New Openings

Ate Days A Week

might go for beauty treatment but owner Lisa Henning has shifted her focus since opening the business. As a distributor of pigments to the permanent make-up industry and the manufacturer and distributor of Botched Ink saline tattoo removal solution (a product she developed herself) she is busy enough but that is not to say she has no plans for the unit.The building serves as her office but her immediate plans involve the launch of the Cheshire T Club, who request that you “Join us for Glamour & Tonic”. “I’ve always wanted to hold events that people could come to for a couple of hours, have a bit of fun then go for some dinner and drink afterwards. We’re going to be doing events called “In Conversation With” - we already have a few people lined up - some characters but I want more. They’ll be fun.” Lisa is thinking up other events for the Cheshire T Club such as Partner and Pal massaging events and a handbag auction, “fun things that anyone can get involved with. We’re driving this through the Facebook Group. We’re not going to advertise it here, you’ve got to know about it.” The basement area, designed with Botched Ink training classes in mind, is available for hire and the venue’s alcohol licence might help in that respect. 8 Vernon St, Stockport SK1 1TY www.atedaysaweek.co.uk 0161 637 5050

Ate Days A Week is an exciting new venture which has recently opened on the site of the old chip shop on Warren Street, directly opposite The Glass Spider, also featured on these pages.

For want of a better description, this gourmet sandwich shop is the brainchild of Andy James, former chef at Cane & Grain in the Northern Quarter. The hook is that all the dishes (as well as the shop itself) are punningly named after songs, so we have The Bartender & The Beef, Pie Of The Tiger and Don’t Go Bacon My Heart.

The real unique selling point is not the quirky titling but the quality of the food. The first mentioned is not a mere beef sandwich but “Slow braised ale beef, red wine sautéed onions and Welsh rarebit on rosemary focaccia served with red wine gravy.” Pictured here is I Ham The Walrus which turns out to be “Honey roast pulled ham, piccalilli, fried egg and shoestring fries on rosemary focaccia.” Andy is keen to emphasise that this really is restaurant standard food in takeaway form, although there are plenty of seats in the funkily-designed space should you wish to eat in. The shop is also licensed, offering bespoke gin, courtesy of Stockport Gin, a range of beers and ciders and cocktails such as Strawberry Studios (White rum, strawberry, lime).

The menu is divided into Sandwiches, Proper Meals, Pastry & Sweets and Breakfast/

Beautiful Ink

Beautiful Ink in the marketplace looks like somewhere you

Brunch, which is offered until 2pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Evans Cycles

Evans Cycles brand new Stockport store features the latest products from leading brands like Trek, Specialised, Cannondale, Brompton, Pinnacle, Raleigh, Castelli, GORE, FOX, and Endura. The store also comes complete with a fully equipped workshop and Shimano Service Centre - offering expert mechanical assistance and lightening quick turnarounds with Evans Cycles’ new 24 Hour Servicing Pledge. Customers also have access to Evans Cycles market-leading Ride to Work scheme.

With Christmas just around the corner kid’s bikes are always in demand and the new store will stock the incredible value and lightweight HOY kids bike range. Gifts for adult cyclists come in the form of some of the best tech on the market from brands like Garmin and Wahoo, and customers can take their winter training indoors with smart turbo trainers from Wahoo and Tacx.

Rare Rare Mags are not a new addition to Hillgate but after just under two and half years in their original unit the business has trotted down the road to a much larger, douMags ble-fronted unit at 5, Lower Hillgate. Owners Martin Wilson and Holly Carter were quick to jump when the larger shop became available, a fact which in itself pays testimony to what a success the pair have made of

