Aether Manchester Airport
Ian Jones, Food and Drink Editor
Love to travel but hate queues? Endlessly disappointed by trashy airport food? Take a seat, we’ve got some great news. Aether is the new terminal experience at Manchester Airport, and fair play to them, this is something special.
Basically it’s a self-contained private terminal, well away from the hustle and bustle of the main airport. It makes the whole process a breeze by sorting out check-in, security, parking and travel to and from the plane all for you.
“Why is he banging on about baggage check-in? I want my culinary content and I want it now,” I hear you cry. Well, before you write in demanding your money back, the kicker is that the food and drink at Aether is curated by no less than Adam Reid.
For those of you who’ve been living under a rock these past few years, Adam’s the Manchester-born chef and all round lovely bloke who transformed The French from a nice-but-stuffy fine dining establishment into one of Manchester’s flat-out best restaurants.
Not to mention winner of the BBC’s Great British Menu and multiple other awards, plus a CV packed with stints at some of the UK’s very best places to eat. In short, Manchester Airport getting him on board is something of a big deal.
And he’s come up with some astoundingly good dishes. We took an advance look at the menu during a preview visit to the terminal. There are three menus on offer, based on the time you’re booked in: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Breakfast serves up a fine array of start-your-day dishes, including stewed fruit, granola and yoghurt; coffee; cheese and crackers plus a seasonal smoothie; with a choice between hot smoked salmon and scrambled egg crumpet; breakfast bun; or mashed avocado and rocket on rye bread for the main event.
The lunch menu offers a similar but heartier line-up, bringing in malt loaf, crumble and a delicious-sounding cheese on toast made with rye bread, mushroom, walnut ketchup and Kirkham’s cheese.
We had the opportunity to sample dishes from the dinner menu, which features a remarkable stewed beef cheek, resting in a rich, dark gravy, topped with crispy onion and sage.
There’s also the lighter option of roasted cod, caught using small boats around the coast of Cornwall, in a brown shrimp and tomato butter. It’s bright, fresh and wonderfully satisfying. The vegetarian option is an equally well-prepared glazed hen of the woods mushroom, served with crispy sage, onion and bread.
Matching Adam Reid’s local lad credentials, these dishes are crafted with ingredients from local suppliers, including Manchester-based Pollen Bakery, Cheshire Smokehouse and Chorlton Cheesemongers.
Pleasingly, the Aether food and drink experience is available for non-travelling visitors too, from a pocket-friendly £40 per person.
Beyond eating and drinking some of the best food the city has to offer, Aether is simply a great place to hang out too. You can watch enormous planes zoom past through the floor-to-ceiling windows, kick back in comfy chairs and simply enjoy not being in the hustle and bustle of the main airport terminals.
Aether is all about getting into the right mindset for a trip away. If you’re off on a special holiday, here’s your chance to make every step of that trip just as memorable and enjoyable, courtesy of the kind of effortless Northern hospitality you can only find around these parts.
