THE FAT LOAF PROVES ITSELF IN DIDSBURY

Opening a ‘Fat Loaf’ restaurant in Didsbury has always been on the cards for Tim Wood and Paul Taylor.

That’s where they first met in the kitchens of the Felix restaurant on the western edge of the village … and they are now returning to Didsbury Green to extend the success of their ‘Fat Loaf’ group.

It was four years ago that Tim and Paul teamed up to launch their first venture in Sale - a restaurant that quickly earned a national newspaper reputation for affordable gourmet food.

A second operation opened in Altrincham, four miles away, at the start of last year. And now they are preparing a third at the former Didsbury Village Restaurant and Steak and Kebab eatery at 846 Wilmslow Road.

An extensive £300,000 refurbishment of the Grade ll listed building - one of the oldest in Didsbury’s original village centre - will be completed for a November opening.

The 100-cover ‘food and drink’ eatery will be more of a ‘meetery’, according to Tim Wood - “because it’s going to be a place where friends can get together, chill out and enjoy a menu of British classics done in our own style.

“The Fat Loaf principle means calling in for whatever you fancy - whether that’s simply a drink from our bar of world beers and wines, a snack from our starter list, a two or three course meal or just a treat from our desserts.

“Whatever the choice The Fat Loaf approach makes it affordable enough to become a weekday habit, not just a weekend treat.

“Our freshest, best quality, locally sourced ingredients, top quality dishes from Michelin-trained chefs, served in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere - are all part of the ‘Fat Loaf’ brand.

“We’ve been looking to extend it into Didsbury for some time, now, because it’s a vibrant, place with cosmopolitan people and a unique identity as a place to live and spend quality leisure time.

“And to get this particular site made the whole thing perfect. It’s one of the village’s great character buildings which is close to the heart of people who live here. It was used by catering college students and there are stories of it once being a bakery … which makes it an ironic base for a new ‘Fat Loaf’.

“We are even looking into the possibility of producing our own range of breads - which really will take the whole story full circle.”

THE FAT LOAF STORY

Tim and Paul will be going back into the kitchen to launch the new restaurant themselves.

Their unusual ‘chef-turned-restaurateur’ partnership began eight years ago when Tim was head chef and Paul was sous chef at the Felix restaurant. When the Lowry Hotel opened in Manchester they were both handpicked for the ‘dream team’ at Marco Pierre White’s River Restaurant

They were there for 14 months until Paul went off to Jersey to the Michelin-star Longueville Manor and Tim left for Malmaison in Manchester city centre.

When Paul returned in 2003 he and Tim set up their own catering business - which funded the launch of the first Fat Loaf restaurant in Ashton on Mersey, Sale.

From breakfasts they moved into themed gourmet evenings and, within 12 months emerged as an acclaimed restaurant with a catering operation for weddings, dinner parties and functions.

Their belief in ‘good food … good price’ and an approach to world beers that put them on a par with fine wines, attracted praise from national food critics as well as local newspapers.

“We are local lads with an international approach to classic British food,” says Paul, “and we’ve come home to Didsbury … where it all began.”

The Fat Loaf, Didsbury Green: restaurant and bar - 846 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, Manchester M20 2RN; tel: 0161 438 0319; Open seven days a week - 12 noon to 12 midnight.

The Fat Loaf, Altrincham Market: restaurant and bar - 28-32 Greenwood Street, Altrincham WA14 1RZ; tel: 161 929 6700; open Tuesday to Saturday 12 noon to 2.30pm (last orders); dinner from 5.30pm, Sunday lunch from 1pm to 5pm.

The Fat Loaf, Ashton on Mersey village: restaurant -62-64 Green Lane, Ashton on Mersey, Sale M33 5PG; tel: 0161 972 0397; open Tuesday to Saturday 12 noon to 2.15 pm (last orders); dinner from 5.30pm

WALKING THE DOG … WITH SOLID GOLD, SAPPHIRES AND RUBIES

The UK’s most prestigious dog collar and lead are now on sale … made from hand stitched English bridle leather with sapphires and rubies set in 9-carat solid gold buckles.

With collars starting at £2,950 and leads from £3,300 the aristocratic ‘must buys’ for Britain’s designer pets are being matched with a £4,950 handcrafted jeans belt for the owners.

“It’s just pure style,” says Joanna Way. “All the items are sophisticated and classy with the plain, understated ‘wow’ factor of a single jewel glinting from the gold buckle on handcrafted leather.”

