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Hello
Is Manc food really ‘manky’? Well it is according to the wife of Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan. Sara Arfaoui told her 512k Instagram followers she has struggled to find a ‘good restaurant’ in the city and that all the food is ‘frozen’.
Crikey. Has she been eating at my house without me realising?
As you’d expect, some of the city’s best chefs have a few thoughts about her comments, as does What’s On editor Jenna Campbell, who I’ll be speaking to later in the newsletter.
But first up...trains.
I wouldn't choo choo choose you, Avanti
Has Greater Manchester become an island? Anyone who has tried to get in or out via train in recent weeks certainly may have felt marooned.
Since Avanti West Coast reduced its timetable and left passengers with the option of just one train to the capital an hour, things have got heated.
Andy Burnham has made a number of demands of the company and the government in a bid to see rail services improved for Greater Mancunians - who he claims have been ‘disrespected’.
Now the mayor says the new Transport Secretary must demand increased services between Manchester and London or remove its operating contract. He’s written to Anne-Marie Trevelyan explaining that the current situation is having a 'profoundly negative impact on the regional and national economy' - and is frustrating 'thousands of passengers and businesses every day', as Paul Britton reports.
“We’re losing visitors to our city,” Mr Burnham told assembled press in Salford this morning. “Every day that they allow this company to run this reduced timetable is a day when they’re allowing the Greater Manchester economy to be damaged and we can’t continue in that way.
“As a minimum we need two trains per hour by the end of this month and three by December and if the company can’t provide that this contract must be stripped.”
This has been a long-fought battle of the mayor ever since Avanti reduced Manchester to London trains at the beginning of August - blaming strike action. With Manchester Pride and Notting Hill Carnival just around the corner, he joined forces with London mayor Sadiq Khan and Manchester Council leader Bev Craig in asking former Transport Secretary Grant Shapps for an urgent meeting to restore the timetable.
In the weeks that followed travelling customers complained of struggles to catch trains and even buy tickets for the remaining services. Meanwhile Mr Burnham called for Avanti to be stripped of the contract and was supported in that view by a number of the region’s MPs. The government said increasing train services between the two cities is an' absolute priority'.
When the Queen died, the operator introduced 'relief trains' - four additional charter trains between the cities each day - to ease pressures.
But even Gary Neville - the unexpected darling of this year’s Labour Party conference - noticed the problems. Riding high on his new political capital, he branded Avanti West Coast a 'disgrace' and called for the government to 'nationalise our railways now'.
Avanti West Coast has always maintained that strike action and staff shortages are to blame and has apologised for the ‘enormous frustration and inconvenience’. Its contract expires on October 16. The Department for Transport says it will 'consider all options'.
Video Producer Carly Holds has made a video showing the timeline of the row, which you can view here.
Manky or swanky?
“City WAG: Manc food is manky” screamed the front page of today’s Sun newspaper.
It was referring to Sara Arfaoui’s comments about Manchester’s restaurants. She claims they focus on ‘making money with drinks and shot like night clubs not quality food'.
The Italian, who is the wife of City ace Ilkay Gundogan, branded the city’s restaurants ‘horrible’ during an Instagram Q&A claiming she couldn’t find a ‘real Italian or good sushi or just fresh food’.
Now it doesn’t take much for us Mancs to get chippy, but we currently have a whole plate of fish and chips on our shoulders after these comments.
Gary Usher was first in line with his thoughts.
“We have two restaurants in Manchester & I’m genuinely delighted that footballers & their wives don’t come because I’d be questioning our offer if they did,” the Kala and Hispi owner wrote in an angry tweet.
“Good taste & class is hardly synonymous with footballers wives & their leopard print themed cinema rooms.”
Fair enough to fight back, Gary, but go easy on the leopard print. If it was good enough for Bet Lynch it’s good enough for me.
Thom Hetherington was a bit more measured, saying Sara’s comments were likely a ‘flippant answer’ but added that local restaurants need support ‘now more than ever’. “I’d find it genuinely sad if people like Sara, who has lived and travelled all over the world, came to my home city, lived here for many years, had an awful time, at least gastronomically, and left feeling the city had a terrible food scene,” the Northern Restaurant and Bar CEO said.
Even food critic Jay Rayner chimed in telling the national title the comments were ‘ludicrous’ as Manchester is ‘an absolute gem of a place to eat and comments like this during difficult economic times are not helpful to businesses struggling to make ends meet’.
