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Delicatessens ... paradise for food lovers
by Sarah Warden19/ 5/2005
WHEN Becky and Chris Joyce began planning
Love Saves The
Day eight years ago the idea went over most people's
heads.
The couple thought Manchester needed a decent delicatessen because
they lived in the city centre and the only large shop was the Spar
at the bottom of Oxford Road, and they had to drive out to the
suburbs to buy their food.
Becky also worked for the council at the time, and talk was rife of
building flats in the city centre making her see the potential for
a successful business.
She was right. The business has expanded so much since that she is
now about to start an online delivery service, despite her idea
being years ahead of its time.
She said: "Manchester was so far behind a lot of cities, there just
wasn't the city centre infrastructure.
"We were ahead of the game in a lot of ways, and it's only been in
the last year or two that the idea has been realised.
"There was a lot of talk about what was going to happen, but it
takes a long time from someone to say they're going to build a
block of flats for 200 people to that building existing.
"The fact that Manchester can sustain a growing number of delis
says a lot about the city. It's good that people can now think they
can live in Manchester and buy everything they need."
The businesswoman prides her stores, on
Oldham
Street and
Deansgate, as selling items
which customers would not be able to get in most shops.
While this includes items such as Spanish meilsico honey and
salmorejo tomato and olive oil sauce, both at £5 a jar, and Italian
meatballs at £1.20 per 100g, she is also keen to support local
producers.
The shop's Love Cheshire range included chocolates, cheeses and
other items made in the county.
And the Love Manchester promotion, beginning this week, will
introduce city centre shoppers to beers, Eccles cakes, pickles, and
items from the city's Jewish, Pakistani, Indian and Polish
communities they may never have sampled before.
She added the business used a huge number of suppliers - up to 40
just for their wine range - meaning customers had a wide
choice.
Variety is also the most important element at the
Olive deli in
Whitworth Street,
according to Colin Gornall, who runs the business along with his
wife Linda.
He says the deli stocks over 2,500 products - three times more than
at Aldi stores. And because the shop has no storerooms, all items
are kept on the shelves or in spaces above them.
He said: "It gives the place a bohemian New York look. It came
about for practical reasons, because of a lack of space, but the
shop's developed quite a unique character because of it."
The couple have built up a network of suppliers across the world
and Colin says if there is any item a customer wants which they
haven't got, they will try to find it - and stand a good chance of
doing so.
One of the shop's biggest draws is its vodka range, which he
believes is the largest in Manchester.
It sells 43 varieties - likely to increase over the next few weeks
as Colin contacts more suppliers.
And although this includes widely-available ranges like Absolut and
Stolichnaya, there are also more unusual varieties such as Irish
Boru and Mexican Villa Lobos, which comes complete with a two-inch
agave worm.
There is also 88 per cent Balkan vodka, made in Bulgaria, and sold
at £59 for a one litre bottle.
Colin believes Olive is the only place in Manchester where this is
available, but says he is keen to contact the suppliers of a
Russian vodka called Kalashnikov - made by the same people
responsible for the AK47 automatic weapon.
While the deli phenomenon may seem like a product of the city's
recent gentrification,
Barbakan in
Chorlton has now been peddling its famous fresh
bread for over four decades.
The Manchester road shop was originally named after Kracow's
historic marketplace, reminding the Polish community of their
homeland.
The bakery behind the shop operates almost 24 hours a day, and
produces over 50 types of bread containing rosemary and roast
potato, Belgian chocolate and even yoghurt.
One popular new addition was wurzel bread, described as looking
like "a giant aero bar made from bread," while another item was the
Calabria stick, containing paprika and hot Italian salami.
The shop also sells items like Polish smoked kabanos sausage,
French garlic sausage, and freshly made soups.
Assistant manager Philip Lane said queues regularly came out of the
doors on Saturdays - with some customers driving from North Wales -
and at Christmas it has been known to stretch around the
block.
And the reason for this popularity was simple - authenticity.
