Kelly Bishop on Muck Rack

Kelly Bishop

Verified
(She/Her)
Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester
Covers:  Food, drink (especially wine), travel, music, film, arts, society, culture, philosophy, language, feminism, cats, people.
Doesn't Cover: Celebrities, diet culture, money, tech, business.
Writer | Manchester | @vice @timeout etc Music @thmptypg Owner: Manchester Wine Tours Tutor: @manchesterwine Member: @assocwineed + @guildfoodwriter

Kelly Bishop’s Journalist Portfolio

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Skof Manchester is open - and I tried it

Skof Manchester is open - and I tried it

Substack — I went to the press launch of Manchester's most anticipated restaurant, Skof by Tom Barnes.

The very best restaurants in Manchester

The very best restaurants in Manchester

Time Out — From Indian to Italian and Chinese to Thai, here are the absolute best restaurants in Manchester to book right now.

First look: Higher Ground, a new restaurant from the team behind Ancoats success story Flawd

First look: Higher Ground, a new restaurant from the team behind Ancoats success story Flawd

Manchester's Finest — The first time I encountered Joe Otway's cooking, he presented me with a pig's blood taco filled with crab and fermented hot sauce. This was back in 2019 when he was Head Chef at Where The Light Gets In and he immediately became one of my chefs to watch in Manchester.

Can Science Help You Talk to Your Cat? I Tried It

Can Science Help You Talk to Your Cat? I Tried It

VICE — My neighbour sometimes DMs me on a Saturday morning to check if I'm ok. My cats know that, in true Gerard Way style, I'm not. But my cats also know that it's "Soft Food Saturday" because we have a song about that - and a deep understanding between us.

Nine places to eat 'Asian' food in Manchester that aren't Gordon Ramsay's Lucky Cat

Nine places to eat 'Asian' food in Manchester that aren't Gordon Ramsay's Lucky Cat

Substack — The press release for Manchester's newest restaurant, Lucky Cat, heralded owner Gordon Ramsay's "genius" saying: "This grand opening cements Manchester's position as a frontrunner on the global food and drink stage". Here is my list of nine places I would rather eat 'Asian food' in Manchester.

The Forgotten Women Who Built a 90s Rave Scene

The Forgotten Women Who Built a 90s Rave Scene

VICE — Audrey Golden's "I Thought I Heard You Speak" is a new telling of Factory Records and the Haçienda's history - one that puts women at the front.

'It sure fits the post-apocalypse pandemic mood' - District, Oldham Street, reviewed

'It sure fits the post-apocalypse pandemic mood' - District, Oldham Street, reviewed

Manchester Confidential — I've spent a lot of time on what is affectionately known as the arse end of Oldham Street. It's a well-trodden stomping ground for sweaty gigs in back rooms and basements, the squeal of tattoo guns piercing the air thick with bus fumes and skunk.

Three Michelin starred L'Enclume's chef Tom Barnes is opening a restaurant in Manchester

Three Michelin starred L'Enclume's chef Tom Barnes is opening a restaurant in Manchester

Manchester's Finest — Skof will have Michelin-level food but absolutely no tablecloths.

'A cast of alpine stars' - The Spärrows, Red Bank, reviewed

'A cast of alpine stars' - The Spärrows, Red Bank, reviewed

Manchester Confidential — Kelly Bishop finds shelter and sustenance at this Red Bank bolthole The best restaurants feel like a haven. An escape from the whirling chaos of work and home stresses. A respite from the noise and stench of the city. A refuge. It's a blustery October evening when we visit The Spärrows in its relatively new home at Red Bank.

From Manchester to: Palermo Sicily to learn about Sicilian wine

From Manchester to: Palermo Sicily to learn about Sicilian wine

Manchester's Finest — Merlot and Chardonnay, who? Lately, I've been browsing the shelves of Manchester wine shops for Sicilian wine made from Frappato or Catarratto or Grillo. Blame it on a press trip to Palermo Sicily that I was invited along to last November.

Is AI Music a Genuine Threat To Real Artists?

Is AI Music a Genuine Threat To Real Artists?

VICE — Collage: Cathryn Virginia | Photos: via Getty Images Yes, no, it's already here, it's complicated. The way we create music is changing. Since enforced isolation in the pandemic, people's appetite for remote collaboration has accelerated; artists are making entire albums with producers in different continents, and TikTok has made collabs second nature, from Billie Eilish jumping on a duet with an English singing tutor to drummers laying down beats over literal birdsong.

Vino Buono - the Heaton Chapel Italian deli and wine shop that's almost a restaurant too

Vino Buono - the Heaton Chapel Italian deli and wine shop that's almost a restaurant too

Manchester's Finest — "It's not a restaurant," says Davide Puglielli, owner of Italian deli and wine shop Vino Buono, "Though people seem to think it is." With its mismatched wooden furniture, pretty crockery, and cabinets displaying shiny wine glasses of all shapes and sizes, the place looks like the tiny Italian bistro of our dreams - so we can understand the confusion.

