Pesto’s Picks May 2012
In this month’s Pesto’s Picks we take a look at the best of what’s on across Glasgow and the North West, congratulate Pesto Italian Restaurants Glasgow and welcome Pesto in a Pub Widnes to the family!
April has been a brilliant month for Pesto Italian Restaurants, with the official opening of Pesto in a Pub Widnes and Pesto Glasgow landing second place at one of Scotland’s biggest award ceremonies.
Pesto Glasgow placed second in the Best New Restaurant category at the Scottish Entertainment Guide Awards last Sunday, just eight months after opening its doors. The Glasgow team have worked very hard to turn Pesto St Vincent Street into one of Scotland’s best up-and-coming Italian restaurants and we’d like to extend a massive thank you to Francis and the team for all their efforts! We’ve added pics of the Pesto Glasgow team at the awards ceremony on our Facebook page and our web gallery.
Pesto Widnes opened its doors today, officially making it the sixth member of the Pesto family! If you fancy a scrumptious dinner with an ice-cold pint why not reserve a table at Pesto in a Pub Widnes now? Online booking for the restaurant is now available, or if you’d prefer to arrange with a manager directly please call: 0151 424 3729
As the summer months beckon marathons are cropping up all over the place, and this month we recommend participating or helping out where you can with the Great Manchester Run and the Ignis Asset Managements Women’s 10k Run.
The Great Manchester Run takes place on Sunday 20th May, with the route finishing up on Deansgate, just a stone’s throw from Pesto Italian Restaurants Deansgate. If you’re participating in the run and fancy a well-deserved treat afterward, why not reserve a table with our Deansgate team now? https://www.facebook.com/greatmanchesterrun and http://www.greatrun.org/events/event.aspx?id=4
If you’re north of the border and participating in the Ignis Asset Management Women’s 10k run on Sunday 13th May, why not arrange a slap-up meal with the ladies afterwards? Pesto Glasgow is our biggest restaurant, located centrally on St Vincent Street over three floors, so there’s plenty of room to bring the whole team down! https://www.facebook.com/W10KGlasgow?v=wall
For those of you who are less inclined toward hours of grueling exercise, why not check out the Trafford Centre’s Summer of Hope and Glory launch party on Thursday 24th May. Taking place throughout the Trafford Centre, the Summer of Hope and Glory is a celebration of all things British, the Trafford Centre will be alive and kicking with music, dancers, fun and entertainment throughout the evening. http://www.traffordcentre.co.uk/whatson/hopeandgloryparty
- Brooding
Our final pick of the month actually spans over two months, it’s Westlife’s Greatest Tour, which also happens to be their farewell tour. The Irish quartet will be performing at Liverpool’s Echo Arena on Tuesday 15th May and Wednesday 13th June. http://whatson.visitliverpool.com/files/2.html
Mothers Day Pesto’s Picks
Mothers Day is just a few weeks off, and with that in mind Pesto’s Picks takes a look at some of the best Mothers Day entertainment on in Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow.
The Moscow City Ballet’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s epic tragedy Romeo and Juliet has a two-night run scheduled at the Manchester Opera House on the 15th and 16th March. A stunning combination of artistry, technique and narrative accompanied by an emotive dramatic score from the late award-winning composer Sergei Prokofiev is sure to make for an original and moving Mothers Day gift.
http://www.atgtickets.com/Moscow-City-Ballet-s-Romeo-Juliet-Tickets/172/956/#overview_tab
Now, if you’d rather go for something a little more upbeat, why not treat your dear old mum to tickets to the Glasgow International Comedy Festival?
