Bar manager of the Piccadilly Lounge Thomas Ebs was a superb tutor, and was patient as we went from being attentive, to attacking the canapes with gusto and then as the pure liquor took hold, just shouting over him and each other. He taught us all the tricks of the trade, like counting out the measurements, shaking the cocktail shaker without throwing it all over your customers and how to look smooth while your doing it. He would not, however, let us juggle with the bottles like Tom Cruise and Brian Brown. Perhaps for the best.

It was universally decided that I should drink the ‘Carrie’ cocktail – hopefully because I’m a writer and not because I have a long face.

The ‘Miranda’ was my favourite, with a clean taste of Grey Goose vodka, and for a true redhead style, flavoured with watermelon, rose syrup and Kaffir lime leaves (as seen above). Mmm glug glug.

The ‘Samantha’ was my afore-mentioned favourite cocktail ever – with a layered taste of rich cherry and basil, with Wisniowka cherry vodka, lemon and cranberry juice. Most of the vodka ended up on the counter, after one of the friends didn’t quite master the pouring technique, so it was more of a cherry soft drink. I’ve been told not to bring her again.

The ‘Charlotte’ was far from being an innocent drink, but it was pretty straight up. The pineapple and cardamom infused cachaca was blended with lime wedges, fresh pineapple and cane sugar for a strong but tasty short cocktail. All the cocktails are £6.95 if these photos tempt you for a’ Sex and the City Inn’ evening – and the bonus is myself and my friends will NOT be making them for you.

The cocktail events are great for groups of friends, and it’s not often you’re allowed behind the bar to try making your own drinks. The Blue Bar is one of my favourite secret bars in Manchester (not a secret anymore though), and it’s nice to have a civilised drink while your make-up’s still on straight.

The Sex and the City cocktail masterclass is available at the City Inn until July 11 and is £30 per person (for at least four people) and involves two cocktails each and canapes. To book a master class call the Manchester hotel on 0161 242 1000 and quote ‘SATC master class’.

www.cityinn.com

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Anyway, we were there and we were hungry AND they had a two courses for £12.95 offer on. The modern British menu definitely tempted our tastebuds so onwards we went. Showing its raw original brick arches to their full potential, the decor was understated, with a clean finish. So far, so good.

I got a severe case of food envy throughout the meal, with the other half’s dishes being much more appetising than mine. His starter of chicken liver pate was rich and smooth, and came with shallots to pile on the pate, a balsamic drizzle and locally baked bread. Look – he’d even started eating it before I took a photo.

My smoked salmon and sesame seed fishcakes were rightly tasty, but came with a mere drizzle of sweet green chilli dip. It was far from being a dip, and could have just been a damp plate – and actually didn’t taste of green chilli at all. Sweet red chilli sauce is sooo over, so a green chilli relish would have been a wonderful accompaniment but this thin drizzle just didn’t deliver.

I ordered the chorizo and artichoke risotto for my main course but was brought the pea risotto and then had to sit meal-less for another seven minutes while they re-cooked my order. Perhaps I should have stuck with the pea because the chorizo was just too salty and overpowering to go with the soft gooey rice, and I ended up leaving most of it. The artichokes were beautiful, but risotto is such a delicate dish it doesn’t need that big wallop of flavour from the chorizo.

Opposite, a tender lamb shank with thick chunky gravy and mash was a massive success. It was the small details – the bits of garlic in the gravy, the chopped greens in the mash, the crisped skin on the lamb – that really made it.

As restaurant urban myth has it, Mondays aren’t a good day to eat out because this is when the head chef has the day off. However, we’re still paying customers and there weren’t that many people eating for them to make mistakes and be all rushed. The main menu (not the offer we had) was quite expensive so I wouldn’t have been happy to pay top whack for the inconsistent level of food.

Too full for desserts – even for creme brulee – we strolled back through Castlefield to catch the last of the rays.

Choice Restaurant, Castle Quay, Manchester, M15 4NT
T: 0161 833 3400
W: www.choicebarandrestaurant.co.uk

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Castlefield is absolutely the best place to be in Manchester when the sky is vibrantly blue, and the sun is beaming away. At the weekends, the canal basin area is full of beer-drinking pub goers. But we went down on Monday evening, and apart from at Dukes 92, we only saw joggers and a few people out walking.

For anyone who is new to Manchester, you can get to Castlefield by walking down past the Knott Bar at the end of Deansgate or right by The Ox on Liverpool Road (click the links for Google Map location).

With a network of canals, pubs with outdoor areas and an ampitheatre area, this is a perfect place to go for an urban stroll.

This conservation area was the site of the Roman settlement of Mamcunian back in 79AD. The first canal was begun in 1758 to transport coal to Manchester.