'A sanctum for rich witches' - HOME, Brewery Wharf, reviewed

'A sanctum for rich witches' - HOME, Brewery Wharf, reviewed

Confidentials — It's not a Michelin Star restaurant unless someone brings you a plate of pebbles. Well, this is not a Michelin star restaurant and, er, those are not pebbles. At least not all of them are.

The best wine shops in Manchester

The best wine shops in Manchester

manchestersfinest.com — Independent wine shops have had something of a renaissance over the past few years and Greater Manchester has a barrel load of brilliant ones. Way more fun than the supermarkets, the best wine shops in Manchester have loads of interesting wines you can't get elsewhere and a team of friendly expert staff on hand to gently guide you through the options and find the right bottle.

Meal kit review - The Man Behind The Curtain

Meal kit review - The Man Behind The Curtain

Manchester Confidential — Michael O'Hare divides opinion. His Leeds restaurant, The Man Behind The Curtain, has collected some of the most prestigious awards in the restaurant world, not least a Michelin star and three AA rosettes.

Cafe Sanjuan, Stockport's amazing secret Colombian cafe

Cafe Sanjuan, Stockport's amazing secret Colombian cafe

Manchester Confidential — I've eaten a lot of things in my time but this is the first time I've tried eggs named after "a little bag of cocaine". Depending on the area of Colombia you're in, "Perico" means just that. Luis Felipe Sanjuan tells us the secrets to his incredible food in Stockport.

John Cooper Clarke: 'If anything rejigged my career, it's the Arctic Monkeys'

John Cooper Clarke: 'If anything rejigged my career, it's the Arctic Monkeys'

Liverpool Confidential — When I phone John Cooper Clarke at his home in Colchester, he's been listening to Radio 4's obituary show, The Last Word. "I listen to it on a Friday to see if I'm on it." Immediately we're giggling like old pals. I'm relieved.

'Lidl Italy' - Vincenzo Trattoria, St Ann Street, reviewed

'Lidl Italy' - Vincenzo Trattoria, St Ann Street, reviewed

Manchester Confidential — Nostalgia is so hot right now. The sixties were not only a utopia of love, music and drugs but also a refreshingly low level of CO2. We've all seen that graph.

A spa retreat with Michelin Star dinner at Gilpin Lake House

A spa retreat with Michelin Star dinner at Gilpin Lake House

Manchester Confidential — The Jetty Spa Trail at Gilpin Lake House and is a rainy day dream. I'm sitting in the cold autumn rain feeling its gentle tap tap tap on my bare skin. I'm wearing nothing but a swimsuit but I feel more relaxed and at peace than I have in a long time.

'The Jason Donovan of dreamy dinners' - Flawd, New Islington, reviewed

'The Jason Donovan of dreamy dinners' - Flawd, New Islington, reviewed

Manchester Confidential — There are pretentious wine t**ts everywhere, from Burgundy bores to those printing neon leaflets and going on about "juice". Super low intervention and orange wine, of course, way pre-date the Godzilla-like supermarket-driven affordable wine machine we have now. Kelly Bishop finds a new heartthrob on a marina in Ancoats.

Simon Rogan: 'Manchester is a real proposition at the moment'

Simon Rogan: 'Manchester is a real proposition at the moment'

Confidentials — Ox in coal oil, potatoes in onion ash, birch sap, hen of the woods, lovage, ramsons - if you're a frequenter of fancy-pants restaurants, these may be a familiar fixture of your dinner plate. There’s a good chance that Simon Rogan inspired or even trained the chef responsible. We speak to the top chef as he prepares to celebrate 20 years of L'Enclume.

Michelin's green stars of the North on sustainable dining

Michelin's green stars of the North on sustainable dining

Manchester Confidential — I'm talking to TV-famous, Michelin-stared chef about fields full of farting coeliacs. Just another day in the office? Maybe. But there is a good reason for it.

Heart and Parcel - stories of community, friendship, surviving and breaking down barriers

Heart and Parcel - stories of community, friendship, surviving and breaking down barriers

Manchester Confidential — I am addicted to cookbooks. A few years ago, it got a bit out of hand and I was forced to admit that I had a problem. I cut down, but it wasn't enough.

'Another level of debauchery entirely' - Maray, Royal Albert Docks reviewed

'Another level of debauchery entirely' - Maray, Royal Albert Docks reviewed

Liverpool Confidential — The joys of halloumi are well known, it’s squeaked its way onto almost every menu in the land. I’ve eaten it soused in grassy olive oil and fresh red chilli, battered in lieu of fish with mushy peas and chips, in a curry, on a pizza, drizzled with tangy chimichurri, even in a box at a festival, masquerading as ‘fries’. I thought I had seen it all. But to pair that salty seductress with tamarind caramel sauce and peanuts is another level of debauchery entirely.
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