There’s a premium Italian bottomless brunch in Manchester with 90 minutes of non-stop Aperol Spritz, prosecco and bellinis, and we’re a little bit obsessed.
Hosted at Cibo Manchester, which has two city centre sites in Castlefield and the Great Northern Warehouse, for £49.95 pizza and pasta lovers can dig into three courses of classy Italian favourites alongside a free-flowing drinks menu.
Over an hour and a half, diners can enjoy the likes of deep-fried mozzarella fritta, half-and-half garlic bread pizzas, warm malanzane parmigiana and bruschetta – and that’s just for starters.
Indulgent mains, meanwhile, span the likes of wild mushroom and truffle risotto, Cibo’s pistachio-topped four cheese pizza with scamorza, gorgonzola, mozzarella fior de latte and parmesan, and the absolute star of the show: a penne reggiano cooked inside a flaming parmesan cheese wheel at your table with added cognac and truffle oil.
Image: The Manc Group
Image: The Manc Group
Add to that a 250g sirloin steak served with mushroom or peppercorn sauce – plus a selection of Italian sides like creamy mash, courgette fries, rosemary roast potatoes with parmesan, and pan-fried wild spinach with chilli – and it’s easy to see why this bottomless brunch deal is one of the city’s most popular.
Sides are not included in the price and need to be purchased on top, but are very reasonable at just £4 each. Further choices include piselli con pancetta (peas, onions and pancetta), house salads and mixed vegetables.
As for the bottomless drinks, options include classic Italian aperitivo classics like bellinis and Aperol Spritz, plus crowd-pleasing favourites like pornstar and espresso martinis, sex on the beach, prosecco and a house gin with coriander and pink peppercorns.
Image: The Manc Group
Image: The Manc Group
Ending on a sweet note, you’ll find classic Italian dessert choices like tiramisu, pistachio cannoli and panna cotta on the menu alongside homemade creme brulee and a classic French millefeuille layered with fresh cream and strawberries.
With sittings available from 12 to 3pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the bottomless brunch deal at Cibo is for a minimum of two people and priced at £49.95 per person.
Hit theatre production set at a house party to visit Manchester on UK tour
Daisy Jackson
Alright then, 24 hour party people, we’ve found a theatre production you might like the sound of – it’s called The House Party, and it’s set in (you guessed it) a house party.
This smash hit production by pioneering theatre company Headlong is set to land at HOME in March as part of the arts venue’s 2025 theatre season.
It tells the tale of a wild 18th birthday party, where Christine is trying to pick up the pieces of her best friend, a newly-dumped Julie (who happens to be the birthday girl).
Themes of class, power and privilege are all explored with a raw intensity as the cast on stage plough through shots and dive head-first into a night that will change everything they know.
The House Party, which has received glowing reviews from previous showings, is filled with ‘privilege, desire and destruction’.
When it stops off in Manchester, its cast will include Bridgerton’s Sesley Hope as Christine, Synnøve Karlsen (Miss Austen, Last Night in Soho) as Julie, and Tom Lewis (Gentleman Jack, Patience) as Jon.
The ensemble of Frantic Assembly performers includes Ines Aresti, Oliver Baines, Cal Connor, Micah Corbin-Powell, Rachael Leonce, Jaheem Pinder and Jamie Randall.
The House Party is written by Laura Lomas and is a reimagining of August Strindberg’s Miss Julie for today’s generation.
It’s directed by Headlong’s artistic director Holly Race Roughan, who directed the Royal Shakespeare Company’s world premiere of David Edgar’s major new political play The New Real.
The House Party. Credit: Ikin YumThe production will be at HOME. Credit: Supplied
Movement direction will come from Frantic Assembly’s Scott Graham.
Prior to the UK tour of The House Party, Headlong celebrated its 50 year anniversary, including the hit production of A Raisin in the Sun which played nationwide.
The House Party will be at HOME in Manchester between 25 and 29 March, 2025 – you can get your tickets HERE.
Greater Manchester’s annual Repair Week is back to make you fall back in love with your stuff
Daisy Jackson
If you’re not a handy person, when something breaks, the temptation is often to abandon or bin it straight away.
But that’s just not how we’re gonna do it here in Greater Manchester any more, with the return of the annual Repair Week to help you learn valuable repair skills and save money at the same time.
Whether it’s tinkering with your bicycle, fixing up your small tech items, or having your furniture re-varnished and upcycled, there are so many places and people who are on a mission to help you fall back in love with your belongings.
There are even workshops to help you put flat-pack furniture together.
Taking place between 3 and 9 March, Repair Week will be the chance to learn skills, fix your stuff, gain repair confidence and find local fixers.
Events throughout the week (and beyond) will be hosted by community groups, businesses and plenty more.
You can sharpen knives, fix zips, and un-wobble chairs with a little hand from local repair heroes.
JillyGDesign Jewellery in Heaton Moor will fix up your sentimental and special jewellery items, while Rag Revival will help you turn unusable textiles into new creations with basic sewing skills.
There are repair cafes popping up all over Greater Manchester where you can take your belongings.
Greater Manchester’s annual Repair Week is back to make you fall back in love with your stuff. Credit: Supplied
Repair Week will highlight schemes like the Manchester Library of Things, where you can borrow the tools and equipment you need for those repair jobs at home.
During the week you’ll also be able to take a behind-the-scenes tour of the incredible Renew Hub, the UK’s biggest reuse hub, where donated items are brought back to life.
Similarly, you’ll be able to get inside the textile recycling centre run by homelessness charity Emmaus Bolton, where you can choose your own fabric from the scrap store and turn it into a very handy draught excluder to keep costs down and your heat in.
Recycle for Greater Manchester’s Repair Week will take place between 3 and 9 March, with workshops, events and resources to help you revive your belongings.
Georgina Pellant -
13th April 2023 
