Actor Adam Thomas is teaming up with Box On The Docks (BOTD) to bring his Cheadle burger concept to MediaCityUK this summer.
The I’m a Celeb, Emmerdale and Waterloo Road star has partnered up with BOTD to secure a waterside residency for The Spinn – which he co-owns with street food aficionado Scott Graham – from July 1 to August 8.
The Spinn will be serving up a mouth-watering selection of burgers at the docks, including the ‘BURN-ham’ with Oh My Glaze’s Scotch Bonnet sauce and signature cocktails – as well as brand-new brunch menu and smaller portions for the kids.
The restaurant will initially open Thursdays to Sundays, before extending to seven days.
The Spinn will be serving burgers on the docks all summer long / Image: BOTD
Thomas stated: “Lockdown was definitely a shock to the system but we’re back again and here we are opening a pop-up residency at Box on the Docks.
“We’re thrilled to be spending time in this thriving place with the BBC and ITV so close by, and while I’m flipping burgers I can even see Coronation Street just across the way so I’ll give them a little wave.
“This is what we got into the restaurant industry for, to see people happy and to make great food.”
BOTD’s collection of 30 sheds and greenhouses will be open all summer long / Image: BOTD
The Spinn partnership is the first of a programme of summer residencies marking another milestone for BOTD – which launched last summer as a safe space for local traders.
The collection of 30 greenhouse-style venues house a variety of brands and have all been jazzed up by local artists.
The Spinn will join the likes of Kong’s Chicken Shop at BOTD – with coffee and pastries from Batard Bakehouse also up for grabs, as well as supersized NY-style hoagies from Bada Bing Sandwich Deli.
Salford brewhouse SEVEN BRO7HERS and plant-based eatery Vertigo are also open to diners.
Speaking about the addition of The Spinn to BOTD’s lineup, MediaCityUK Place Director Josie Cahill said: “We’re really excited to welcome The Spinn to Box on the Docks as not only will they be offering even more delicious choice for our visitors but Adam and Scott have a real fan base here and will bring a celebrity buzz to our growing hospitality offer.”
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 -
15th June 2021 
