Northwest Food News - November 2014

November brings with it a warning that traversing the city centre is going to get difficult very soon – plus new beers, beer shops, a coffee festival and a whisky festival to keep you entertained

Feature by Jamie Faulkner | 03 Nov 2014

We’re so close to the-holiday-that-shall-not-be-named; November is pretty much your last chance to go out and indulge before the influx of out-of-towners and office parties turns city centres into large-scale social experiments emulating Withnail & I.

Oh, wait, scrap that! The Christmas markets start this month. They hit the Northwest in all their wooden-shacked glory from mid-to-late November (the capitalist’s first day of Christmas?) and make navigating the streets even more irksome. If we come across as misanthropic it’s because we don’t really encourage you to eat average hot dogs and paella – best to seek out the offerings at Cup North (1 & 2 Nov), a first-time coffee festival that ushers in the month at Greengate Square, Salford. As well as talks from the likes of Tamper Tantrum – the TED talks of the coffee world – and cuppings (that's 'tastings' to you and me), there will be local traders from the ever-popular Mumma Schnitzel and Barnhouse Bistro to newcomers FilFil (falafel) and Comida (croquetas and montaditos). cupnorth.co.uk @CupNorth

There are some interesting things afoot at Trove cafe in Levenshulme, too, which has played host to several of the Season's Eatings supperclubs in the past and has now announced that, starting in November, every Friday night the kitchen will be manned by local foodies. Did we say it's BYOB too? Keep an eye on @trovefoods for details. In Liverpool, the Secret Diners Club returns on 29 Nov to explode preconceptions about fine dining with a surprising five-course menu devised by chefs Michael Harrison and Daniel Heffy. Tickets £50 at Eventbrite / @SDC_LPOOL.

A week earlier, The Whisky Sessions (21 & 22 Nov) intends to combine music and whisky in a novel way at Victoria Warehouse. So, no drinking a bottle of Bell’s to yourself and having a cry to Radiohead then. Instead you get British Sea Power, Tim Burgess, I Am Kloot, The Travelling Band and a whole load of whisk(e)y and whisk(e)y-based cocktails. Maybe they’ll even have David Beckham’s Haig Club Whisky (yeah, what is that all about anyway?). thewhiskysessions.com @WhiskySessions

We also reckon, dear reader, that you’ll be consuming enough beer in the coming months to keep a hipster microbrewery afloat, so you might as well do it right. We haven’t ventured Oxton-way before but a new bottle shop, Home Brew (@HomeBrewEst2013), has opened there for those of you living in Merseyside, and it looks mighty good. Expect local brews from the likes of Mad Hatter and Liverpool Craft Beer Co. and stuff from further afield including Hackney-based Pressure Drop and Purple Moose in Wales.

Salford-based First Chop Brewing Arm have also released three new beers: the cold-brewed coffee IPA made with Ethiopian Dumerso coffee and the Figs & Syrup (yes, it’s brewed with figs) sound like the kind of libations that could get us through winter. They were debuted at last month's Indy Man Beer Con and will be available in places that sell beer.