CEREAL WINNERS

BLACK MILK FIRST OPENED AS A CAFE SERVING CEREALS WITH MILK, 10 YEARS ON IT MAKES ITS OWN PRODUCTS, WRITES ADAM MAIDMENT

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A BELOVED Manchester dessert bar which first opened as a cereal cafe in a 'far-side' of Afflecks Palace has been celebrating its tenth birthday.

First opened in time for Pancake Day in 2015, Black Milk, on Oldham Street, was launched as a cereal cafe akin to the likes that had only at the time been seen in London. But in the 10 years since, it has revolutionised into a fully-fledged dessert bar that even now supplies its own creations to the likes of Selfridges and Co-op.

Led by Oliver Taylor and Andy Young, Black Milk started life as a way to bring the type of 'incredible' desserts offered at fine dining restaurants where Olly used to work into an 'accessible cafe setting' with no pretences.

"Whilst I was at university, I worked at Lounge 10, which was quite a high-end restaurant in the city centre," Olly explains to the Manchester Evening News. "I used to be a bartender and a waiter and I'd be the one that would take these impressive desserts to the table and get to see the instant reaction on people's faces when they first saw them.

"It was those kinds of reactions that made me realise the connection people have with desserts and that's what basically inspired Black Milk all those years ago. I had a very very strong plan from day one that I wanted to basically have a cafe that would be like a window into the imaginary."

But trips around the world also helped contribute towards the foundations of what Black Milk would become. Its name, for example, was inspired by a squid ink pasta dish served at a meal Olly had with his family on his 21st birthday in Ibiza, whilst their 'decadent' milkshakes took sight from the night-time bars of Dubai.