‘Manifest is a place for people who love food — a subset smaller than those who love taking pictures of food’

David Lloyd visits the Baltic’s hottest new restaurant

Dear members — tucked away in the Baltic, away from the bright lights of Castle Street and Bold Street where swanky venues rule supreme, sits Manifest, a new restaurant and wine bar serving lashings of Wirral radish and tempura courgette. David Lloyd had heard whispers — a place where plates of delicious food were being served minus the hoopla and elaborate backstories that are so often par for the course these days for a new restaurant. Could such a thing exist? We sent him along to find out. 

Please note: our charming benefactors (that is, our paid subscribers) will receive the multi-course menu that is today’s newsletter. Our benefactors are charismatic, attractive individuals, rich in good karma and I for one would not be surprised if they and their offspring prosper. For those who support us ideologically, but not financially, we have been instructed to dish out starters only as a tantalising taster of what you could experience if you reach for your wallet. For the full, Michelin-starred David Lloyd experience, you know what to do…

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Your Post briefing

Labour haved backed the creation of a Hillsborough Law. In his keynote speech at the party’s conference this week, Sir Keir Starmer said the new law, officially titled The Public Authority (Accountability) Bill would be one of the first acts of a future Labour government. It would introduce a “statutory duty of candour on public servants” during criminal investigations, legally obliging them to be forthcoming with information. At an event on Monday entitled “Hillsborough Law Now” several speakers, including Steve Rotheram, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and veteran Hillsborough campaigner Margaret Aspinall described the pain that had been inflicted upon the families of victims due to the refusal of officials to come forward. Aspinall said “the country is in a right mess and I just hope the Labour Party get in and do an awful lot to straighten what's gone wrong” but also thanked Conservative former home secretary Theresa May for the work she’d done to push the bill. 

With “Ab libs and expletives” to amuse the school parties and a Jacobean theatre that “radiates magic”: the first reviews of Shakespeare North’s opening production are in. Dominic Cavendish, theatre critic at The Times, awards four stars for a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream that shows “disdain for purism” and sneaks in a rendition of The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” at its climax. The Playhouse is targeting 140,000 visitors a year, which — despite the beauty of the venue (we noted the remarkable oak-panelled craftsmanship of the “circular ‘cockpit’ theatre in our own piece) might be tough according to Cavenish, given that pop-up Shakespearean theatres outside of London have flopped in the past. Either way, it’s off to a good start.

St Helens is set for a swanky makeover after the council’s planning committee backed a high-spec re-design of the town centre, with sustainable offices, an internationally-branded hotel, landscaped public space and a market hall. The English Cities Fund will now push on with more detailed designs for Phase One of the plans.

The ongoing strikes at the Port of Liverpool are “damaging” the economy according to David Huck, chief operating officer of Peel Ports Group, who own the site. Huck said his company had worked closely with union bosses at Unite — who represent the striking dockers — to deliver a “reasonable” pay offer that had kept ahead of inflation, even through the economic uncertainty of the pandemic. Not surprisingly, Unite’s Steven Gerrard disputed this, putting all fault for damage to the regional economy at the door of the employers. He said Peel had made “no effort to engage in negotiations” and had refused to pay a “cost of living rise” despite being owned by a billionaire.

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Post Picks

🎬 The Active Ingredients of Liverpool, a film by the L8 community about the past, present and future of activism, is showing at FACT on Saturday afternoon. It’s made by the Mandela8 charity, which was set up to produce creative commissions and community engagement to preserve the legacy of the late Nelson Mandela. It’s free.

🎤 24 Kitchen Street is hosting a free gig on Friday night. It boasts a collaboration between local hip-hop artists No Fakin’ and Melé, who are playing upstairs in the green room. More here.

🏝 A small group of local DJs (think: Jack Joynt, Burnsy and JD) will be playing alternative Balearic music — a fusion of ambient, synth pop and house music — at the popular Mediterranean restaurant, Spanish Caravan, in Prescot on Sunday night. Tickets are £3.

📻 If, like us, you think Sunday afternoons are for winding down, tune in to Melodic Distraction Radio on Sunday at 2pm. Local artists Mali Draper and Dan Waine have created a dreamlike, fragmented ambient soundscape based on a walk through Princes Park, which spans 40 minutes. Is it art? Is it music? It’s the best of both worlds. More here.

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‘Manifest is a place for people who love food — a subset smaller than those who love taking pictures of food’

By David Lloyd

I used to love autumn’s long, smoky approach into winter. Decadently deep baths, cranking the fire up, and slow-roasting a brace of pheasants in the Aga all weekend after a good day’s shoot. Oh no, wait. That’s what Liz Truss thinks we do. These days, of course, most of us are looking at our energy bills and wondering if we can huddle around a Yankee Candle and put another jumper on instead.

Makes you wonder what those little books of hygge would recommend if they were still a thing now. Illustrations, perhaps, of people slathering duck fat on their goosebumped bodies, heading up to the attic and rolling themselves up in loft insulation until May. And if they are, it’s gratifying to know that I’m ahead of the curve on that one.

I’m thinking of this as I settle into my snug wool-covered seat at Manifest, in the Baltic. An inviting little space designed by the city’s sharpest restaurant mood-makers, R2 Architecture, it nods to the ‘former industrial warehouse dusted down and reimagined’ aesthetic they do so well. 

Manifest, 4a Watkinson Street, Baltic Triangle. Photo: Mark McNulty.