Joanna, an experienced pet product retailer, formed the North West-based Gladstone Collar Company to design and produce the exclusive collar, lead and belt, which will sell separately or for £10,000 together.

They are, Joanna admits, “exclusive ‘top-end’ buys” but, she adds: “something like this almost becomes an investment. It will never be mass-produced so the international market will not be saturated.

“As far as we are aware no-one has ever before put precious stones in the tongue of a solid gold buckle or set them into the edge of a solid gold dog tag.

“Not only are these products a testament to the very best of British craftsmanship, matched by innovative design and the highest quality materials, but we hope they will become as much a design classic as they are a work of art.”

Each item - designed and made by North West specialists - is put together in mid-Wales with finished leatherwork coming in from the English border and buckles from expert jewellers on the Wirral.

The durable collar, of finest English bridle leather, is backed with soft hide, stitched by hand, to offer luxury comfort to the dog’s neck. Curved, shaped collars are also available for hound breeds and whippets.

But this time, the usual metalwork, including D-rings, are solid gold. So too are the buckles, dog tags and clips on two widths of lead - discreetly set with a choice of real sapphires, rubies or, if preferred, diamonds.

And the belts - in navy blue, red, dark Havana brown or black - have solid gold buckles and keepers - with matching or toning gemstones set flush in the buckle tongues - a unique signature of Gladstone design.

“Women or men could, for instance, put a deep blue sapphire in the buckle of a navy blue leather belt or go for a ruby stone with a red leather belt,” suggests Joanna. “And then to match with a similar dog collar and lead makes a bespoke all-British combination that we believe is a fashion ‘first’.”

The range was revealed at a national Champagne launch at the Wirral’s exclusive Grade II listed country house Thornton Manor and went on sale to the public for the first time at Burghley Horse Trials at Stamford in Lincolnshire.

Each sale generates a contribution to ‘Help for Heroes’ - a charity that helps injured service personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. (www.helpforheroes.org.uk)

At 275 years old Keoghs and Nicholls, Lindsell and Harris is the country’s 25^th oldest law firm

BORN IN THE DAYS OF DICK TURPIN, GEORGE WASHINGTON … AND CASANOVA

An Altrincham law firm, that began when Dick Turpin was still robbing the rich, has celebrated its 275^th anniversary.

Turpin was 28 years-old and six years away from being hanged for murder when the founder of Keoghs and Nicholls, Lindsell and Harris started a practice that has now become the 25^th oldest in the country.

Celebrations came to a head on Monday, 29^th September (2008) in the Market Street area of town with which Keoghs and Nicholls, Lindsell and Harris has been associated with since timber-framed homes had wattle and daub walls.

“Our story is woven into the history of Altrincham,” says senior partner Michael Sandler. “An anniversary like this is a relatively rare event for any business, particularly in the legal profession, and we’re very proud of our history.

“Four of our partners have been mayors of Altrincham and there have been few businesses, clubs and charitable organisations untouched by our service to the community.”

The branded anniversary includes the publication of a commemorative brochure and a series of celebrations in the former Altrincham Town Hall building.

The firm’s very beginning - on 29th September 1733 - derives from an indenture signed by Isaac Worthington and whose practice eventually grew into Keoghs and Nicholls, Lindsell and Harris. It was his eldest son who negotiated for the Earl and Countess of Stamford when the Bridgewater Canal was about to slice its way through estate land.

The practice’s long association as clerks to local justices goes back to the early days of the town’s 18^th century Magistrates Court. It grew through the arrival of the penny post service and oil-fired street lighting - until a series of mergers created the present firm.

Michael Sandler had trained with Nicholls, Lindsell and Harris before being invited to join nearby Keoghs where he was instrumental in the 1990 merger. There are now two offices - in Market Street, Altrincham and at Commercial Road, Hazel Grove where it still operates under the original name of Gregorys Solicitors.

* * * * * * *

So what else was happening in 1733 when young Isaac Worthington decided to be a lawyer?

• It was a time when courtroom punishment could be measured in lashes of a whip or hours in the stocks.

• Criminals could be executed on a public gallows and their bodies hung in chains for public view.

• It was the year that John Kay patented the ‘flying shuttle’ and kick-started the Industrial Revolution. Thirteen year-old James Hargreaves was destined to take things further by inventing the ‘spinning jenny’ … but, at hardly 12 months old, Richard Arkwright had a long way to go before inventing the cotton spinning frame.

