St. VALENTINE'S DAY 2010
Traditionally, Valentine's Day, Sunday 14th February 2010 is our busiest day of the year. We allow diners 2½ hours which in previous years has proved to be more than adequate. In order to ensure smooth running we only take 2 seater advanced booked tables - sorry no children on this one occasion. Falling on a Sunday this year, it's quite likely that we wiill get both afternoon and evening bookings. Price remains unchanged from last year. For full details and a link to our printer friendly menu please click here.

FACEBOOK
We now have a growing business page on Facebook as "The Greenhouse Licensed Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurant". This is considerably more interactive than our website and we are likely to develop it more and more as we get to grips with the technicalities and facilities.

As the pages on our website are updated a Facebook link will be added below the navigation buttons on the left hand side of each page. For further details please click on link below

RECIPES IN VERSE
The first four, of hopefully, many recipes in verse have been finished. These are:

Broccoli and Leek Soup
Chunky Vegetable Soup
Hummous
Spanish Chick Peas

PICTURE GALLERY OF MAINCOURSE DISHES
For some time we have been considering a picture gallery of a selection of the dishes from our menu. The initial page contains a selection of our maincourse dishes. For picture clarity we have generally omitted gravies and sauces. The selection will be increased as more pictures become available. For further details please click here. The early version of this didn't work properly in Internet Explorer but this has now been rectified and should be working in all browsers. Anyone experiencing problems, feedback would be appreciated. Pictures of starters and desserts will hopefully follow shortly.

GREENHOUSE POTTED HISTORY
The Greenhouse started in '83 as a daytime café/restaurant and restaurant in the evenings. Our opening hours, particularly during the day were expanded in the early '90s but the café bar revolution killed the weekday daytime trade throughout Rusholme so that since the late '90s we've operated as just an evening restaurant (when possible we still open during the day by prior arrangement). Our evening trade has been eroded by meat restaurants providing veggie options particularly with mixed groups of meat eaters and veggies. Some of this was covered by Neil Roland in the South Manchester Reporter. For link to article please click here.

BATEMANS HOP BINE ORGANIC BITTER
A popular beer but with an unreliable supply chain. Our stocks finally ran dry in July and as we were about to delete it from our drinks menu, it's reappeared again, so we have plenty of stock for the time being. Let's hope it continues!

OPENING HOURS
We open daily at 6.30pm, last booking 9.30pm (9pm on Sundays) and being in a residential area work to an 11.30pm (previously 11pm BUT still 10.30pm on Sundays) curfew (except for certain special days ie New Year's Eve, St Valentine's Day etc). From 9pm onwards once the restaurant is empty with no advance bookings we will close. We are often able to accept casual diners without a booking up to 9pm. Subject to advance notice, we often able to open up to an hour earlier in the evenings.

Except for the weekends our daytime trade died back in the late '90s but even that has died now. When possible, we plan to continue opening during the day for advance bookings. Preferably at least 24 hours notice but we are sometimes able to accomodate diners at short notice (always worth a phone call). Please click here for details.

PRICE INCREASES
Each year beers and wines are usually subjected to a double price increase, the annual price increase around February/March and the 'Exchequer' increase around March/April. This year we have also been hit with a substantial exchange rate increase due to the falling Pound against the Dollar and Euro. This latter has had quite an effect on other prices notably fruit and vegetables from Spain and Holland.

Our wine list is going through some major changes with a revised selection of wines from Australia, Chile and South Africa with an improved range of both red and white wines. A lot of our beers are Euro based mainly from Belgium and Germany. Their popularity is such that we shall continue with them.

STARLIGHTZ LAMPSHADES
Many diners have expressed interest in our Starlightz lampshades. Not only do they add to the restaurant atmosphere they work well with the mini spiral low energy light bulbs helping to reduce our carbon footprint. The first shade was a Christmas present in 2006. An immediate love relationship developed but it took over 12 months to locate a source of similar shades. As our existing fireglow bulbs fail we are replacing the fittings with alternating 'Mia Orange' and 'Festival Pink' shades. Please click on picture for full details.

