A huge new late-night bar, music venue and restaurant has just tentatively opened its doors on Manchester’s Oxford Road ahead of a swanky launch this Friday.
Split across three floors, a 600-capacity underground club will host a mixture of live gigs, panel sessions and club nights, with a special members-only viewing mezzanine and late-night bar open until 4am, seven nights a week.
Upstairs, a sleek restaurant and bar from the same team behind the city’s south American Peru Perdu restaurant will serve a globe-trotting menu of crowd-pleasing small plates alongside a long drinks list of inventive aperitifs, highballs and sundowners.
Image: The Manc Eats
Belvedere lemon and basil with yuzu sake, pistachio and lemon tonic. / Image: The Manc Eats
Duck leg with sweet and sour roast plum, hoisin and pickled cucumber salad. / Image: The Manc Eats
From the chinola picante, a spicy mix of scotch bonnet, passionfuit and vanilla, to a ‘frozen nuclear daiquiri’ made with overproof Wray & Nephew, chartreus verte and citrus, the restaurant’s bar menu is worth popping in for alone.
Highballs span the likes of Plantation pineapple rum with mint and kombucha, a refreshing Belvedere lemon and basil with yuzu sake, pistachio and lemon tonic, and the cafe torino – a mixture of Mr Black’s coffee amaro with sweet martini and soda.
Elsewhere on the drinks front, you’ll find a good selection of wines, beers and softs, as well as different spirit mixers to order.
As for the small plates, which span everything from fish and chips to steamed prawn and pork dumplings, there really is something for everyone here – although, we have to bemoan the fact that there are no chopsticks to eat the dumplings with.
Image: The Manc Eats
Smack bang in the heart of university land with a wealth of international students living above, the menu seeks to cater to global tastes. This makes it an ideal choice for fussy friends, as there’s no way anyone can look at the varied list of 30+ dishes and decide there’s nothing there for them.
Here, beautifully crispy Korean fried chicken sits side-by-side with garlic portobello mushrooms and ‘disco fries’ topped with saffron mayo, jalapenos and truffle.
Further choices include steak bavette with roast tomatoes and chimmichurri, green pea hummus, Thai fishcakes and a good range of sandwiches ideal for a quick but hearty lunch. Like we say, plenty of choice.
Pork and prawn dumplings. / Image: The Manc Eats
Charred baby gem with croutons and radish. / Image: The Manc Eats
The chinola picante, a spicy mix of Scotch bonnet, passionfruit and vanilla. / Image: The Manc Eats
The new venue is currently in its soft launch period with 50% off small plate until 6 July. It is also gearing up to launch a new breakfast menu, which will also be available for diners to enjoy at a discount from 11-17 July.
Membership is priced at £15 per month for under-30s, including perks like two free gigs per month, free guest passes and access to invitation-only parties, as well as entry to the 4am members-only bar and acess to the best views via the members’ mezzanine. Prices for over-30s start at £25.
Members will also get guestlist access to events, priority bookings and restaurant discounts – all whilst being part of the community with their say on key decisions within the club.
All of the Canvas venues will be fully open to the public from Friday 8 July, whilst later this summer, a plunge pool and sauna will be added to the expansive site.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
News
Rochdale has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2025
Emily Sergeant
Rochdale has officially been named Greater Manchester’s Town of Culture for 2025.
Taking over the reins from Bolton – which held the title in 2024 – and following in the footsteps of Stockport before that, which held the title in 2023, and even hosted a massive ‘Town of Culture Weekender’ festival with 50+ free events to celebrate and bring its title year to a close, it’s now the turn of the north-eastern Greater Manchester borough of Rochdale.
Rochdale’s year will build on the town’s already-rich cultural history and international reputation as the home of the co-operative movement.
More than 35 arts organisations will be bringing together an ambitious programme of festivals, exhibitions, events, and performances throughout the year.
Unfamiliar with what the ‘Greater Manchester Town of Culture’ title is all about? It’s an accolade that’s handed out every year to different boroughs across the region.
Bury was the inaugural title-holder 2020 and held onto it in 2021 too due to the COVID pandemic, before being followed by Stalybridge in 2022, Stockport in 2023, and of course, Bolton in the year just gone.