He said: "First and foremost we're a traditional bakery. We bake
some very traditional breads as well as some modern unusual ones. A
lot of this is impossible to get anywhere other than here and a few
places in London.
"We use a lot of ingredients that have been imported from Eastern
Europe, and we use them in the authentic way. This isn't someone
having a go at something that's made thousands of miles away, it's
the real McCoy."
CV: Linda and Colin Gornall
HUSBAND and wife team Colin and Linda Gornall turned their
passion for food and drink into a full-time job two years ago, when
they opened
Olive, in
Whitworth
Street.
And they believe it's thanks to their previous experience in retail
and customer service work that the deli has become one of the city
centre's great success stories.
Colin, 44, has spent most of his career working in retail, while
Linda, 41, worked in customer services.
They have combined their business skills with Colin's passion for
beer and wines and Linda's enthusiasm for organic and Fair Trade
food to make Olive a successful enterprise, as well as a foodie's
paradise.
The couple live in Leeds but chose to open their business in
Manchester because of the city's atmosphere. Colin said: "The first
six months were really hard work.
"We didn't realise just how much you had to do to get a business
off the ground and we had to get to grips with it as quickly as
possible.
"We stock a huge variety of different products and get new things
in all the time.
"We try a lot of it ourselves as well as getting recommendations
from our suppliers. That helps, because we can make personal
recommendations to our customers.
"It helps that we are enthusiastic about food and drink. I couldn't
run a haberdashery, for instance, because I'm not enthusiastic
about it.
"The most important thing is getting the products right every time,
because if people didn't like what they bought they wouldn't come
back.
"But we have a lot of regular customers among those who live and
work in the city centre.
"Manchester's a great place to be, you couldn't have a shop like
this in any city."
D is for deli ... where to find the best
Buonissimo, Beech Road, Chorlton:
Specialises in Italian food, and sells varieties of freshly-made
pasta and gnocchi, at £1 to 2 for around 400g, usually enough for
two people.
Sauces which are made on the premises, including tomato and basil,
at 69p per 100g, putensca - made with olives, capers and garlic -
at 89p per 100g, and two types of pesto at £2.25 per 100g.
The shop also stocks meats such as parma ham at £2.25 per 100g,
several varieties of olives and various different cheeses.
Fusion Deli, Lapwing Lane, West Didsbury: Bread
supplied by five local bakers daily, including bagels, ciabatta,
croissant and pain au chocolat.
Around 65 cheeses, including specialist varieties like Snowdonia,
from 75p to £1.65 per 100g.
There is also a large selection of cooked meats including pork loin
and salami, as well as vegetarian and kosher products, and egg,
dairy, wheat and gluten free items.
The shop also sells fresh coffee beans, which can be ground for
customers, and wines from £4.45 to £7 per bottle.
Deli Republic, Regent Road, Altrincham: Wide
selection of continental cheeses including Spanish Manchego at
£2.45 per 100g, and Pico at £2.05 per 100g.
Ready meals including Thai chicken yellow curries and chicken
satay, at £5.95 for a generous portion, as well as French coq au
vin at £3.95 and duck confit at £4.45.
German dishes such as sauerkraut, at 95p per portion, baby beetroot
and cucumbers in dill, along with German products such as salami in
green pepper.
There is also a wide selection of wines, Belgian and Scottish beers
including Fraoch heather ale at £2.25 a bottle, while the
Cumbrian-based Cartmel sticky toffee pudding, at £4.05, is very
popular.
The Corner Deli, Wythenshawe indoor food market:
Sells Spanish, Italian German and French salamis, Polish meats
including wiejska, ogonowska, kabanos, krakowska, and krajana, and
other continental meats such as proscuttio, mortadella, bierwurst,
pastrami and pancetta.
The shop also stocks more traditional meats such as honey roast
ham, triple smoked gammon and a new children's variety called
cheeky monkey, bear and fox.
They also sell galtee cheese, galtee black and white puddings and
feta cheese, and a large range of salads.
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