Glass Spider

to acclaimed vegan restaurant The Allotment and the undeniably weird, Viking-themed Vinebod. Now Joseph Patten has moved in and created The Glass Spider, an operation that is very definitely a pub. Joe has featured in these pages before, as owner of The Cracked Actor on Little Underbank and the naming of The Glass Spider is in the same David Bowie-related vein. Similarly, he has put together his latest venture with the same forensic attention to period detail, the period in this case being roughly a century ago. The Glass Spider is a remarkable time capsule of a pub, the only noticeable differences being a very modern selection of drinks and the lack of cigarette smoke. The most notable features are the two private booths which provide an ideal way to social distance from other drinkers, albeit that this was not the reason for them being there. the business. If you have not visited yet, pop along. Rare Mags - as the name suggests - offer a fascinating range of 5 Lower Hillgate, Stockport SK1 1JQ magazines (as well as fiction and non-fiction books ) from www.raremags.co.uk around the world, ones you won’t find in any other shops 0161 222 3883 around these parts. If you happen to be shopping for someone else, Rare Mags also stock a range of high-quality gifts such as cards, stationary, candles, pens and coffee, as well as six or 12 month subscriptions “We love magazines, and we love recommending new titles to our customers.” they explain, “The subscription service offers a finely curated set of titles for the magazine lover who wants to discover the best periodicals on offer. We also include small extras, goodies and gifts as and when we have things.”

An extra benefit of the larger shop is a basement area which will ultimately play host to a variety of events and exhibi-

In the very recent past, 6 Vernon Street has been home tions, once normalcy is resumed.

New Openings

Old Town General Store

Anew independent lifestyle store has opened in the heart of Stockport Town Centre - the Old Town General Store. The General Store will be open to browse its

Occupying a former hairdressers on Lower Hillgate, the Old Town General Store, opened at the end of October, offering a carefully curated and ever-changing range of men’s and women’s clothing, beauty, and lifestyle products, including some well-known brands and some being stocked in the town for the first time. The range of gifts on offer means this will be an ideal place for Christmas shopping and gift cards in £5 denominations can

The store has been opened by Tony Murray, a resident of Stockport who has previously worked for such retail giants as Flannels, Harvey Nichols and Selfridge’s.

be bought online. collection Wednesday to Friday, 11am to 5pm, Saturdays 10am to 5pm, and Sundays 12pm to 4pm, and has a range of Covid-safe measures in place, including hand sanitiser available for customers.

The Old Town General Store also operates an online shop to showcase its range and is offering free delivery for customers within six miles of the store.

24 Lower Hillgate, Stockport SK11JE www.oldtowngeneralstore.co.uk 0161 523 0229

Cherry Jam

Cherry Jam, Stockport’s new feel good bar has jumped cocktail first into the ever-growing local night time economy.

Cherry Jam is the latest venture by worldly cocktail maker, London bar owner and Britain’s Got Talent featured bar wizard Neil and his business partner Vicky. Neil, a fellow Stopfordian told us that he was incredibly proud to see what is going where his mouth is” and jump into the ever-growing positivity and regeneration of the town he calls home. Cherry Jam is located on Mealhouse Brow which is turning into an incredibly exciting street in town with neighbours such as Plantshop, Good Rebel & All Night Flight Records.

Cherry Jam is all about feeling good, letting your hair down, surrounding yourself with positivity and enjoying company with friends in a space that oozes flare and confidence. The bar will centre itself around a wide range of cocktails that are currently in the workshop and will be announced soon.

There will be craft cans and bottles on sale with the cleverly marketed fridge that states “expensive beers in pretty cans” and draft beer including San Miguel, Carlsberg and Shed Head IPA.

The space itself can seat 20 in socially-distancing on in Stockport and wanted to “put his money

conditions but with the vibrancy of brightly painted street art style walls, feel good lighting, indoor plants and a host of interesting touches such as a full functioning traffic light in the back corner, you won’t be missing any of the buzz.

Prior to the second lockdown the bar served bottomless brunches at the weekend and food from the newly opened Ate Days a Week (see page 12) as well as offering a cocktail delivery service and gin afternoon teas. When some normality returns, the team at Cherry Jam have a variety of ideas up their sleeve, including Party Fridays, Musical Bingo and a greater selection of themed nights.