More canals were built, along with warehouses to store the goods. Eventually canals were not quick enough for the growing industrial needs and a railway station was built in 1830 on Liverpool Road – now MOSI.

Castlefield was one of Manchester’s first regeneration areas back in the late 1980s and is now full of beautiful city living apartments, with water views.

Please note all photographs are copyrighted to Carolyn Hughes, and please don’t use them without permission.

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The City Inn is a place that has really developed in the last few years – in fact who can remember what was there before it appeared? Its surroundings are ultra-modern offices and an swanky apartment block, completely tranforming the previously grotty Piccadilly approach area. The new footbridge, which takes you over to Piccadilly station, means that the outdoor terrace is great for attracting passers by.

The terrace was packed with office workers and tourists, with a guitarist singing and strumming away to add to that Friday feeling. After rifling through the cocktail menu, I decided that the Basil Cherry Blush (£7.85) was my favourite cocktail EVER! This is a beautiful fusing of Wisinowka cherry vodka, crushed raspberries, fresh basil, lemon, raspberry liquer and cranberry juice. An overwhelmingly juicy cherry flavour was rounded off by a lovely herby basil taste which stopped it from being to sweet.

I am actually putting together a cocktail guide to Manchester, and so far this is my number one. Please leave a comment with your favourite cocktail and I’ll be sure to test it out!

Mr Manchester Is Ace likes his whisky so the Honey Mash Macallan (£7.95), with Macallan ten year Scotch with pear cognac, and Drambuie with griottine cherry was perfect for him, and even as a non-whisky drinker it was smooth, and not to overwhelming.

I’ve eaten at the City Inn many times since it opened, and I think this is the best menu I’ve seen in the past four years. It really was lovely and summery, with a concise collection of dishes which manage to tread that fine line between appealing to your generic business traveller but at the same time being imaginative and very modern.

New head chef Scott McDonald came out for a chat with us and he has previously cooked with both Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsey and has also worked at Selfridges.

The choice of bread at the City Inn is exquisite and I could quite happily eat it for my starter, and it come with options such as onion bread and wholewheat . The starters menu has some great light dishes on it such as White crab and mango salad or clear vegetable broth. My cray fish bisque (£4.95) was beautifully presented but the flavour was a tad overwhelming and a slight hint of bitter taste (pictured above).

The Pan fried breast of quail (£6.50) was a definite winner. The cutesy sized meat treat was flavoured with honey and five spice, and perched upon a pea and mint risotto cake and drizzled with balsamic vinegar. It ticked all the starter boxes in that it was full of different flavours to really whet the appetite.

Both of our main courses were meat-loving dishes, each featuring a hat trick of animal parts. The trio of Middle White pork brought together confit belly, roast fillet and pork sausage in a porcine frenzy, while the lamb dish presented tender pink rump, sweet rolled lamb belly and delicate kidney.

I’d recently had lamb at Thomas and belly pork at Bulb and the quality, flavour and overall preparation was far superior in Scott’s kitchen. The quality of meat was exceptional – all juicy and succulent. This indelicate intaking of food was washed down with a Quinta do Alqueve 2006 Portuguese red, which the waiter thought was a fabulous choice because he was Portuguese. We also shared a side order of greens to avoid getting gout.

I was impressed with the well-stocked cheese trolley, but we both went for proper desserts. The treacle tart (£5.50) was a moist sticky cake, and I think I maybe prefer the diabetes-inducing old-school tart that is quite literally filled with treacle. The other half went for a pasty-shaped dessert filled with smooth almond paste, that was really unusual but very tasty and came with vanilla ice cream.

Hotel dining rooms are always tricky ones to get right because they aren’t intimate little basement rooms and have to serve breakfast in the morning. The City Inn is one of the better ones. It’s a bit too posh for me to take my rowdy group of mates, but it’s definitely somewhere I’d take my family for a meal and lunch after shopping.

The Market Menu changes weekly and has a two course evening meal for £14 .95 and three courses for £16.50, and is fantastic value for the quality of the food. I would definitely recommend the a la carte menu for the full experience, which is £16.95 for two courses and £21.95 for three courses.

City Inn Manchester, 
One Piccadilly Place, 
1 Auburn Street
, Manchester, 
M1 3DG
T.

T: 0161 242 1000
E: manchester.reservations@cityinn.com
W: www.cityinn.com/Manchester

Disclaimer: This was a complementary meal from City Inn but I think they were pretty confident about their new chef and new menu to stand up to an honest review.

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There is an impressive line up of events, with a key note speech from Matthew Fort. The Guardian food reviewer is a hero of mine since I read his book about travelling around Sicily while I was there on my honeymoon, and marvelled at the sheer amount of food that one human can consume.

The event is organised by Edge Street Events, who also run Manchester Food and Drink Festival and takes place at the Ramada Manchester Piccadilly.

