Jonathan Schofield

St Michael’s put out to Pasture

A few years ago, I was in Bristol and ate by happenchance at Pasture restaurant, which provided stalwart British meat and seafood dishes. Every dish was very good, with many of the ingredients sourced from the company’s own farm. This is the current menu. It wasn’t a cheap meal but it was excellent and the décor was as sharp as a pin. Pasture is now coming to Manchester within Gary Neville’s St Michael’s development. This is a major move for Pasture as they will be opening four, yes four, hospitality units.

There will be a classic Pasture as I experienced in Bristol (see pictures below) but also a restaurant on the first floor of the 220-year-old Abercromby pub (there’ll be a bar downstairs) plus a bar in the W Residences in the marvellous St Michael’s tower. The latter will be connected to the Abercromby as part of the construction work. There’ll also be a Mediterranean restaurant provided by Pasture. The question is: do we really need another Mediterranean restaurant? The answer is incredibly simple: no. Looking forward to the classic Pasture, though, which should be opening in late 2027.

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French prehistoric cave paintings are related to something we use every day from Greater Manchester jonathanschofield.substack.com/p/gallic-cave-…

Why are so many places named after Manchester in the world and why is one in a jungle?

Trade is the reason behind the most surprising Manchester, the one in Bolivia. This is first mentioned in the Manchester Guardian in the 1890s. The Manchester Guardian is now just The Guardian so unlike all these towns and cities the perfidious paper has shed its Manchester connection.

Anthony James was born in Manchester and arrived in Bolivia in 1885 to make his fortune at the silver mines in Potosi. However, it would be rubber that proved the great success for James.

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Still time to join the Manchester Literary tour tomorrow at 11am (1 November). Loads of great writers, local, regional, visitors are included. I still adore this quote from Harpurhey's Anthony Burgess in his autobiography looking back to his youth in the 1930s is hilarious.

‘In those days, for a Mancunian to visit the capital was an exercise in condescension. London was a day behind Manchester in the arts, in commercial cunning, in economic philosophy. True, it had the monarch and the government and was gratuitously big. It had more history than Manchester, but history was no more than a tourist frippery. When foreigners came to Manchester, they came to learn, not to feed ravens and snap beefeaters. Manchester was generous and London was not. London had something of the air of Chorlton-cum-Hardy.’

Book here or just turn up: jonathanschofieldtours.com/literary-manch…

@visit_mcr @mcrconfidential @anthonyburgess

Big Manchester autumn restaurant opening: Counter

This is good news. Awardwinning chef Andrew Sheridan is opening a new restaurant on John Dalton Street in the Island Building. This is a new building by Cartwright Pickard architects but those of a certain age will remember the site as Pizza Express at the junction of Ridgefield and South King Street. The restaurant will be called Counter. The promotional material says of the menu: ‘Highlights include Scallop Hash Brown with brown butter satay and green chilli, Beef Tartare Pressed Croissant with smoked oyster mayo and wasabi, and slow-cooked Thai Lamb Shoulder with lemongrass, chilli and coriander. (There’s also) Wagyu Black Label ribeye with black garlic butter, beef fat onions and bone marrow gravy. And to finish, Vimto 1908 - a playful dessert created especially for Manchester.’

I’ve eaten at his 8 by Sheridan in Liverpool and it was excellent. I was dining with The Spectator food writer Olivia Potts when she wrote this. I agreed with every word.

Read more Manchester stories here: lnkd.in/p/e5EAkHEi