Cornerhouse -
where to start eh? I luckily used to work right near this centre of
arty-cultural goodness so its delights were ready available. But last week
I met an old work colleague for some Cornerhouse pizza action, and I
realised how much I missed it.

For those of you who don’t know, the Cornerhouse is a cinema, showing
independent and arty films, a great cafe and bar and exhibition space
for contemporary art. There is also a great little shop full of cool
and contemporary arty magazines, but also excellent greetings card and
postcards.

Set
on the end of Oxford Road (at the crossroads of Whitworth Street), it
is a great location, right near the universities but also the Palace
Theatre (and Sainsbury’s but that’s only a bonus when you work in the
area).

The
pizzas are the main draw for me, but when I went last week they had
changed slightly – but no fear they’re now all-improved stonebaked
Napoli pizzas. I always have La Reine (£7.25) which is a feast of
Prosciutto ham, olives, mushrooms and tomato, and the new addition of
rocket and shaved parmesan scattered over the top.

The
Americano (£6.25) was also a heaped pile of tomato, mozzarella,
pepperoni and spicy jalapenos. The pizzas aren’t strictly the same as
you get in Italy but how could they be? For Manchester, they are really
excellent versions of the Italian delicacy. I just don’t think our
Northern palate would appreciated the more delicate balance of pizza
base and topping – we like our pizzas heaped with warming tomato and
cheese over here, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

I’ve
also been to Cornerhouse for brunch in between morning meetings, and
sampled this baby (pictured above, £5.25). The field mushrooms are fried until
golden and then heaped upon brown crunchy toast with wilted spinach, tomatoes and
a good handful of strong goats’ cheese. Mmm look at it.

Have a look at the full menu here.

The
Cornerhouse shows great films that you can’t see in the mainstream
picturehouses, but generally they’re only shown for a week so by the
time I decide I want to see and manage to find a free evening, it’s
usually gone.

It was opened in 1985 after Shaw’s furniture
store and the Tatler cinema club were converted into the three cinemas,
three galleries and cafe bar. It is run by an independent charitable
trust and sees more than 300,000 visitors each year. The only little
bugbear I have as a journalist is the insistence on it being called
Cornerhouse, not and never THE Cornerhouse. Which is all fine until it
bumps up against basic grammar rules, so pah I say to that.

You can also follow the lovely people at the Cornerhouse on Twitter: @cornerhousemcr. Check out the website for the latest cinema and art listings.

Cornerhouse, 70 Oxford Street, Manchester, M1 5NH
T: 0161 200 1500
W: www.cornerhouse.org

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