Discussions include talking about whether a restaurant can remain a one off independent; an emerging producers’ showcase; a discussion about Britain’s declining pub industry, and using social media for food outlets.

Phil Jones, director of Edge Street Events, says: “The objective is to provide a comprehensive forum where crucial and sometimes controversial issues surrounding the industry can be debated, where new ideas and theories can be shared, and where lasting cross sector networks can be established or renewed. This is a unique networking event that aims to become an established annual feature on the national food and drink industry calendar.”

Other food guests include:  Jean Christophe Novelli, Henrietta Green, Fergus Henderson, Paul Heathcote and Sheila Dillon.

And if all that talking wears you down, the evening’s light entertainment is Loyd Grossman’s band The New Forbidden.

For more information, www.thefoodanddrinksummit.com.

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By taking numerous images of the same scene, including wide lens shots, close ups and different weather conditions, he layers different parts together to create a type of ‘photo painting’. The result is a very deep and detailed image full of atmosphere. Take a look at his photo gallery for all the images, including fantasy images created from Andrew’s imagination using different component photographs.

After a quick demo of Andrew’s skills we were set loose in Manchester, around Exchange Square and the cathedral. The weather created some beautiful light conditions, and with the arrival of the new Mayor at the cathedral with a gaggle of police motorcycles, there was plenty going on. The whole idea is that you should be able to take photos anywhere in Manchester without getting any hassle from the authorities, so we tested this fully by taking lots of photos of the police – and fair enough they didn’t bat an eyelid.

Below is a quick shot of @technicalfault snapping away over the River Irwell.

However, I would have liked some structure and a theme to the afternoon with some specific guidance around it. If we were working around a theme, it would have been really interesting to compare styles. I took plenty of images, but got a little bored and sun-wilted so went home early to lie on the sofa, erm I mean download my images.

So here’s a few pretty photos that I took this afternoon.

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Now this is an event which is right up my street. After spending a considerable amount of money on a beautiful Nikon I still haven’t read the instruction booklet (much to the amusement of my friends).

Manchester’s Cityco has organised an Open City photography day which gives up to 100 people the chance to be taken on a free two hour photography tour and tutorial around the city centre on Sunday, May 23.

The photographer tutors are: Aidan O’Rourke, Andrew Brooks, Len Grant, Paul Herrmann and Mark Page. They will help budding snappers on a city tour workshop, and the best images will be selected for an exhibition in the Triangle shopping centre.

Photo by Mark Page

Vaughan Allen, chief executive of Cityco, said: “Manchester aspires to be a photography-friendly and accessible place where people don’t get hassled or arrested for taking pictures.

“We’re talking to the authorities to work together to move towards us becoming an ‘open city’. This initiative is all about celebrating Manchester through the lens and we’re delighted to be working with some of the city’s most notable photographers to make this happen.

“We want today to really inspire many more people to get out and about and capture the essence of our wonderful city.”

Photo by Len Grant

Those taking part must be 18 years old or older on May 23, bring their own photography equipment, be willing to take part in publicity and allow their images to be published and used in the exhibition if selected.

To apply please send your name, age, email address and a day-time phone number quoting ‘Open City’ in the subject header to info@cityco.com by  May 14. This opportunity is on a first come, first served basis and all successful applicants will be contacted with further details by  May 17.

Photo by Aidan O’Rourke

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We’ve not had a gourmet chocolate maker (although I’m sure someone can correct me) in Manchester, since Plasir du Chocolat in the Royal Exchange and Harvey Nichols closed down and sadly went into administration. Obviously the Chocolate Cafe in Ramsbottom does amazing things, but it’s not on my walk home after work.

Artisan du Chocolat is famed for bringing salted caramels to the world. They were invented in 2003 by Gerard Coleman for Gordon Ramsay’s menu at Claridge’s. I had always imagined them to be a solid caramel flavoured with salt. But in fact, they are oozy liquid caramel flavoured with Noirmoutier island’s grey salt and surrounded by a bitter crunchy cocoa shell.

I didn’t make a note of the flavours I bought and my palate may well be tainted by the bottle of Presecco I am drinking. Oh we know how to live it up on a Monday night, oh yes. Anyway, one of the salted caramels tasted rich and dark, like black treacle. One was definitely balsamic vinegar, which was a great taste combo, and t’other I think was lemony but I scoffed it way too quickly. They were definitely more-ish, but I definitely expected more of a salty kick. I always knew chocolate and salt went together hand in hand, when I used to eat crisps with Kit Kats as a youngster. That’s me – ahead of the times.

Moving onto the delicate patterned gourmet chocs, of which there are so many delicious-sounding and really unusual flavours, injected into the rich chocolate ganache. I found a PDF menu with a key to all the flavours tucked away on the Couture collection page, so take a look.