The festival runs from the 15th March till the 1st of April at venues across the City. Our personal highlights are Loose Women panelist Jenny Eclair and Father Ted’s Ardal O’Hanlon appearing at the Citizens Theatre, March 30th and the King’s Theatre, March 29th respectively.
http://www.ticketsoup.com/tickets/jenny-eclair-old-dog-new-tricks-2012-13444/default.aspx
http://www.ticketsoup.com/tickets/ardal-ohanlon-2012-13493/default.aspx
Perhaps a little nostalgia would make the perfect Mothers Day gift, and what better way than to reminisce than a trip to the flicks to watch a modern-day classic? 80′s sci-fi romp Back to the Future returns to the big screen at Glasgow Cineworld on March 30th – this is set to be a sell-out so be sure to get tickets well in advance!
http://www.cineworld.co.uk/cinemas/28
Over in Liverpool we have something that will delight music-loving mums – International Guitar Night – the world’s premier touring guitar festival. Lulo Reindhardt (nephew of the late, great Django Reindhardt), Brian Gore and Adrian Legg, touted by slick-fingered legend Joe Satriani as “simply the best acoustic guitar player I’ve ever heard” have been wielding their axes across the globe, and March 1st sees the show come to the Liverpool Philharmonic.
http://www.visitliverpool.com/whats-on/search/international-guitar-night-p305161
Whatever you do for Mothers Day you can be sure that a delicious meal washed down with our special Mothers Day cocktail the giola Di Mardi (Mothers Joy!) will be the perfect accompaniment to a perfect day! Why not book a table at your favourite Pesto now?
Pesto’s Picks February 2012
With the Celtic Connections festival in full swing and the Glasgow Film Festival 2012 gearing up for kick-off on the 16th February, Scotland’s biggest city is certainly living up to its reputation as a hub of creative activity.
Pesto Italian Restaurants Glasgow is located right at the centre of the city on vibrant St Vincent Street, just a stone’s throw from Central Station and countless music venues, cinemas, nightclubs and theatres – the ideal place to fill up before throwing yourself into the action!
For all the mums and dads out there, this years Glasgow Film Festival has put together a special parent and baby screening; in short it’s highlights from the eight international competition programmes condensed into an hour-and-a-half long ‘film’. The selection of clips is set to remain a secret right up until the curtains open, but the folks at Glasgow Film Festival promise and “entertaining and thought-provoking drama, documentary and animation from around the world” with “no extreme content or sudden loud noises” with the lights remaining on low to allow easy movement during the screening. Tickets are a very reasonable £4 and all babies go free, but must be accompanied by an adult, obviously.
http://www.glasgowfilm.org/festival/whats_on/3624_short_stuff_parent_baby_screening
Now, this year at the Glasgow Film Festival there’s said to be festivals within festivals, which all sounds a bit Inception to us, but apparently it’s just “mini festivals within the Festival that both complement and diversify the programme as a whole”. The mini festivals are the Short Film Festival, Youth Film Festival, the Music and Film Festival and Frightfest – ooh er!
The Frightfest is brought to Glasgow Film Festival by Film4 and will premiere a massive eleven movies this year, including Crawl, War of the Dead and The Raid. The two-day-movie-marathon starts at 13:30 on Friday 24th February and ends Saturday 25th February at 23:15. All screenings are rated 18+ and are likely to put you off your tea, so if you are heading out to Frightfest be sure to stop by Pesto Italian Restaurants Glasgow for a spot of lunch first.
Heading down to the North West for February, highlights for the month include Irish superstars Snow Patrol at the Manchester Evening News Arena and the X Factor Live Tour 2012 also at the MEN.
Snow Patrol’s sixth album Fallen Empires was released on November 11th 2011 and was the band’s highest debut on the Billboard chart. Almost nine years after their commercial breakthrough album Final Straw, the band are have just started their fifth major tour with
dates scheduled across Europe, the US and Canada. The Irish lovelies will take to the MEN stage on Friday 3rd February with support from Manchester lads Everything Everything.
- Not part of Fright Fest
Last years X Factor competition was easily one of the most explosive yet, with fiery exits, band break-ups, bitchy judges, Kitty Brucknell and more Adele renditions than your average karaoke bar on a Saturday night. And all without Simon Cowell.
We reckon the X Factor Tour 2012 is not to be missed, and there are still (just a few) tickets left for their two
-day-stint at the MEN Arena on Saturday the 25th and Sunday 26th of February. If you want to treat your other half to a flamboyant Valentine’s gift tickets are £38 (inc booking fee) available from Ticketmaster.
