You know that the Christmas countdown has certainly commenced when Harvey Nichols pop-up festive Foodmarkets are open!
The pop-up shops are stocked full to the brim with all your favourite tipples and trimmings as well as a selection of luxury holiday hampers and gourmet gift sets filling the seasonal shelves. They have copious amounts of much-loved and unusual condiments just bursting with rich flavours and found exclusively at Harvey Nichols. With giant Harvey Nichols Christmas crackers, oversized sweet treats and red ribbons adorning the walls, head to these Christmas treasure troves to explore what’s in store and pick up plenty of delicious treats to eat, drink and gift.
Be sure to browse a deluxe range of wines, spirits and world renowned Champagnes, alongside a calendar of seasonal promotions and festive events to start your Christmas celebrations early.
Returning to the intu Trafford Centre for its sixth year, the pop-up Foodmarket will trade until after the Christmas season and into the New Year.
The King St area is becoming a bit of an Italian foodie area these days. Just as the nice Italian clothing shops all moved out, and the Italian places to eat started to land, and up they popped in droves, from chains, celebrity chef places, to celeb haunts. One of them, which opened in 2013 was Avalanche. Now I'm not quite sure where the name came from or how its relevant an eatery which isn’t Alpine inspired, other than perhaps to represent the sudden landslide of Italians to open in the neighbourhood. However, Avalanche has been doing a roaring trade ever since it opened, and even picked up an award from Cheshire Life/Lancashire Food. We returned to see if standards have been maintained now that the venture has totally bedded in and become a regular feature on the Mancunian Italian eatery hotspot list.
Upon arrival, the venue is still as stunning as ever, with immaculate glass, mirrored and chrome décor, with lots of bright white touches, well complemented with black detailing. It’s a great looking dining room in short, and our glamorous hostess certainly matched the venue's charm. There is an impressive bar area which is very well stocked, but we chose to maintain our professionalism and take our seat in the dining area straight away. We were gratefully positioned in a nice quiet corner of the dining room, which was ideal to take everything in as we looked over the prettily bound menus. We thought it only right to accept an offer of garlic bread with cheese along with some olives as we made our minds up. The bread was light, yet crispy on the bottom, just how it should be, with a good topping of the promised cheese. Perhaps a little too much, although some say that too much cheese isn’t possible. Who are we to disagree? ….[click here for full review]
An evening of expert guidance dedicated to food and drink was held at Harvey Nichols Manchester with the Taste on Two Second Floor showcase on Monday 6 October 2014. With a refreshing Grey Goose Le Fizz cocktail of Grey Goose vodka and St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur welcoming eager foodie fans as they arrived, guests were invited to travel around the whole of the Second Floor stopping at each supplier station to sample the products on offer.
Popular grocery suppliers including Burt’s Cheese, Woodall’s Charcuterie and The Marshmallowists were in attendance on the evening as guests were able to enjoy food and wine tastings throughout the event from Yee Kwan Ice Cream, Joe & Seph’s, The Original Buxton Pudding Company, Willow Water, Mr Fitzpatrick’s, Mr Vikki’s, Joe’s Teas Co., Cocoa Hernando, Sweets in the City and Booja- Booja. Second Floor Head Chef, Matthew Horsfield and his team demonstrated their picks of the Christmas menu dishes, including Blacksticks Blue Croquettes, Fresh Gorgonzola Gnocchi with Sous Chef, Chris Vernazza and Brandy and Christmas Pudding Truffles with Pastry Sous Chef, Michael Tate.
Wineshop expert, Richard Fenn held a captivated audience of wine buffs as he shared the secrets behind Sauvignon and Burgundy from the much loved Harvey Nichols own-label wine range. A Martini masterclass from Grey Goose was held at the Second Floor Bar with local drink suppliers Liverpool Gin displaying their blend of botanicals alongside ales aficionados, TicketyBrew.
Christmas at Harvey Nichols was unveiled with a luxurious hamper display and gourmet gift sets, due to arrive instore for November, with customers offered the chance to place the first orders for holiday hampers on the evening.
In anticipation of an upcoming visit to India we decided to get into the swing of all things Indian with a mid-week visit to Zouk. Situated on the outskirts of the student village in Manchester, Zouk was one of the city's pioneering modern Indian restaurants, being a far cry from the old world curry houses of the 90's, offering a selection of modern and traditional Indian and Middle Eastern dishes!
Now despite being a September evening in Manchester, it was actually pretty pleasant outside. An Indian Summer, you might say. So we thought it rude not to sample Zouk's cleverly secluded outside terrace area, where you can enjoy a drink, some shisha, or even sample the full menu if you so opted.
We were pleasantly surprised by the range of cocktails on offer, deciding upon a Mango Mojito and a Zombie. Both drinks were excellent, with the Zombie rivalling those offered by many of the city's Tiki bars. Truth be told we could of spent the evening sampling further delights from the bar menu but decided it wise to stop at just one on this occasion, before taking our dining experience inside the restaurant….[click here for full review]
To raise money for our PINKTOBER campaign, Hard Rock Manchester are auctioning limited edition signed Hard Rock Cafe acoustic guitars. Bands Kodaline, Blue and White Eskimo were kind enough to sign them when they played in the cafe and they are giving you the chance to own them!
Each week during October, you will have the opportunity to bid through a silent auction. They each have reserve of £100.00 (or a 'buy now' option of £1,500.00) and in order to bid, you must email your highest bid.
For more information and details on how to bid please click here.
Manchester House has been awarded 3 AA Rosettes at a glittering award ceremony held at The Grosvenor London on Monday 22nd September.
Collecting the award, Head Chef Aiden Byrne said: “Receiving such a prestigious accolade is a great reward for all of the hard work that the whole team at Manchester House put in. We pride ourselves on offering fine cooking served in an informal, fun and funky way. Consistency is key for us, we ensure every guest receives the whole unique experience of dining at Manchester House.”
Manchester House, recently the subject of a BBC documentary, Restaurant Wars, has been open for one year this month and has quickly become a star of the Manchester dining scene. The restaurant only ever uses the highest quality ingredients to create unique dishes, combined with a high level of service, something clearly recognised by the AA restaurant inspectors.
Culinary legend; Marco Pierre-White is behind the launch of a new MediaCityUK based restaurant. Based in the Holiday Inn's current 'Hub' restaurant, the venture will be ItalianAmerican themed, in a steakhouse style setting, offering steaks, pizzas, pastas and burgers. The restaurant is set to launch in October.
_ 10 Sept 2014
