A new independent ice cream brand is bringing its beloved boozy ice cream on tour across Manchester and beyond this summer.
A Few Scoops – which specialises in alcohol infused ice-cream, sorbets and ice-pops – is bringing its showstopping pink tuk tuk, affectionately known as Jolene, and the shiny new ice cream bike, named after the icon herself, Dolly, to a handful of locations right across the region over the coming weeks.
A born and bred Manchester business launched in June 2019, A Few Scoops is the brainchild of Alanna Atkinson who wanted to create a way to blend her love of ice cream with her favourite tipples.
Both Jolene and Dolly will be serving a variety of alcohol infused ice cream flavours when they go on tour.
Flavours set to be scooped up by ice cream lovers include Espresso Martini, Old Fashioned and Pina Colada (vegan), Peach Bellini and Mojito sorbets, (both vegan) and non-alcoholic options including coke float ice cream and cherryade sorbet.
Credit: A Few Scoops
That’s not all either as A Few Scoops will also take up permanent residence every Friday and Saturday from the 4th June at Stamford Square in Altrincham.
Stamford Square will include a Not So Secret Garden – a new community hub popping up in the heart of Altrincham.
The new suburban oasis will have plenty of al fresco seating, a solar powered green pergola, deckchairs and a lush flower wall. Plus, there will be a programme of activities and workshops around values of sustainability, wellbeing and community – but more importantly, homemade ice cream provided by A Few Scoops.
Jolene and Dolly can be found at the following locations on the following dates:
Stamford Quarter
Altrincham
Jolene (Friday 4th June, and then every Friday and Saturday onwards)
Stretford Foodhall
Stretford
Dolly (Friday 4th, Saturday 5th, and Sunday 6th June)
The shiny new ice cream bike, named after the icon herself – Dolly / Credig: A Few Scoops
Wilmslow Rugby Club
Wilmslow
Jolene (Saturday 3rd July)
Foodies Festival at Tatton Park
Knutsford
Jolene (9th – 11th July)
Featured Image – A Few Scoops
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.
Emily Sergeant -
1st June 2021 