Hi
ghlights in Liverpool this month include a show at the Liverpool Philharmonic from Mike and the Mechanics legend Paul Carrack and a special Valentine’s screening of the Audrey Hepburn classic Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Former Mike and the Mechanics frontman (you’d think he’d be called Mike…), Squeeze keyboardist and the voice behind Ace’s How Long and Squeeze’s Tempted and The Living Years has a reputation as a brilliant live performer. His velvety voice oozes soul and his talent as a multi-instrumentalists makes him one of the last century’s most underrated artists.
Friday 17th February from 7:30pm, tickets are available from Ticketmaster.
Truman Capote’s charming fairytale is once again brought to life this Valentines Day at the Liverpool Philharmonic. For those of you who don’t know the story, or haven’t got round to seeing it yet (really, what’s your excuse?!), young New York writer Paul Varjak (George Peppard) moves into a flat and meets the eccentric Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) who has a penchant for the dramatic and leads highly glamorous social and emotional life. Holly is a party girl whose extraordinarily stylish facade masks bleak inner anguish and a hidden past. Henry Mancini’s Oscar-winning ballad ‘Moon River‘ underscores a beautifully romantic end to the 1961 classic.
http://www.glasgowfilm.org/festival
http://www.glasgowfilm.org/festival/information/festivals_within_the_festivals/gmff
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Patrol
http://www.everything-everything.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/#!/kittybrucknell
http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/X-Factor-Live-tickets/artist/27410
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squeeze_(band)
www.mike-and-the-mechanics.co.uk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Carrack
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truman_Capote
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakfast_at_Tiffany’s_(film)
Pesto’s Picks January 2012
The New Year is almost upon us, and with 2011 having been the second warmest year on UK records hopefully our New Year celebrations won’t be blighted by freezing temperatures and relentless rain. Or perhaps that’s just wishful thinking…
With many of us about to embark upon the mission of sticking it to a long-standing vice, enter into battle with excess Christmas weight or seek out a new career as part of our New Year’s resolutions, what better time to take your mind off all that stress-inducing good behaviour and enjoy watching someone else sweat it out for a few hours, bringing us to the first pick of the year; TNA Maximum Impact Wrestling IV at the Manchester Evening News Arena. (Friday 27th January)
According to the MEN “Wrestling legends Sting and Kurt Angle head up the roster of stars from TNA’s flagship television programme Impact Wrestling.
“TNA World Heavyweight Champion Sting will be making his first wrestling appearance in the UK for almost a decade alongside Olympic Gold Medallist Kurt Angle.
“Also starring at the Manchester event will be Gail Kim, Rob Van Dam, Beer Money, Crimson, Mickie James, Gunner, “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles, “Samoan Submission Machine” Samoa Joe, TNA Knockout Velvet Sky, Mr. Anderson, Matt Morgan, Bully Ray, Mexican American and many more.
“Speaking ahead of his Manchester visit, Sting says: “It has been too long since I’ve been back to the UK. I promise you there will be Maximum Impact in January 2012. It’s going to be Showtime!
“Fans will see lots of bodies flying through the air, broken tables, chairs everywhere. We call it professional wrestling. We call it IMPACT WRESTLING”.
Ooh er.
- Stern
Next up from the North West we have something altogether more relaxing and a little more high-brow from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Beethoven’s Pastoral (Wednesday 11th January).
Conducted by Vasily Petrenko with Nikolai Lugansky performing Beethoven’s Overture, Prometheus, Piano Concerto No. 4 and Symphony No. 6 ‘Pastoral’ the evening is set to by truly magical, ideal for anyone wishing to wind down following the excesses of the festive season.
“One great composer: three incredible worlds. From blazing joy to blinding rage, no composer captured human emotion with more passion – or poetry – than Ludwig van Beethoven.”
Tickets range from £13 to £36, but there aren’t too many left!
Back from the 90's
Yooooooou’re gooooooorgeous! Probably words you’ve heard exchanged many times over the Christmas period if you’ve visited at least one bar with at least one over-zelous festive reveller. Well, if you’re in Glasgow this January 31st and would like to hear the song as it should be sung, britpop one-hit-wonder Babybird, or Stephen Jones as he’s less-commonly known will be performing at Glasgow’s legendary King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut.
