The Companio story began a few minutes away from Spear Street, across Oldham Road in Ancoats. Despite it’s pocket size, the Radium Street unit built a huge following off the back of sourdough breads, pastries and Viennoiserie, all items made fresh each day using the finest possible ingredients. Treats and staples so good the inevitable happened, with demand outstripping what supply was possible at the original site. While that’s still open for business on a grab-and-go style basis, summer 2024 saw the company expand with second location at Spear Street, deep in the Northern Quarter.
Not just a bigger spot, the offering is definitely better, too, with options to dine in so you can take some time over the incredible baked produce coming out of the on-site ovens. These include a mouthwatering selection of bread, like the Ancoats White (white sourdough with some wholewheat), Salford 5 Seed (traditional sourdough with rye chops, linseed, poppy, pumpkin, sesame and sunflower seeds), Country Sourdough, Pennine Rye, and revolutionary Mad Brød — pizza dough filled with cheddar cheese, roasted potato, mango chutney, curry or chorizo, peppers, olives and cheddar cheese. Yep, it really is as good as that sounds.
Elsewhere, a range of baguette and ciabatta sandwiches add to the savoury choices at Companio, and there’s a whole world of sweetness waiting for afters, too. The Almond Croissants here take almond croissants to a whole new level, Maritozzi brings Rome’s most iconic pastry to Manchester, scenting brioche buns with orange zest, vanilla, and honey, then filling them with whipped cream. Not to mention the revolving door of other seasonal options. For example fruit danishes, with white plum and strawberry recently on the menu at the time of writing, midsummer, or Semla — brioche buns filled with pistachio paste and topped with vanilla cream and more chopped pistachio, one of Italy’s most decadent springtime treats.