Northwest Food News – August 2015

August should be a time for relaxing at the tail-end of a hectic summer. School's out, uni's over, and our minds inevitably drift towards festivals and holidays.  

But against this backdrop the food and drink industry is a behemoth continually renewing itself. Hence, a slew of impending new establishments across the Northwest. 

The Corn Exchange will be a flurry of activity as it prepares to house its new residents in September: Thomasina Miers' Wahaca, exporting its Mexican wares from London; a new Byron (in case you'd grown bored of the other two), and 'street-food' restaurants Mowgli and Pho bring Indian and Vietnamese vibes. On top of that there'll be an expanded Salvi's, who have been serving up their fantastic Italian plates al fresco on Exchange Square for a while now. cornexchangemanchester.co.uk

There's more Vietnamese action as My-Pho has announced a Liverpool opening in Bold Place. Neon Jamon (@neonjamon) has pencilled in the end of August for its new Berry Street venture, which will showcase more of their exemplary Spanish tapas. Elsewhere, burger and generally dirty food joint Solita is looking to open a new site in Barton Arcade, so now the Mancunian gentry can get their beards coiffed, fine coffee, and meat fix all in one place. solita.co.uk

There's the Independent Liverpool Festival to look forward to on 22-23 Aug, at an as yet undisclosed location in the Baltic Triangle. They've also been just a little reticent about the lineup of food traders (despite numerous announcements that the info is imminent): there'll be a popup gin garden, craft beer corner and whisky school. Tickets are available through EventBrite. independent-liverpool.co.uk

You've still got time to catch the Ravenous Apparitions exhibition at PLY, Manchester. We're not sure how the concept of the launch event played out (of making your "own animations on slip mats and then recreating these animations on pizzas fresh out of the PLY oven," with the guidance of mixed media artist Andrew Salomone), but Salomone's work will be on display until the 30 Aug. Pizza and art: it's a no-brainer really. plymcr.co.uk

Lastly, because we like to welcome new street fooders on the scene, a shout out to Pao in Liverpool, a new-ish outfit based on the corner of Flint Street and New Bird Street in the Baltic Triangle. Providing Asian dishes from Korean to Japanese, they've already piqued our interest with their professed love of Kimchi. @paofoodpower

So if you can't find something to live among all this, well, you're very jaded indeed.