Jones’s brand of off-beat pop will be sure to brighten up your post-christmas midweek blues, and at only £12.50 a ticket it won’t break the bank either. Support comes from the Sneaky Russians, who appear not to be Russian, but must have sneaky tendencies to have wormed their way onto the bill with their dire brand of long-deceased garage band indie-pop.
Well that’s it folks, our picks of the month for January. Next month, what with it being February and all, we’ll be doing a Valentine’s special – watch this space!
www.men-arena.com/?page_id=1867
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2080355/Feeling-hot-2011-second-warmest-year-record-hottest-spring.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Angle
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Petrenko
lugansky.homestead.com/
www.babybirdmusic.me
Pesto’s Perfect Trees!
Carrie and Big. Bert and Ernie. Cookies and milk. Some things just work better together, and without a tree Christmas just doesn’t work. The festive aroma, the decorating ritual and above all, presents underneath are part of what make Christmas, er, Christmassy!
Now, with there only being one days left till the big day itself, we’d hedge our bets that some of you are still scrambling to find the time to even choose a tree, never mind get it dressed up in time for Christmas morning. This is where we’re on hand to help! Here are Pesto’s top five tips for choosing the perfect tree!
1. Size does matter. If, like most of us, every inch of living space matters the last thing you want is a monster Redwood Christmas tree eating up your lounge. If you’re struggling to squeeze in a Tesco pot-plant, steer clear of lavish big trees, however tempting! Pick the perfect space for your tree and measure it before going shopping to save yourself a world of hassle later in the day.
2. Age also matters. A recent Facebook post from a most unlucky festive relative served as an excellent reminder that choosing where you buy your tree is every bit, if not more important than the tree. The relative in question splashed out a rather decadent £75 at her local farm shop only for the tree to wilt and die within ten days. Finding out whether your local tree stockist buys in their stock weekly or if it’s one big delivery will allow you to gauge how ago the tree was cut and judge whether it’s likely to be a duffer by Christmas morning.
3. Hate hoovering? The Norway Spruce might not be the tree for you…Some trees emit that gorgeous festive aroma, others retain their needles long after they’ve adopted that delightful shade of brown. For best needle retention the Noble Fir might be best for your household, while the Norway Fir really captures that festive scent.
4. Shape matters. As most Christmas trees in commercial shops have already been stuffed into nets, it makes it nigh on impossible to guess whether the tree in question has a classic Christmas tree shape, or is in fact a Side-Show Bob bonsai nightmare. Short of ripping the net off in-store (and possibly being removed from said shop) all you can do is try to find a small platform from which to gaze down the top of the tree to assess how even the branches are. Or you could try grabbing a tree from a local seller, who tend not to net their stock.
5. Fake it. If all of the above just seems too strenuous for arguably the most time-consuming month of the year, pop into John Lewis and buy a fake. Buying a fake does have its upsides; no messy pine needles, no faffing with nets, no watering around hundreds of potential fire hazards and best of all you can shove it in the attic and drag it out next year saving you time and money in the long run. All that aside, fake trees are rather naff, and it might just take you all year to find one that looks anywhere near as pretty as a genuine festive fir.
Struggling for a last minute stocking filler? Pop into Pesto today and pick up a gift voucher!
Keep up with us on Facebook and Twitter for more frequent updates.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_Bradshaw
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway_Spruce
Pesto’s Picks – Halloween Special
- Might have gone overboard on the garlic bread…
October is a funny old month; supermarket shelves are filled with Halloween “goodies” including tacky nun costumes, bizarre re imaginings of the humble Jaffa Cake (they’re green?) and, er, singing skulls.
The macabre displays of fake bloodied hands and packets of scabs next to Christmas crackers and spiced festive-spiced-nut-hamper-type-stuff is perhaps all that is unsettling about the naff Halloween tat maligning shop shelves this month.
But bemoan pagan festivals we shall not, for with Halloween comes some pretty spectacular events, from Alice Cooper spooky specials to secret parties in the dark heart of Glasgow.
First up though it’s Bolton’s very own Peter Kay at the Manchester Evening News Arena. Kay made a name for himself by twisting casually observed conversational banalities into lighthearted ‘proper northern’ humour. The Tour That Doesn’t Tour kicked off on the 27th September and will run until October 21st. Tickets for Kay’s show are scarce, so if you can’t get your hands on one, why not pop into Pesto for some garlic bread?
