Northwest Food News - July 2014

We’re not on a mission to get you bladdered, promise. But, er, July brings with it a trio of wine experts with a puntastic name – plus new openings in the form of Maray, Salvi’s Cucina and The Nag’s Head, and a foodie festival in a big park

Feature by Jamie Faulkner | 01 Jul 2014

To dovetail with the vinicultural theme of this month’s section, we’ll start things off with a wine-tasting event. The Three Wine Men (Tim Atkin, Olly Smith, and Oz Clarke, all wine gurus off the telly) will be making a pilgrimage, like some sort of soused Biblical Magi, to Manchester, bearing neither aromatic resin nor precious metals, but wine and wine knowledge. The mission: to create an informal yet educative look at wine for everyone from oenologists to first-timers. There will be masterclasses, food, and even (sacrilege!) beer. Manchester Town Hall, 4-5 Jul, Tickets £25 (£5 extra for masterclasses)

Elsewhere, in more bucolic settings, it’s the return of Foodies Festival at Tatton Park. In a typically bulging three-day itinerary, this is what we’d aim to do: watch a demo by Aumbry’s Mary-Ellen McTague, chat or listen to Let Me Tell You About Beer author Melissa Cole, see what the BBQ Arena and Street Food Avenue have to say for themselves, then have some of Knutsford-based Pudology’s dairy- and gluten-free sweet treats. Tatton Park, Cheshire, 18-20 Jul, Tickets £10-38

There has also been a slew of recent-ish openings. As soon as the mercury rises, places seem to pop up all over. Standouts: Salvi’s, the Manchester-based Italian deli, have opened their Cucina (@SalvisMcr) on John Dalton Street, serving even more rustic-looking, authentic dishes. Liverpool have Maray (@MarayLiverpool) on Bold Street, which has taken people’s love of little falafel cafes and added a decent cocktail menu and a hipper locale. Up in Cheshire, Nigel Haworth, of Michelin-starred Northcote Manor fame, has added to his upmarket pub portfolio by taking over The Nag’s Head (@nagsathaughton) and introducing a suitably British, artisan-ingredient-led menu, which will be overseen by Michael Eminson, who’s been part of Haworth’s trusted team for a while now.