Chocolate has this uncanny ability to raise our spirits even in the lowest moments. Which is probably why we’ve all been scoffing so much of it for the best part of a year.
Greater Manchester has had it undeniably tough in terms of pandemic restrictions, but the silver lining is that one of the country’s greatest sweet treat emporiums just happens to be our neighbour.
Throughout lockdowns, Slattery – Whitefield’s famous three-storey bakery and chocolate shop – has been supplying locals with the kind of mood-enhancing, mouth-watering desserts more decadent than the kind Charlie Bucket clapped eyes on in Roald Dahl’s novel.
The shop’s latest launch though – chocolate lockdown platters – are being scoffed down quicker than they take to prepare.
Slattery announced the magnificent takeaway trays at the start of the year – and demand has been so high that staff have warned anyone collecting there could be queues on arrival.
SlatterySlattery
Of course, if you’re lucky enough to live close by, you can get your boxes sent to your door instead.
The Slattery At Home website is advertising a delivery service for certain properties in Greater Manchester within a five-mile radius.
A number of lockdown trays are currently on sale online – ranging in size, variety and price.
These include the ridiculously delectable Sharing Chocolate Dip Platter – which comes with shortbread, brownies, fudge, pretzels, marshmallows and Oreos – and the Waffles & Cookies Chocolate Dessert Platter with fresh strawberries.
There’s also Afternoon Teas, birthday packs, and brownie selection boxes available, along with a Valentine’s Day board piled high with heart-shaped doughnuts, chocolate lovehearts and Rose Prosecco.
You can view the full range on the Slattery website here.
Eats
Lively Irish pub Nancy Spains set to open in Manchester for the first time
Daisy Jackson
An Irish bar famed for its live music is heading up to Manchester for the first time, and is promising £2.50 pints to lure us in.
Nancy Spains will be venturing out of London for the first time promising to bring the ‘ultimate traditional Irish pub experience’ to the Northern Quarter.
If you were to ask what the hottest trend in hospitality is right now the answer would, apparently, be Guinness. We’re drowning in the stuff.
This latest opening is more about Murphy’s, another Irish stout, than Guinness (they actually won’t serve Guinness at all) but the craic will be much the same.
Nancy Spains is actually set to open almost directly opposite the aforementioned Salmon of Knowledge, taking over the former Corner Boy unit on Stevenson Square in the heart of Manchester.
To celebrate its opening, the pub will be serving its first 5000 pints of Murphy’s for just £2.50, so that it can show off the atmosphere that’s established it as ‘one of London’s favourite pubs’.
They’re promising an array of Irish whiskeys behind the bar, live music performances, and a lively late-night setting.
Nancy Spains was set up by three brothers who travelled all over their home county of rural Kerry researching Irish pubs, before launching two venues down in London.
They want it to balance a traditional pub with the vibrancy of the city.
Peter O’Halloran, co-founder of Nancy Spains commented, “We’re so excited to be launching in Manchester, bringing Nancy Spains to the heart of the Northern Quarter.
“After the success of our two venues in London, it was only right to bring Nancy Spains’ infectious spirit and Irish pride to Manchester. Slainte!”
Nancy Spains will open its first Manchester pub on Saturday 15 March at 21 Hilton Street.
Lucky Mama’s – The Italian restaurant serving pasta in a dough bowl and ‘pregnant’ pizzas
Daisy Jackson
Lucky Mama’s is a local sensation, thanks to its slightly whacky but delicious Italian creations like pasta served in a bowl made of pizza dough and its latest offering, a ‘pregnant’ pizza.
What on Earth is a pregnant pizza, you ask? Firstly we should stress this is a nickname we’ve bestowed upon the dish, rather than Lucky Mama’s chosen branding.
But essentially it’s a helping of fresh pasta that’s folded into the bubble crust of the pizza, like a half-calzone.
Lucky Mama’s started life when founders Mamadou Dhiam and Gaby Santos set up a trailer in their backyard in Eccles in the depths of lockdown.
But thanks to a formidably loyal following that’s spread the word of Lucky Mama’s far and wide, it now has two pretty pink restaurants in Greater Manchester.
Back in 2022, they threw open the doors to their Chorlton restaurant, before returning back to home turf for spot number two in Monton in 2024.
The recipes are fresh and pretty authentically Italian up until the last step, when they throw a curveball by loading their pasta into unconventional vessels.
‘Pregnant’ pizzas at Lucky Mama’sTraditional Roman pizzasLucky Mama’s pink restaurant in Chorlton
Their pasta pizza bowls are what they’re best known for and they fly out of the kitchen – this is where pizza dough is placed around a metal bowl before being baked in an oven.
Then it’s piled high with freshly made pasta, with popular flavours like cacio e pepe, mushroom alfredo, and rasta pasta.
Pasta is available in a regular ceramic bowl too.
You’ll find Lucky Mama’s at 565 Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton; and 217 Monton Road in Eccles.
The Manc -
11th February 2021 
