Simon Wood, former MasterChef champ and owner of Wood in Manchester, has sparked a debate about freebies today.
The celebrated chef has exposed a customer who emailed asking for a ‘complimentary dessert’ to help them mark a special occasion.
Simon has labelled their request as ‘unbelievable…’ as he shared a screenshot of the email in question.
The customer had written to Wood restaurant, on First Street, to ask: “As it’s the first anniversary from me and my husband, would it be possible to give us a good table with a nice view and a maybe a complimentary Dessert? As I want to surprise my partner.”
And Simon has slammed them for ‘trying to scrounge off small businesses’ as he sparked a debate about freebies on social media.
The chef-patron wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Unbelievable…. Free food for celebrations, that’s why we’re here after all….”
Simon later wrote: “Restaurants aren’t here to give things away for free. Pop into McDonald’s and ask for a complementary cheeseburger and see what happens.
“People need to stop trying to scrounge off small businesses.”
Many people have agreed with Simon Wood, saying it would be ‘unfathomable’ that people would ask for freebies in any other industry.
Others agreed that complimentary extras are always nice but ‘you don’t ask for them’.
But some people think Simon has been too harsh and that the customer has done nothing wrong by at least asking.
On Simon’s side, one person wrote on X: “Nothing wrong in mentioning a celebration and asking for a nice table. But that is where it should stop. If the restaurant then want to treat you to a complimentary surprise then that is up to them.”
Another said: “Imagine this in any other industry. ‘Hi M&S, it’s my birthday! Can I have a free dress’. Unfathomable. To surprise your other half/celebrate, order things from the menu. Support restaurants when they desperately need it. Ensure there’s a place to go for a 2nd anniversary!”
Someone else commented: “I just don’t understand some people. Yes, it is nice to get freebies, but you don’t ask for them!”
And one agreed: “Asking for the table is definitely okay, asking for complimentary stuff is mental.”
But one person said: “Tbf, I’ve had a complimentary dessert served when it was my birthday, it was a lovely touch. To ridicule someone for asking is a bit much.”
Another posted: “They only asked. In the words of my very wise mother: Shy bairns get nowt.”
And someone else went so far as to say: “You’d think they had asked for the whole meal for free lmfao. You stingy a**hole”
What do you reckon? Was the customer in the wrong to ask Simon Wood for a freebie on their anniversary?
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.
Daisy Jackson -
16th December 2023 
