Atlantica - 01.02.2006, Page 42

It took me a moment to realize that I was being offered a mug of
tea. Mancunians enjoy a good brew, the perfect remedy for everything
from a tiring day to boyfriend troubles. Served the English way – strong
and with milk (and sugar on request) – it warms the cockles from the
damp English winter. I enjoyed one near Chinatown in a small local café
bustling with construction workers. They are a familiar sight since the
building boom, queuing for their morning bacon butty, a popular kind
of sandwich.
Although cheap and cheerful coffee shops, and of course pubs, have
always abounded in Manchester, new culinary growth in the city has
matched that of the buildings. I enjoyed a bit of a gastronomic tour,
taking in some of the trendy new clubs in Castlefield and city center
neighborhoods all open late now, thanks to England’s new late licens-
ing laws. I savor a cocktail at the gold onyx bar Panacea and chat with
Ross Forsyth, the manager of popular eatery the Restaurant Bar & Grill.
“It’s moving at an astounding rate,” Ross told me. “The city is changing
dramatically every day.”
Manchester also has the largest student population in the UK, with
over 84,000 eager learners crowding the many Starbucks and gorging
on take-aways. Rusholme, a neighborhood popular with students and
a few kilometers from the city center, is better known as ‘Curry Mile.’
This stretch of the Oxford Road boasts one curry house after another,
punctuated with the occasional kebab shop for good measure. The
shops’ garish neon signs create an unusual blend of Las Vegas brashness
and red-brick English row houses, and also showcase the multi-cultural
nature of Manchester, a city which has seen waves of immigrants from
all nations since the mid-19th century.
My own culinary tour ended with a trip to El Rincón de Rafa – a
rustic and popular Spanish tapas restaurant tucked away in a wee alley
off Deansgate. The owner, Rafa himself, is a former footballer from
Spain who has made good use of the demand for international cuisine
in the city. We chatted about the friendliness of the local people. “Well
of course we are friendly and warm,” he joked. “We have to be. It’s cold
here.”
THE BELLY AND GUTS
Despite the ambitious plans of the Manchester Board of Tourism (who,
believe it or not, use Barcelona as the city’s inspiration for development),
it is difficult not to compare Manchester to the richer, larger, and more
famous city in the south of England. London’s energy and dynamism
are palpable; a walk around central Manchester on a Thursday evening,
while pleasant enough, didn’t match this, although there were still
clusters of students eating inexpensive Italian or Thai food and harried
Mancunians heading home.
But the atmosphere was more relaxed and friendly. The shopkeepers
wanted to have a little chat, and wouldn’t think about giving back change
MANCHESTERa
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042-47ATL206 Manchester(!).indd 40 21.2.2006 12:13:51