Occasionally, a place pops up that shakes things up a bit - and this new arrival at Beehive Mill might just be a standard for those to come. Located in the home of Sankeys nightclub and a whole host of offices, small businesses and music recording studios - as well as Taste of Manchester HQ - the cafe has a captive audience, and hopefully the menu of lively, fresh snacks will be enough to drawn crowds up from the city centre. Highlights include a chocolate and cardamom cake, Toblerone mousse, chai tea, hot sandwiches including an Italian BLT, chicken bacon and parmesan club sandwich, as well as a bumper breakfast menu that roves from eggs Benedict to filled croissants, bircher muesli and further afield. Smoothies include Green Magic which fuses mango with apple juice, pineapple and baby spinach and there are coffees and teas from local roaster, the Ancoats Coffee Co. The interior is a reason to visit where Scandi-modernist chic meets simple tables and glass counters, the perfect setting for an afternoon catch up or express breakfast. With recent arrivals like the Halle Orchestra in St Peter's Church and Horsefalling arts project, not to mention Royal Mills apartments, Cafe Cotton is the latest hint that Ancoats might just be the new Northern Quarter.
Cafe Cotton, Beehive Mill, M4 6JG, 7.30am-6.30pm weekdays, www.beehivemill.co.uk