Next up in Manchester we have another of Bolton’s finest exports Paddy McGuinness for one night only at the MEN. Tickets for McGuinness’s debut MEN show are almost gone, so if you want to catch this one act fast!
- Actually prefers Coco Pops to live snakes
Alice Cooper has it all; boa constrictors, electric chairs, buckets of fake blood and, er, a free bus pass, cos he’s a pensioner, don’t you know? Veteran American rocker Vincent Furnier, or Alice Cooper to you and I, will be bringing his Halloween Night of Fear event to the Manchester Apollo on Sunday October 30th. Admittedly, it’s not quite Halloween, but you can bet your bottom dollar it’ll be a full-on-freak show! If you’re lucky enough to have tickets, be sure to stop in at Pesto en route for a round of Bloody Marys!
Liverpool can expect a treat from Californian firecracker (or should that be firework?) Katy Perry on October 18th as she brings her musical brand of crazy to the Echo Arena.
Now if you prefer to celebrate Halloween in secret you’d be well-advised to bag yourself tickets for the Chemikal Halloween Party, because the location is, well, secret. While this might make planning your night that little bit more troublesome (finding it without some sort of assistance will likely result in failure), it’ll certainly keep you on your toes.
Katy Perry. Probably quite high maintenance.
Now at Pesto we know all about Good Food, but if you’d like to know more and you’re in Glasgow this October why not check out the BBC Good Food Show at the SECC on the 21st of October? Alternatively if you don’t want to learn about good food just pop into Pesto and we’ll sort you out with our delicious piatinni.
Chatty man Alan Carr will be, well, standing up and, er, chatting at the SECC on the 7th and 8th October ahead of his upcoming DVDs set for release just before Christmas…how cunning.
The o2 Academy in Glasgow is set for a good ol’ knees up on the 29th October at Club Noir Halloween. If there was ever a way to get down with the pagans in style, this is it.
http://www.ents24.com/web/artist/33291/Peter_Kay.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTxL6DaOs74
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_McGuinness
http://pestorestaurants.co.uk/blog
Interview: Octavio Gabaldon
Music enthusiast, Julia Roberts fan and Italian original Octavio Gabaldon holds of on scoffing Lasagna al Ragú with Peroni and cocktails to tell us a bit about his time at Pesto Italian Restaurant Liverpool 1.
How long have you been part of the Pesto team?
It has been nearly a year. I joined the adventure in October 2010.
What is the best thing about working for Pesto?
One of the best things is that even though I’ve been here for just a short time, all the staff made me feel like one of them from the very first day. At Pesto you work with people who very soon become friends, and when you’re working with friends the job is that much more enjoyable.
What is your favourite Pesto dish and drink?
I like a lot of the dishes we serve, that´s the best thing about Pesto; why go for one dish when you can have three or four? But if I have to choose one, I would go for the Lasagna al Ragú, and to drink a refreshing Peroni Red, and Lecca-Lecca, especially after a meal when I’m getting ready to go out.
What’s the funniest thing to have happened to you in the restaurant?
Once a gentleman came in with his son in a buggy, he asked for a table for two, but left the buggy at the back of one of the waiter stations and came back to me. I looked at him, he looked at me, after a few seconds he realised he had left his son in the buggy facing the wall.
Which three celebrities would you invite to dinner at Pesto?
Frank Sinatra would have been one of them, Spanish football legend Raúl Gonzalez, although he´s still playing, and Julia Roberts.
What inspired you to become a manager?
The challenge of bringing your idea of perfect service to reality. It´s not an easy thing to do, it´s something you have to work on everyday, but it’s the greatest feeling when you see it happening, and when you see it reflected on the customers’ faces.
After a meal at Pesto, what’s the best thing to do in Liverpool?
Out and about, there’s a lot to see in the Liverpool 1 area; Albert Dock, which has fantastic views, Matthew Street which is full of history, and of course brilliant shopping.
What was the last show you went to and how was it?
