One of Greater Manchester’s most prestigious hotels is gearing up to host a series of “intimate” wine dinners throughout 2022.
The Lowry Hotel’sWine Dinner Series is set to give guests the chance to dine within the five-star surroundings of the hotel’s award-winning River Restaurant’s private dining room and enjoy some canapés and a five-course meal that has been expertly-prepared and paired with a range of world-class wines and champagnes.
Kicking off on 28 May, with tickets now available and setting you back £104 per person, this unmissable dining series is being hosted in collaboration with Pommery Champagne for the first event, and will continue with Château La Gordonne in June, followed by a gin dinner with the North West-based distillery, Four Sis4ers, in October.
Fancy grabbing tickets to the first event of the series?
You’ll be treated to five courses, accompanied by five unique drink pairings.
The Lowry Hotel’s Wine Dinner Series will give guests the chance to dine within the five-star surroundings / Credit: The Lowry Hotel
To start with, guests will be greeted with a glass of Pommery Brut Royal – a beautifully-balanced champagne, with hints of brioche and honey – paired delicately with canapes, including beef fillet tartare with wasabi and cured egg yolk on a toasted brioche, and chucked bay oysters with compressed apple and cucumber granita.
Next up is teriyaki-cured salmon with horseradish crispbread and white rice, and a potato and mussel espuma mousse, that’s paired with Pommery Blanc de Blancs – a champagne crafted from a selection of chardonnay grapes.
On the menu for the main course is lamb fillet wellington, which will be paired with Rare Vineyard Pinot Noir – which is described as “an inviting wine” that’s made from Pinot Noir grapes.
Then, for the desert course, a rhubarb tart with goat’s milk sorbet, which will be paired with Pommery Brut Rose – a blend of rosé and Pinot Noir, with a pale pink finesse overlaid with a hint of red berries – and finally, to finish, guests will be able to taste a Late Bottled Vintage Port, which will be served with Lancashire bomb cheddar, alongside an iconic traditional Greater Manchester sweet treat, Eccles cake.
There’ll be a five-course meal expertly-prepared and paired with a range of world-class wines and champagnes / Credit: The Lowry Hotel
The first event in the The Lowry Hotel Wine Dinner Series on Saturday 28 May will start at 7pm in the hotel’s library for arrival drinks and canapés, followed by dinner at 8pm in the River Restaurant’s private dining room.
Details of future events are to be announced throughout the year, so keep your eyes peeled.
Hit theatre production set at a house party to visit Manchester on UK tour
Daisy Jackson
Alright then, 24 hour party people, we’ve found a theatre production you might like the sound of – it’s called The House Party, and it’s set in (you guessed it) a house party.
This smash hit production by pioneering theatre company Headlong is set to land at HOME in March as part of the arts venue’s 2025 theatre season.
It tells the tale of a wild 18th birthday party, where Christine is trying to pick up the pieces of her best friend, a newly-dumped Julie (who happens to be the birthday girl).
Themes of class, power and privilege are all explored with a raw intensity as the cast on stage plough through shots and dive head-first into a night that will change everything they know.
The House Party, which has received glowing reviews from previous showings, is filled with ‘privilege, desire and destruction’.
When it stops off in Manchester, its cast will include Bridgerton’s Sesley Hope as Christine, Synnøve Karlsen (Miss Austen, Last Night in Soho) as Julie, and Tom Lewis (Gentleman Jack, Patience) as Jon.
The ensemble of Frantic Assembly performers includes Ines Aresti, Oliver Baines, Cal Connor, Micah Corbin-Powell, Rachael Leonce, Jaheem Pinder and Jamie Randall.
The House Party is written by Laura Lomas and is a reimagining of August Strindberg’s Miss Julie for today’s generation.
It’s directed by Headlong’s artistic director Holly Race Roughan, who directed the Royal Shakespeare Company’s world premiere of David Edgar’s major new political play The New Real.
The House Party. Credit: Ikin YumThe production will be at HOME. Credit: Supplied
Movement direction will come from Frantic Assembly’s Scott Graham.
Prior to the UK tour of The House Party, Headlong celebrated its 50 year anniversary, including the hit production of A Raisin in the Sun which played nationwide.
The House Party will be at HOME in Manchester between 25 and 29 March, 2025 – you can get your tickets HERE.
Greater Manchester’s annual Repair Week is back to make you fall back in love with your stuff
Daisy Jackson
If you’re not a handy person, when something breaks, the temptation is often to abandon or bin it straight away.
But that’s just not how we’re gonna do it here in Greater Manchester any more, with the return of the annual Repair Week to help you learn valuable repair skills and save money at the same time.
Whether it’s tinkering with your bicycle, fixing up your small tech items, or having your furniture re-varnished and upcycled, there are so many places and people who are on a mission to help you fall back in love with your belongings.
There are even workshops to help you put flat-pack furniture together.
Taking place between 3 and 9 March, Repair Week will be the chance to learn skills, fix your stuff, gain repair confidence and find local fixers.
Events throughout the week (and beyond) will be hosted by community groups, businesses and plenty more.
You can sharpen knives, fix zips, and un-wobble chairs with a little hand from local repair heroes.
JillyGDesign Jewellery in Heaton Moor will fix up your sentimental and special jewellery items, while Rag Revival will help you turn unusable textiles into new creations with basic sewing skills.
There are repair cafes popping up all over Greater Manchester where you can take your belongings.
Greater Manchester’s annual Repair Week is back to make you fall back in love with your stuff. Credit: Supplied
Repair Week will highlight schemes like the Manchester Library of Things, where you can borrow the tools and equipment you need for those repair jobs at home.
During the week you’ll also be able to take a behind-the-scenes tour of the incredible Renew Hub, the UK’s biggest reuse hub, where donated items are brought back to life.
Similarly, you’ll be able to get inside the textile recycling centre run by homelessness charity Emmaus Bolton, where you can choose your own fabric from the scrap store and turn it into a very handy draught excluder to keep costs down and your heat in.
Recycle for Greater Manchester’s Repair Week will take place between 3 and 9 March, with workshops, events and resources to help you revive your belongings.
Emily Sergeant -
10th May 2022 