• Robert Walpole was England’s first ever Prime Minister.

• Mathematician and physicist Sir Isaac Newton had been dead for little more than six years.

• Young Joseph Fry, aged five, had yet to create the first solid chocolate bar … and eight years-old Arthur Guinness was less than 20 years away from setting up his Irish brewery.

• Abroad … the Italian adventurer and self-professed world’s greatest lover, Casanova de Seingalt, was eight years old too.

• And, at less than one year-old, George Washington had a way to go before becoming the first President of the United States.

ASIAN BRIDES CHOOSE STATELY HOMES 

The stately homes of England are becoming venues of choice for a new generation of Asian brides. 

Because they are among the few preferred venues that offer enough space for Asian celebrations - which are typically up to five times the size of an average UK wedding. 

So the market interest is growing higher than ever - says leading wedding planner and event specialist Raj Somaiya. 

Raj runs Manchester-based Payal Prestige specialising in large-scale fairytale marquee weddings.  In the last four months he has organised receptions at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, Cliveden in Berkshire, Harewood House in Yorkshire and Knowsley Hall on Merseyside. 

“Asian couples don’t just invite family and friends - they invite whole communities,” says Raj, “so a wedding becomes a get-together of almost everyone they have ever known. 

“But we just can’t find enough large venues. That’s why the Asian market is moving towards country estates which have the right amount of space as well as car parks that sometimes need to take over 120 vehicles.” 

The trend is welcomed by Britain’s Historic Houses Association. “We are delighted whenever we can help bridal couples and their families to find the right venue for their wedding,” said President, James Hervey-Bathurst.  

“It is particularly welcome that more and more Asian families see historic houses as the right place for a wedding, because of their romance, tradition, hospitality and spirit of continuity.  That is the way their owners see them too.” 

Places like Capesthorne Hall - set in 100 acres of picturesque Cheshire parkland near Macclesfield and owned by the county’s Lord Lieutenant William Bromley-Davenport whose family has governed it since Domesday times. 

“Couples are growing bored with the same old hotel circuit,” says Nicholas Bromley-Davenport. ”They are discovering more romantic and photogenic places that offer alternative benefits of country space and exclusive privacy.”

*  Payal Catering and Payal Prestige are Manchester-based family-run national businesses offering full bespoke wedding, family and corporate event production - from planning, management and venue finding to décor, theming and catering - serving Indian, Chinese, exotic Indo-Chinese fusion and modern European classics. Tel - 0161 902 0010;  Web - www.payal.co.uk

 A guilty secret from Natalie Xiao Bell’s childhood in China created a passion that has now launched a new UK business.

THE SCHOOLGIRL WHO HID AWAY HER FORBIDDEN SILK

To a young schoolgirl, growing up through China’s Cultural Revolution, it was difficult to understand why a silk-filled duvet and a Shanghai silk jacket had to be kept so secret.

For, to Mao Tse-Tung’s brand of communism, they represented bourgeois capitalism… and big trouble.

But Natalie Xiao Bell’s love for a forbidden material has now turned her into a unique entrepreneur - a UK-based Chinese businesswoman importing high quality silk-filled duvets and bedding from the traditional silk-producing area of south east China.

“To me, silk will always be something to treasure,” she says. “I’ve been involved with it since I was a little girl when I cultivated silk cocoons as a hobby. I was always fascinated by what colour of silk each worm would weave. As I got older my interest got stronger but, as a child, I always associated silk with wealth and power.

“Later, when my father worked away I used to snuggle up with my mother under the wonderful silk filled duvet he bought for her. It means the world to her. In our damp, thatched house it kept us warm through cold winters and cool in the extreme summer heat. But the duvet had to be hidden away and kept secret because silk was considered bourgeois.

“And if I went out in the beautiful multi-coloured floral silk jacket with hand-knotted buttons that my father bought for me, I had to wear a plain jacket over the top. If anyone found out, I would be in deep trouble because everybody wore very plain clothes then. Sometimes I felt so guilty about it that I criticised myself at school for my ‘bourgeois’ thoughts.”

They were the only ‘luxury’ items the family possessed and became their secret as Mao’s turbulent social revolution swept through early 70s China. As the country’s vast population was “re-graded” in a bid to create the same social level, Natalie’s ‘middle class’ parents were classified as social outcasts. “Nobody wanted to be friends with us,” she says.