We had the Matthew Street Music Festival two weeks ago, I had a fantastic time going from one stage to another listening to all kinds of music, having fun with friends and people I’d just met in the street.
What does the next year at Pesto hold for you?
I will keep trying to bring a piece of Italy to Liverpool, and hopefully bring Pesto to more and more people everyday.
To meet the rest of the Pesto team why not check out our other blog posts!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Roberts
http://www.pestorestaurants.co.uk/section/pasta-e-riso/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%BAl_Gonz%C3%A1lez
http://www.pestorestaurants.co.uk/location/liverpool-one/
Pesto’s Picks September
Well, the month of August has been and gone, and what an ass-kicker of a month it was! The tail end of the month saw Formula 1 legend and all-round handsome devil Jenson Button doughnut his F1 car up and down Deansgate – right outside Pesto! We were all just a tad excited, so excited in fact that we put up balloons…and flags…and took pictures….and may have made a Jenson montage video! Pics are also available on our Facebook page - http://facebook.com/pestorestaurants
<click me!> Jenson Button in Manchester August 2011 < click me!>
Now, on with September – though after the August we’ve had, it’s going to take some beating!
First up, a bit of trumpet blowing on our part; as the long-awaited (and somewhat overdue) Pesto Glasgow opening draws ever closer….
Originally set to open in August, the grand unveiling of the biggest Pesto Italian Restaurant yet, has been nudged back a few weeks to Monday the 12th of September at 12pm. While we couldn’t blame you for thinking we’ve been so distracted by our tasty food that we’ve frittered away the summer dining al fresco on our Deansgate and Liverpool terraces and kicking back at the Trafford Centre – we can assure you that hasn’t been the case…well, not entirely.
In short, we wanted to make sure that all three glorious floors on our new St Vincent Street site were every bit as stunning as the food and fine wines on our menu, and to do this takes time and patience, lots and lots of patience! Remember folks, patience is a virtue, and in just ten days time Pesto Glasgow will at last be open – we reckon it’ll be well worth the wait!
In Manchester this September we have Tottenham jazz, blues and all round good-egg Adele bringing her latest bag of hits to the Manchester Apollo on the 16th and 17th.
If jazz and blues isn’t really your cup of tea Tennessee’s greatest export after Jack Daniels, Dolly Parton rolls into town on the 11th at the MEN Arena. Tickets have been sold out for some time, so you might need to employ a little creativity to blag your way into this southern spectacular.
In Liverpool this month we’ve got a world premiere of the exhibition Wallace and Grommit at Spaceport. The exhibition has been specifically designed for Spaceport and features a collection of crazy inventions and fascinating facts about the moon, the history of space and our solar system. This is one for the whole family and is definitely not to be missed!
Finally we head north to Glasgow, where at last the foray of Brad Pitt’s upcoming zombie epic World War Z has just drawn to a close after a fortnight of A-list chaos!
The tragically short life of Celtic goal-keeping legend Johnny Thomson runs for five days this month at the city’s Kings Theatre, a brilliant show for football fans and for anyone who enjoys an emotive tale steeped in melancholy. The Johnny Thomson story kicks off on Monday September 5th at the Kings Theatre and runs until Thursday the 10th September.
Our personal highlight for September in Glasgow is the Midweek Magic show at the Corinthian. Two of Scotland’s most respected magicians Liam McLaughlin and Douglas Cameron present an evening of illusions, mind reading and, er, magic. Hosted in an intimate venue tickets will surely be snapped up fast at only £10 per person. There’s said to be strange happenings at this event, so perhaps head to Pesto for some cocktails first to settle your nerves!
http://www.pestorestaurants.co.uk/location/deansgate/
http://facebook.com/pestorestaurants
http://www.pestorestaurants.co.uk/location/glasgow/
http://www.o2apollomanchester.co.uk
http://www.spaceport.org.uk/content/Exhibitions.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Thomson_(footballer)
http://www.atgtickets.com/King’s-Theatre
Pesto’s Picks for August
Pesto Italian Restaurants Glasgow Manchester and Liverpool highlights the best of what’s on in the West of Scotland and the North West of England through August.
