The Bull & Bear, the restaurant operated by celebrity chef Tom Kerridge and Manchester United legend Gary Neville, has been ‘blown away’ by the messages received since its closure was announced.
The acclaimed restaurant inside the Stock Exchange hotel announced last week that it would be closing in the new year after the famous pair ‘jointly agreed to end our partnership’.
Their Norfolk Street restaurant – Kerridge’s first foray into Manchester – will close on New Year’s Eve, they announced in a joint video statement.
Hundreds of people have shared their disappointment that the high-end eatery is bowing out of the city so soon.
The Bull & Bear has now released a second statement following the news, writing: “We have been blown away by your kind words regarding yesterday’s announcement but don’t worry we are still here for another 7 weeks so make sure you try and come down for one last breakfast, lunch or dinner. We would love to see you!”
Michelin-starred chef Kerridge insisted that ‘there is no falling out’ while giving the former Manchester United legend a friendly shake on the shoulders.
You can watch their full video statement below:
One person commented in response: “Absolute legends!! And, a very dignified video.”
Another wrote: “Absolutely gutted, my favourite place to eat in Manchester.”
Someone else said: “Gutted food is 🔥 will have to get booked in before the end of the year!”
Gary Neville and Tom Kerridge were cheerful in a video statement released about The Bull & Bear. Credit: Supplied
Gary Neville added in the video: “I’ve been able to wake up for the last three years every single day knowing that there’s world-class food being served in this restaurant by an incredible team with Tom and Warren coming up to make sure that everything’s being looked over.
“Tom, thanks very much for the last three years, it’s been one of the best experiences. I’ve enjoyed every single minute of it.”
To cut a long story short, we are going to be announcing this week that the partnership we’ve got here with The Bull & Bear will end in January.
Kerridge added: “From our point of view, we’ve been made to feel incredibly welcome, loved and a huge part of the Manchester scene for the last three years.”
He continued: “It’s ensuring the strengths of both businesses are looked after. There is no falling out.”
Kerridge and Neville said that The Bull & Bear would be ‘no more’, but didn’t reveal and more information about what will happen to the restaurant space.
Featured image: Supplied
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.
Daisy Jackson -
14th November 2022 
