my umbrella and splashing onto my shoes, I was trying not be too disheartened by the rain. Exactly one week ago, the temperature in work had reached the dizzy heights of 31 °C and I could barely string a sentence together. I’d longed for the rain to come and wash the heat and humidity away. So, on this rare day off, I was determined not to moan.

While I wouldn’t like to admit that the entire day was focused around my pre-planned lunch date, that was, indeed, the case.  

The, intriguingly titled Restaurant Bar & Grill was on my dining bucket list.  Situated on John Dalton Street, just off Deansgate, it’s in the heart of the city centre and surrounded by dozens upon dozens of other restaurants and bars. It’s one of Manchester’s more upmarket areas for dining, so I’d expect restaurants to up the ante a little in order to compete for customers. The Restaurant Bar & Grill certainly sets the bar high.

From the outside, it’s minimalist. It looks rather like an office building. Inside, it’s modern, shiny and suave, with a sharp black and white colour scheme. It’s set across three floors, with a bar on the ground level and the more formal restaurants upstairs. It was quiet when we arrived on Wednesday lunchtime, mainly full of businessmen in suits. We were all seated in ‘The Terrace’ area of the second floor, which is surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows, making for a light, spacious dining area. 

We chose from the Lunch and Early Evening Menu, which is available every day until 6.00 pm and gives you the choice of one, two or three courses for up to £22.50. There’s a varied choice for each course, and something to suit most tastes.

To start, I had smoked haddock risotto with leeks, topped with a poached duck egg. The risotto was deliciously flavoursome and creamy, and the texture was spot on: not too wet, not too dry. The rice was infused with the smoky flavour of the haddock, which complemented the fresh, watery taste of the leeks. The duck egg was poached impeccably, with a fluffy white and a yolk that oozed out into the risotto when the egg was cut. This is available on the a la carte menu, both as a starter and a main course (a bigger portion for main, of course). I would have absolutely loved to have eaten a bigger portion of this for a main meal. It was so beautiful I didn’t want it to end. 

Smoked haddock and leek risotto

Moving from the extravagant to the traditional, I had fish and chips for main course. When it’s done well, fish and chips is truly the very best of British. It doesn’t get any better. The fish was huge, coated in thick, crispy batter, perfectly cooked and making for a satisfying crunch. Although the skin-on fries which accompanied it were delicious, in my opinion, fish should be served with proper chunky chips. Fries belong with burgers. The minted mushy peas were a little too pungent for my liking, but the texture was spot on. It was a very generous portion too, which always scores extra brownie points in my book. As far as fish and chips go, this was one of the best I’ve had. If it hadn’t been for the fries, it may have been a perfect ten. 

Fish and chips

My dessert of choice would have been the strawberry cheesecake, but they’d sold out. At just after two o’clock on a Wednesday lunchtime? I can’t say that impressed me. However, it meant I opted for the sticky toffee pudding instead, which was a good choice. The sponge was deliciously moist and sticky, topped with vanilla ice cream which was melting on top of the hot pudding, swirling into the toffee sauce. Not at all stodgy but tooth-achingly sweet, it completely satisfied those sweet cravings and left me feeling satisfied for the rest of the day.  

Sticky toffee pudding

The Restaurant Bar & Grill offered excellent value for money with their lunch menu. My dining partners had steaks which looked and tasted delicious, but I’m just not a steak person, so I was more than happy with my fish and chips. It’s not often I get through a whole meal without getting food envy at all! With such a range of choice on the set price menu, I’m not sure I’d rush to pay full whack at night. 

All the menus are available to view at: 

http://individualrestaurants.com/bar-and-grill/manchester/

Quote of the Week - Week commencing Monday 3 July 2017

"Food, like a loving touch or a glimpse of divine power, has that ability to comfort." 

Norman Kolpas

Happy 50th Birthday, Slattery's!

On Friday 30 June 2017, it was 50 years since Slattery’s Chocolatier and Patissier first opened their doors. Slattery’s is one of my favourite places on Earth and is close to becoming my second home. The delicious chocolate and decadent cakes are just a small, but extremely important part, of what makes Slattery’s such a unique place.

It started off as a bakery, opened by Bernard and Margaret Slattery on 30 June 1967. Fast forward 50 years and it’s grown into an extraordinary emporium which, despite relocating several times, has remained a local business at the heart of the community. Son John, who still owns and runs the store, brought with him his passion for the ‘sweetest things in life’ and helped turn the business into the Willy Wonka style wonderland that we know and love.

I’ve previously spoken about my love of all things Slattery. A family business now in its third generation, it’s so very special. If the atmosphere in store could be bottled, it would make a fortune when flogged.

I popped in on Friday afternoon to help them celebrate. The store was decked out with golden garlands and birthday bunting; there were prize draws and a selection of vintage products from their back catalogue available to buy. The likes of the humble Eccles cake and the iced finger, which were favourites when the shop first opened, were on sale for as little as 75p. Whilst our taste in cakes may have moved on since then, our genuine love and enthusiasm for Slattery’s certainly hasn’t. 

Most exciting of all, there were huge bowls of chocolate drops available for you to dip into, in a rainbow of colours and flavours, and I also had a couple of truly scrumptious chocolate truffles, which were sensational.

Every customer who passed through the door on Friday received a free slice of birthday cake, the traditional kind: vanilla sponge with jam and butter cream, topped with icing. Including the customers so generously in their celebrations sums up what Slattery’s is all about. Not to mention, the cake was sheer perfection. 

I was delighted to be one of the hundreds of customers helping them celebrate this milestone. On their 60th, 70th and even 100th birthday, Slattery's will still be an enchanting kingdom full of charm, creativity and, not to mention , supreme talent. 

So, Happy Birthday, Slattery! Here's to another 50 magical years.