Storyline: 50 years later
Manchester hooked me on gin and Fever Tree tonic. Never thought that in that cold and bone-numbing humid weather I would drink, let alone love G&T.
It started with the lack of what I’d consider good beer for a cold day in a pub we entered to warm up (The Old Wellington). Little did I expect, that it would be as cold inside as outside. Nevertheless, we needed a refreshment. Wine wasn’t on the list. It’s a pub after all.
Beer and a long list of G&T’s it is. I pointed to the dark-reddish gin behind the bar. Just looked warmer than the rest. It came, you guessed it, with the appropriately paired Fever Tree tonic. Loved it! It was Williams aged sloe & mulberry gin. This was on day one. For the rest of our trip in England I didn’t fancy any other drink. Tried all kind of gins that we don’t see here. All paired with Fever Tree tonic or ginger ale. In a small pedestrian street of York, I finally found a bottle of this gin and dragged it around in my carry-on through London, to Athens, Meteora, Thessaloniki, Sofia and all the way back home. Needless to say, it is all gone now ( I reluctantly shared some with friends). As far as Fever Tree tonic and ginger ale, looks like we have most of the flavours here too. It is so popular in the UK, that it was mentioned in a British comedy show that Alex saw on YouTube.
Manchester seem inundated with celebrity chefs’ restaurants. Mainly Italian. They put a brush of colour over the city and peoples’ moods. We liked Gino’s (we’d never heard of him before). There are a few around the city centre.
Food was plentiful to share and the atmosphere was great. Best seafood linguini.
Apparently, at dinner he was dining there too (might have been at the next table, since a bunch of women wanted their picture taken with some sort of celebrity).
We did not much like Jamie Oliver’s Italian (no wonder it is losing money). It was in a grandiose old bank building with a nice atmosphere.
It was expensive (for our budget), servings were small, the food was lukewarm and not that good (at least our sampling). But the staff were knowledgeable, friendly and helpful.
The most interesting part of our visit to this restaurant, however, was when we had finished our meal and headed to the basement.
Not only did we find the washrooms there, equipped with Thomas Crapper’s “Valveless Waste Preventer No 814” (for those who weren’t aware, we get our epithet “crap!” from the inventor of this marvel of waste disposal efficiency).
But there was something even more interesting down here. The rooms containing the former bank’s safety deposit boxes and its vault were also here, and open for viewing. These spaces had been converted to private dining rooms. It was quite fascinating. I guess it was worth sharing a small portion of gnocchi for the experience in the basement.
… and more photos (click on any photo for larger rendering)
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