The lavender was a good un with a very delicate but definite floral hint. With the basil and lime, the citrus took over a bit too much and I’d have liked to taste the earthy basil flavour. Green cardomon was quite strongly flavoured and tasted like the kulfi we spend all summer buying from the curry mile. This was definitely one of the favourites, with its warm spicy taste.

Vanilla was more subtle than I would like, while the mint was truly infused with the beautifully light aroma of real fresh mint leaves.

Prices were good at around £7 for 100g. I bought a bag of about 10 and it came to £5, which was impressive.

www.artisanduchocolat.com

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Does he not KNOW how cold it is in Manchester? Well, dear reader, I’d love to tell you I was going to take part in this piece of art history in the name of journalism. But erm, I’m busy that day. And I’m not stripping off, especially when I’ve been eating Easter Eggs all day (yes I know it’s not Easter Sunday yet.)

The Lowry in Salford has decided to mark its 10 year anniversary by commissioning the New York-based Tunick to create an installation across eight locations in Salford and Manchester.

Art-loving volunteers will be taken by heated bus to all eight locations to pose naked for his photographs. Previous piccies have included bare gatherings in Sydney, Montreal, Santiago, Barcelona and Gateshead.

He is using the inspiration of LS Lowry’s everyday people – his first visual response to another artist, as well as the first multiple-location installation.

Tunick will focus on the concept of ‘everyday people’, in reference to Salford son LS Lowry, whose figurative works depict a mass of bodies going about their daily life.

Kate Farrell, curator of special exhibitions at The Lowry, said: “This is a one-off chance to feature in an international artwork and to become part of a global network of Tunick participants.”

Register here to take part: www.thelowry.com/tunick.

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And since I started going about a month ago, it’s now my favourite restaurant in Manchester too. Actually I’d like it better if it wasn’t a chain, but that’s food snobbery for you.

And I didn’t even let my first terrible experience put me off.

I knew it was going to be spicy but I didn’t really consider how spicy it would be. SO I merrily ordered the mixed meat and seafood clay pot and happily drunk my house sauvignon blanc (which is not bad for a ‘housey’).

But it was spicy. Not just oh-my-tongue-is-tingling spicy. More like, oh-my-brain-is-going-to-explode spicy. All I did was dip my chopstick into the evil chilli dish, bubbling away like a witch’s cauldron, and my head actually exploded. This tiny dib-dab of liquid gave me a sneezing fit so bad I had to run to the toilets. And I like spicy food!

Anyway it made the husband’s night, I think he’s still laughing now. So first visit: Red Chilli 1 – Manchester Is Ace: 0.

But that didn’t put me off one bit. I was up for the match.

So we went there again last weekend. The husband was late because he was soundchecking and I so nearly ordered him the shredded jellyfish to punish him, but I’m just not that mean.

The fillet steak rolls (£5.50) were a win last time, and were just as good second time around, with black pepper sauce. Thick braised fillet steak is somehow encapsulated in a roll format and slathered in either a Cantonese, black pepper or sweet spicy sauce. I could probably eat these every day for the rest of my life.

The menu tells me that cold starters are popular in Sichuan (which this restaurant specialises in) so I gave the Poached salty duck (£4) a whirl. Next time we’re getting braver and are definitely getting in the Husband and wife’s lungs. Still not ready for the shredded jellyfish though. Unless it was the bastard one that scarred me for life in Sicily last year.

The Beijing dumplings (£4.50) are a traditional dish for celebrations, so we also ordered these because we were celebrating going to Red Chilli again. They were good, with bits of pork in I think, but not worthy of daydreaming over. You actually get more than this, but I started eating before I remembered to take a photo.

After my debacle with the clay pot, I only ordered one main course in a tactical move. How could I lose if I didn’t order my own main dish? Our lamb dish isn’t on the downloadable menu, but was a stir fry number with spring onions (around £7.50). It was tasty covered in a rich Cantonese-style but delicate sauce with no sign of the gloopiness that puts me right of British-style Chinese food.

Anyway there wasn’t one scrap of food left this time so:
Red Chilli 0 – Manchester Is Ace 1.

Red Chilli is in Chinatown on Portland Street, and is a cosy, but fairly contemporary, basement space. There is another branch on Oxford Road but I’ve not been there yet. The selection of starters really make it for me and I could eat them all night long. It’s good to find somewhere that gives the tastebuds such as slap that you’re still thinking about how tasty it was days later.

You can also read reviews by the High Priests of food reviewing, Matthew Norman and Jay Rayner here.

Red Chilli, 70-72 Portland Street, Manchester, M1 4GU
T: 0161 236 2888
W: www.redchillirestaurant.co.uk

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