“In order to look poor, I was sent to school in plain, ragged clothes with patches on the trousers …  but I took all that off as soon as I got home.”

Natalie’s passion for her ‘illicit’ silk never left her. And it gained new significance later … in Cheshire where she settled more than 10 years ago with her husband, David, who she met in Beijing.

Here, she began the search for a luxury product for her own import business. “As my understanding of British culture grew,” she says, “I saw the value that people place on high quality things for their home rather than the mass produced items generally associated with China.”

The memories of her mother’s duvet returned. “I knew then what I wanted to do”. Within weeks she had scoured the silk factories of Zhejiang Province and found a supplier for ‘Snow Blossom’ - the silk bedding business she now runs in Sale, Cheshire.

“Silk is so comfortable, light and warm next to my skin. It’s a natural organic fibre and no-one is allergic to it. No wonder China is said to have provided silk for Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, over 2,000 years ago,” she says.

“It’s the perfect duvet filling because feathers can be a problem for asthmatics and with hollow fibre or synthetics it’s difficult to get the right level of warmth and weight at the height of summer or the depth of winter. Under silk my family sleeps so restfully, all year round, and wakes so refreshed.

“Silk is a major icon of Chinese heritage. To bring it into British homes may be my business now but, to me, it will always mean warm memories of my childhood … even through those difficult times.”

‘Snow Blossom’ duvets - filled by hand with pure mulberry silk fibre - are sold, along with mattress toppers, silk covers, pillow cases, and sheets, on Natalie’s website - http://www.snowblossom.co.uk/ - at shows and by word of mouth.

• ‘Snow Blossom’ is at PO Box 359 Sale, Cheshire M33 5XT. tel: 0161 905 2666

OLD KIDS ON THE BLOCK

A unique new PR and marketing partnership is helping businesses to communicate with the most powerful consumer sector in the UK … the almost forgotten over-50s.

And the five specialists, from Stockport, Sale, Frodsham and Upholland, who have teamed up to launch the North West-based Generation consultancy are confident of leading their field … because they are all over 50 themselves.

“We are the old kids on the block,” says Managing Partner, David Wiggins. “We understand the market from both professional and personal angles because we are seasoned professionals who know what makes the over-50s tick.

“So we concentrate on communicating sales messages to a mature market with which younger people in our very youthful industry don’t always feel comfortable.”

Generation is promoting client products and services exclusively to an often underestimated sector that makes up 34 per cent of the UK population, rising to 37 per cent in the next seven years - that’s 22 million people aged over 50. They already account for more than three quarters of the country’s wealth, two thirds of its savings and nearly half of its disposable income.

“They have the most money and their spending power makes them the UK’s fastest-growing consumer group,” says David. “Yet few businesses understand the most effective ways of promoting their products and services to them.

“Generation can offer over 150 years of collective expertise in communication, PR, marketing and business strategy to help clients win a bigger share of this valuable ‘baby boomer’ market.

“And, thanks to the Government’s age discrimination legislation, a significant number in this sector plan to carry on working well past the traditional 65 mark - so they can only grow wealthier as well as older.”

David Wiggins was a newspaper, radio and television journalist for over 20 years before moving into corporate communications with senior posts in the transport and health sectors.

With him, in the Generation team are:

• Marketing and customer service consultant Ric Cowan who spent over 25 years in marketing and 15 years as a director in retail, manufacturing, leisure and gaming, before moving into consultancy.

• Brian Johnson, award-winning managing director of Manchester-based Powell Communications whose PR and media career also includes heading a northern operation for Saatchi and Saatchi.

• Graham King, a former journalist, police press officer during the Yorkshire Ripper murder enquiry and Granada TV publicist for programmes including World in Action and Coronation Street.

• Brian Roberts who has over 25 years of Board level sales, marketing and business development experience ranging from transport and financial services to hotel and leisure sectors.

All five partners will continue their own individual businesses as well as teaming up, in different combinations, for Generation projects.

For further information contact

• David Wiggins      0161 718 5477 / 07899 995918 
• Brian Johnson      07770 841740
• Graham King        0161 976 2729 / 07850 280213             
• Ric Cowan            0161 440 9798 / 07769 671864           
• Brian Roberts       01928 724414 / 07887 678160