The title celebrates Greater Manchester’s culture and heritage.
As well as getting a new title to shout about, it also sees the towns given a grant from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) culture fund to help develop a programme of cultural events and activities throughout the year.
Rochdale has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2025 / Credit: The Manc Group | Rochdale Council
In Rochdale’s case, you can expect the ‘very best local talent’, as this year is promising to put ‘people power’ centre stage, with residents helping to plan, develop, and deliver a lineup of creative activities, alongside a number of major events.
This includes the popular free days out for families, an exciting new urban arts festival, two different food and drink festivals, a lantern parade, the Ignite Fire Festival, a Pride parade, and so much more.
You can also expect live music performances, a new people’s gallery, and even some major international collaborations that are yet to be announced.
Rochdale is taking over the reins from Bolton, which held the title in 2024 / Credit: Rochdale Council
“Rochdale is a place with a rich cultural history, so it is great to name it Greater Manchester’s town of culture as it’s town hall and town centre enter a new era,” commented Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham as the borough was crowned this week.
“Rochdale submitted a fantastic bid for this which, was incredibly exciting and ambitious, while being firmly rooted in its local talent and deep history.
“We are definitely going to see the very best of what Rochdale has to offer over the next 12 months and people will come from far and wide to see it.”
Featured Image – Rochdale Council
News
The Lowry Theatre undergoes revamp following Biffa Award grant
Danny Jones
The Lowry in Salford Quays has had a bit of TLC with one of its biggest theatre spaces undergoing a pretty significant refurb this past month.
Following a well-deserved grant distributed via the Biffa Award, a multi-million-pound fund that helps to build communities and transform lives through community and environmental projects across the UK, the legendary local theatre received nearly £75k last year.
As a result, all 440 seats and various other aspects of The Lowry‘s Quays Theatre have now been renovated and refurbished.
The short story is, she looks more gorgeous than ever – see for yourself:
Being initially handed over in March 2024, The Lowry was awarded a total of £74,816 to reupholster seating in the venue’s Quays Theatre with new padding and fabric.
After almost 25 years of constant use as one of the most popular theatres in the North, the seats in the Quays Theatre were much in need of a refurb, and with work completed in December, Lowry visitors can now enjoy watching the venue’s wide range of theatre, dance, comedy and drama in comfort.
The work was actually carried out between July and December, with seats being carefully removed in batches and reupholstered off-site.
This was made possible due to the Biffa Award’s most recent ‘Cultural Facilities’ theme, which aims to improve recreation, interest and education, drawing funds from the UK government’s wider Landfill Communities Fund.
The old fabric and padding were disposed of sustainably, with lots of it being repurposed where possible to minimise waste and all the new materials used meet current guidance for safety and quality.
The Lowry’s Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Development, Gwen Oakden, said of the long overdue update:“It is so important that our audiences are able to enjoy our world-class performing arts programme in a comfortable and welcoming space.
“For many visitors to the Quays Theatre, this is their first experience of live performance – often to see a family show or as part of a school trip. We really want it to be the best experience possible, and for them to begin a lifelong relationship with Lowry.
“As a registered charity, without the generous support of this Biffa Award, for which we’re hugely grateful, we couldn’t have carried out this important work for our audiences.
As we head into our 25th Anniversary year, we are delighted to be able to welcome audiences and visitors can enjoy the beautiful and revived Quays Theatre.”
As for the Biffa side of things, Grants Manager Rachel Maidment added: “We are delighted to have supported The Lowry in refurbishing the Quays Theatre seating, ensuring audiences can continue to enjoy performances in comfort.
“Through Biffa’s Cultural Facilities theme, we fund projects that provide engaging and inspiring spaces for communities. The Lowry is a key cultural venue, and we’re proud that our funding, made possible through the government Fund, has helped enhance the experience for visitors for years to come.”
Like most Mancs, we love The Lowry, so here’s to hosting countless more theatregoers in the most comfortable seats possible for generations to come.
We’ve been to some brilliant performances around here of late.
Georgina Pellant -
5th July 2022 
