A meal full of marvellous moments that you’ll be talking about for months afterwards.

My word, Dahlia Stereo sounds good. Literally. An obscene number of man-hours have gone into making this new Northern Quarter bar-restaurant an audiophile’s dream.

Balance Taroom is a genteel space, full of millennials keen to sup interesting booze away from all that city centre frenzy. And if that floats your boat, this is the best of the small-scale batch.

They could do with fixing the soundtrack, but, regardless, Schofield’s Bar is one of the good ones. If Manchester’s going to earn (or maintain) a reputation as a world-class city, it needs bars like this.

Eat Well, Do Good returns to Manchester this October for its third year, with the city’s hospitality trade once again fundraising for chef-made meals for people in crisis – families in temporary accommodation, women in refuge, food bank users, and parents staying overnight in hospital with their children.

Vetch has shifted from its tasting menu format this September in favour of an unstructured, order-as-you-go menu built for sharing, from chef-owner Dan McGeorge. Dishes span oysters with green strawberry and yuzu hot sauce, buffalo wing with caviar, salt-aged duck with blackberry kosho and a 600g T-bone, alongside a reworked drinks list and looser, faster-paced service.

McGeorge won Great British Menu in 2021 and Vetch holds two AA rosettes, a Good Food Guide “Very Good” rating and a Michelin Guide listing for 2025 and 2026.

Northern Roots finally has an opening date. The Big Welcome, a free family launch event, runs Saturday 19 September, 12-4pm, marking the first public opening of the Welcome Building, café, shop and the four-acre Snipe Clough Urban Farm.

Albert’s Schloss brings Oktoberfest back to Manchester from 19 September to 25 October 2026, with all six official Munich Oktoberfest beers on tap – a rarity outside the city itself. Expect seven days a week of oompah and brass bands, a keg-tapping opening ceremony, bratwurst-eating and lederhosen competitions, and Bavarian food to match. The Liverpool branch runs the same festival in parallel, for anyone wanting das benches without the trip east.

Zouk Tea Bar is launching a new run of regional Indian cooking classes this autumn, covering Mumbai (10 October), Old Delhi (28 November) and Lahore to Lucknow (12 December), each hands-on and covering street food, regional curries and kebabs. The December class carries a festive twist, teaching a raan-inspired roast chicken with spicy Indian gravy for Christmas. A press preview session, with two dishes from each class, runs Saturday 19 September, with limited spaces available.