The team behind Blanchflower have announced they are moving into The Creameries site. The Chorlton favourite sadly closed in 2022 after pivoting to its warmly received Campagna project. The new bakery and canteen from the popular group will be called Little Blanchflower and will provide a relaxed cafe setting with restaurant-style food including fresh pasta and Roman style pizza.
Everything possible will be made in-house by the Little Blanchflower Chorlton team in this “thoroughly modern café”. Locals will be able to stop by in the morning and grab something from the bar “piled high with freshly baked Viennoiserie” or stick around a bit longer for a laid back breakfast – something Blanchflower has become renowned for doing very well indeed. Lunch will provide freshly made pasta dishes including house rolled and filled tortellini, agnolotti and ravioli. There will also be salads, fresh focaccia sandwiches and Roman style tray pizzas.
Head baker and co-owner, Claire Howells says, “We feel that our 10 years of sourdough bakery experience means we can create something genuinely different and excellent. There is a whole world of pizza that is hardly touched in the UK and so many combinations of flour and starters that can elevate the dough to another level. Using more whole grain flour, long fermentations and longer cooking times provides more flavour and texture and is also much easier on the digestion.”
Executive Chef, Jayne Brady adds, “Our kitchens have always been about combining the skills of our team of chefs with those of the bakery. I am excited about the filled fresh pasta like tortellini, agnolotti and ravioli that will be central to the menu there. We love to elevate the everyday and there’s real beauty in doing simple dishes really well, and that’s what we’ll be doing in Chorlton.”
Little Blanchflower Chorlton will be a welcome addition to Wilbraham Road’s dining scene, offering a modern cafe concept in a well loved spot just a few minutes from the Metrolink. Blanchflower has already been a huge success in Altrincham since opening adjacent to the market back in 2017. Its sibling in the newest foodie hotspot of Sale followed in 2022 and the Chorlton addition will make for a nice hat trick of bougie suburbs for the brand.
Phil Howells of Blanchflower and now Little Blanchflower Chorlton says, “I think the rise of daytime dining has been a quiet revolution in Britain. Cafes like ours didn’t exist in 2010. It’s funny because when people are flattering us, they say we do ‘restaurant food’, but we’ve never seen why there should be any difference in the level of ambition we bring to our cooking.”
“We’ve always been in a state of constant evolution… We wanted a space where we could move forward again with a fresh mix of products, albeit based on the skill set we have. It’s why we used a name so similar. We want people to know it’s us but understand that the offering will be different. Baking and dough is always front and centre of what we do and [Little Blanchflower] will be no different.
“We think reopening the space is important for Chorlton’s dining scene because it’s such a great space. It so stylish and it has one of the loveliest shopfronts in the whole of Manchester.”
Little Blanchflower will be open every day for breakfast and lunch, with all day brunch at the weekends. Friday and Saturday evenings it will be open late for dinner, drinks and snacks. Dogs are welcome at all times.
NOTE: Article updated on 13 March 2023 in line with the owners’ decision to change the name from Blanch to Little Blanchflower
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Cafes New opening
