However, following an announcement on social media last week, founder Karl Considine and his team saw out their final service on Saturday, 27 July.
Explaining the reason behind shutting down following their pop-up current residency ending on LoveFrom’s Instagram page, they explained: “We have sadly had to make the very difficult decision to close immediately due to our financial situation.”
Credit: The Manc Group
Going on to frame the closure in a more optimistic light, the statement goes on to reflect they are: “Gutted that it has come to this but also super proud of how amazing this year has been for us and this is genuinely just the start of our next chapter so look out!”
Considine also went on to thank Kampus themselves, as well as property develops HBD and Capital and Centric for the opportunity to take over the space, not to mention a special mention to “Nell’s for all the neighbourly support” and, of course, his “amazing team for being 10/10 on the bar.”
However, as mentioned above, the brand has no intention of taking this disappointment lying down, adding, “We won’t be saying ‘goodbye’, we’ll be saying ‘see you soon!'”.
LoveFrom was similarly defiant in responding to trolls reacting to the news that they were closing, reiterating: “You do you huns, our pop-up closure doesn’t mean the end of our journey, it just punctuates the next chapter […] In the words of Cinderella, have courage and be kind.”
The 39-year-old also hinted that “We are already cooking up cool plans and will obvs be the first to let you know”, so don’t say your tearful farewells just yet.
Sober social spaces continue to spread across Manchester city centre and remain an important outlet for people who still want to go out and enjoy themselves without the pressure of drinking.
Featured Images — The Manc Group/LoveFrom (via Instagram)
Food & Drink
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.
Danny Jones -
30th July 2024 