Now, many would have you believe that the only place worth being in Old Blighty through the month of August is Scotland’s capital city Edinburgh for the world-famous Fringe Fest. Well, that just ain’t true; Pesto Glasgow opens at the end of the month, and boy does this city like to keep the capital on its toes!
Blonde, brash, trailer trash queen Dolly Parton rolls into Glasgow on the 20th August for a two night stint at one of the city’s biggest venues, the SECC. With over fifty studio albums under her belt it’s bound to be an all-night barn-burner!
Later in the month Glasgow Life Welcome Visits is offering people the chance to explore areas of the city not ordinarily open to the public. The City Halls and Old Fruitmarket Tour runs from 11am on the 29th August and tickets are absolutely free! If all the walking gets you hungry, why not stop in at Pesto Glasgow which opens at 6pm on the 29th?
Through the month of August Manchester will play host to the Pride Fringe and Big Weekend, from the 19th to the 29th. Big names such as Alexandra Burke and Pixie Lott will be putting in appearances in addition to a number of up-and-coming musicians, film-makers and artists.
Pesto Deansgate is just a short walk away from many of the festival venues, our Festa party menu and extensive selection of cocktails make it the perfect starting point for the Big Weekend!
If you’re over in the west this month, don’t let your wallet dictate your social calendar. The free Matthew Street Festival on the 28th and 29th August is set to be a scorcher, with over eighty hours of music spread over two days – who needs the Carling Weekend? Pah! Matthew Street is literally round the corner from Pesto Liverpool One where our Festa menu is ideal for big parties who want delicious, traditional Italian food without breaking the bank.
To keep up with all things Pesto you can follow us on Twitter or ‘like’ us on Facebook
http://manchesterpride.com/whatson/fringe
http://.manchesterpride.com/media/2011/Event_Application_Form_2011.pdf
http://alexandraburkeofficial.com/
Interview: Sarah Henderson
Pesto Italian Restaurants Liverpool One deputy manager and Take That enthusiast Sarah Henderson took time out from opening restaurants and, er, ‘sampling’ Pesto’s fine Italian wines to tell us about life at L1.
How long have you been part of the Pesto team?
Four and a half years now! I have worked in all three restaurants – I opened Trafford & Liverpool and am off next month to open Glasgow too.
What is the best thing about working for Pesto?
I have had the opportunity to really be part of something here; it’s a small company so you are far more than just another cog in the machine.
What is your favourite Pesto dish and drink?
Drink wise, I love the Pinot Grigio Blush. I wouldn’t like to count how many bottles I have drunk over the years! Food wise, I go through phases of which are my favourites! Bruschetta Pomodoro has always stayed pretty near the top though…and the Fiorentina pizza…oh and I do like the gamberoni peperoncino.
What’s the funniest thing to have happened to you in the restaurant?
Oh too many things to remember! I have had brilliant teams of people in all three sites over the years, there’s been so many characters who have entertained me every day!
Which three celebrities (dead and alive) would you invite to dinner at Pesto?
I would love to say someone high brow to make me look intelligent and interesting, but to be honest my life would be made if Take That had come in while they were here! Am I allowed five? Just Robbie would be perfect if not.
What inspired you to become a manager?
I just developed a passion for it very early on in my career – I love the people in the industry and have loved developing and working with all different types of people.
After a meal at Pesto, what’s the best thing to do in Liverpool?
You can’t go wrong with a nice glass of wine or two on the L1 terrace on a summer’s eve!
What was the last show you went to and how was it?
I have been to both Take That and Kings of Leon this month in Manchester. Two very different concerts but both just amazing!
What does the next year at Pesto hold for you?
Hopefully I will just get to continue helping build the brand and, if I am lucky, get to spend a bit of time in some great cities opening a couple more great restaurants…..watch this space!
That’s all for now peeps – keep your eyes peeled for Pesto’s Picks for August tomorrow and our latest team member introduction next week! You can also check out our latest celebrity diner here – Debbie Harry at Pesto Italian Restaurants Liverpool One !
Keep up with Pesto Italian Restaurants Liverpool One Manchester and Glasgow on Facebook and Twitter – and don’t forget when you come to visit to check in on FB or Foursquare!
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