So what does our resident expert here at the Manchester Evening News think? What’s On editor Jenna Campbell says the hospitality industry is ‘on its knees’ thanks to rising food costs and skyrocketing energy prices after the pandemic, but continues to provide the ‘best possible' service, food and experiences.
“Manchester has some of the best restaurants in the country, ones that can easily hold their own against London or elsewhere. If today's news moves you, why not pay one of your favourite neighbourhood spots, underground bistros or hidden Manchester gems a visit - the ones a certain naysayer couldn't be bothered to find,” she says.
Jenna's five picks that will change Sara Arfaoui’s mind
- Ornella's This pocket-sized Italian deli in Denton serves perfectly formed lobster ravioli, butter-drenched crispy sage and hazelnut spinach ricotta, and glistening guanciale.
- The Spärrows Once described as a ‘temple to Tyrolean food’, this hidden gem, tucked away in the city's Green Quarter quite simply does some of the best hand-made European dumplings and spätzle around.
- Yuzu Amongst the buzz of Manchester's Chinatown lies Yuzu, a great value restaurant specialising in Japanese tapas-style bites. Cooked from scratch, this understated spot is a stickler for authentic Japanese cuisine, packed full of flavour and heritage spanning centuries.
- Erst This stylish wine bar and restaurant is one of the city's brightest lights. The Ancoats eatery's open-flame grill is at the heart of the operation and is responsible for some of the best dishes in Manchester - think pork collar and rib eye on the bone with anchovy and bone marrow butter.
- Kala Part of Gary Usher's North West restaurant portfolio, this smart-looking spot on King Street is the perfect place for a Sunday knees up, whether it’s roasts, smoked haddock or perfectly cooked truffle and parmesan chips.
Lights out
Households may face a blackout this winter if power plants cannot get enough gas to keep running, the National Grid has warned.
The National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) said it is 'unlikely' but warned households and businesses might face planned three-hour outages to ensure that the grid does not collapse. Planned blackouts last hit the UK during the 1970s in response to the miners strikes and the oil crisis.
Mudslinging
Liberal Democrats and Green Party councillors formed a loose pact and put forward two motions, which were both passed, during Wednesday's full meeting of Manchester Council.
Ethan Davies took over reporting duties at the Town Hall for the day and was there to witness the (lengthy) proceedings. "Opposition motions are like buses at Manchester City Council. You wait eight years for one, and two come along at once," he writes in this entertaining piece.
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Weather etc
- Friday: Light rain. 14C.
- Road closures: A57 Snake Pass in both directions for roadworks between Ladybower Reservoir and Hurst Road until October 23.
- Trivia question: In 2019, which Manchester restaurant earned the city it's first Michelin star in more than 40 years?
Manchester headlines
Pride: The Manchester Pride Charity raised £120,000 from the Pride Festival in August - the money will be spent by the Pride Community Fund to support hundreds of LGBTQ+ people across the city and wider region.
Whisper it: Peter Kay has been playing a string of 'top secret' stand up comedy shows at The Lowry. It has fuelled speculation a major tour announcement may be on the cards. Revellers heading to the top secret shows this week were made to hand in their mobile phones. One fan said they had to 'whisper' what the show was when collecting their tickets at the theatre.
Cruel trolls: A survivor of the Manchester Arena terror attack who takes a teddy named after her late friend to music concerts has been bombarded with cruel taunts from online trolls who tell her she 'complains more than war veterans'. Lyric Holmes was just 14 when she attended the Ariana Grande concert an the arena in 2017. Her friend Eilidh MacLeod was one of the 22 people killed in the bombing. Lyric started sharing her experiences from five years ago on TikTok earlier this year in a bid to provoke conversations about grief. But she says she's been subjected to abusive comments, telling her to 'get over it' and making jokes about the tragedy. More here.
Worth a read
On the walls of The Rembrandt - one of the oldest pubs in Manchester’s Gay Village, hangs a black and white photo. “That’s the bring-and-buy sale they had, in 1987,” owner Allan Whyte tells reporter Ethan Davies.
The image shows people milling about by trestle tables. It was a fundraiser for victims of the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s and marks the beginning of what became Manchester Pride.
“That would have been when Anderton was the Chief Constable who said we were swirling around in a cesspit of our own making. At the time, The Rembrandt would have been at the centre of all that, “Allan says.
Ethan has been speaking to the couple who run the bar about how it became an iconic fixture of the Village.
That's all for today
Thanks for joining me.If you have stories you would like us to look into, email beth.abbit@menmedia.co.uk.
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The answer to today's trivia question is: Mana
