An immersive 1920s-themed ‘wine and murder’ escape room is coming to Manchester later this year.
Called ‘Wine Escape’, it will combine theatrical murder mystery, ‘beat the clock’ games, a two-course dinner with plenty of wine (as the name implies), and late-night dancing when it opens inside the former Freemason’s Hall this Autumn.
Watching as part of a live show, guests will become embroiled in the drama of the Hawker Wine Estate and its wealthy owners, the Von James family, as they are thrown into the mystery and intrigue of the historic building around them.
Image: Manchester Hall
What starts off as an evening of celebration quickly turns dark, as lies, vengeance and deceit being to turn the party sour. From this point on, the onus is on guests to stick together and hold their nerve in order to beat the clock and make their escape.
The show, which is touring up and down the country until December, will move into Manchester Hall for two dates on October 14 and 15.
Designed to have “a night out on the town” feel, guests are encouraged to dress up in the 1920’s style but whilst costumes are welcomed they are not compulsory.
Tickets include a two-course meal and a live immersive show performed by actors, followed by entertainment, games and then dancing.
Image: Manchester Hall
Despite the name, wine is not included in your ticket price – however, there is a bar open on site selling wine, alongside other alcoholic and soft drinks. As for your meal, guests can expect to eat a chicken main and a chocolate-based dessert – although this is subject to change depending on suppliers.
Priced at £64.95 per person, a discount is available for NHS, blue light staff and students. Doors will open at 6.30pm with an intermission during the show, then final drinks and dancing finishing off the night around 10.30-11.30pm.
To find out more, visit the Wine Escape website here.
Feature image – Manchester Hall
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.
Georgina Pellant -
27th July 2022 