BROADLAND WINES
Please note that until such time as the future of the Greenhouse has been settled we will not be replacing our stocks of Broadland Wines. From just Elderberry 25 years ago we have carried all 27 Broadland wines and the Lea Cottage Punch. Except for the 2 meads which are suitable for vegetarians all the others are suitable for vegans. However, Broadland do also bottle some of their range under the Gales label which are more readily available in smaller quantities. So for the time being we are carrying a reduced stock of these as follows:

STREETSMART
We commenced supporting StreetSmart in November 2003. StreetSmart funds a range of homeless charities - some provide shelter and food, while others focus on long term needs, such as job training and counselling. There were two main aspects which appealed to us, all money raised in Manchester stays in Manchester and as all production and administration costs are covered, currently by Harvey Nichols, Manchester Evening News and Forward, every penny raised is spent on the homeless. A voluntary £1 is added to each bill which to date only two people in seven years have declined to pay. In fact, many diners have made very favourable comments about the campaign sometimes offering additional contributions.

GREENHOUSE GIFT VOUCHERS
Our gift vouchers, which have been available on request since 1998, have been redesigned and are now readily available in denominations of £5 up to £100 in £5 increments. For further details please (click here).

SPECIALITY HOT DRINKS
Over the years we have played around with many different hot drink systems. Customer demand fluctuates wildly. Our requirements call for a machine with a small footprint which requires minimal maintenance which will tolerate infrequent use and still produce a consistent high quality drink. We think we've found the answer and our menu offers espresso, carte noire, spiced chai tea, cappuccino and latte as additions to our range of hot beverages. However this only scratches the surface of the range of hot drinks which are now available, we could fill a menu with them. If you don't see what you're looking for please ask, you may get a pleasant surprise!

SERVICE CHARGE
When the National Minimum Wage was introduced in 1999 we were faced with a financial shortfall. Our solution was to introduce a flexible shift finishing time. In order to recompense staff for what became a feast and famine scenario we introduced a 10% service charge across the board to be divided weekly between our casual staff pro rata to the number of hours worked. Tips on the other hand are divided by casual staff at the end of each shift. For further details and history please click here.

DRAUGHT BEERS
During the quiet season until the end of September kegs larger than 30 litre take too long to turnover so our line up has been changed to a selection of 3 of the following 4 beers. Hoegaarden (5.0%) a naturally cloudy white wheat beer from Belgium, Küppers Kölsch (4.8%) with its crisp, dry, distinctive taste from Cologne, Menabrea 1846 (4.8%) a pale lager from Italy it's secret being the water of Biella which is almost mineral free and finally our most recent addition, Timmerman's Strawberry (4.0%) a Belgium esoteric specialty lambic fruit beer spontaneously fermented using the natural micro organisms in the air around Brussels, no yeast being added! Early indications are that this is on target to be our top seller.

We have mounted the dispense head badges for the beers currently on line on the wall dividing the front and back restaurants.Currently we have Hoegaarden , Menabrea 1846 and Timmerman's Strawberry on line.

FREE WI-FI
During early May 2008 we installed a Wi-Fi network which is available free of charge to customers. Anyone wishing to use the system should ask a member of staff for the current network identity and password. For security purposes these are changed daily.

GLAMORGAN SAUSAGES
We've taken a step back in time to the days when we made a soft fill glamorgan sausage but with a slight difference as this time we are char sealing and not using egg. The filling now contains more vegetables and less wheat. As with our original glamorgan sausages the overall flavour is very leek and cheesy with a hint of mustard.

DAIRY FREE ICE CREAM
We added Swedish Glace's 'Wild Blueberry' to our range of dairy free ice creams at the beginning of May 2008, which with the 'Smooth Vanilla', 'Rich Chocolate' and 'Juicy Raspberry' gives us a line up of 4 again.

SELF-CATERING IN FRANCE
Heather and Steve Foster, both veggies, who together with their 2 children and cat, run Le Mimosa, a traditional stone built, 2 bedroom cottage located adjacent to their own home in Les Puechs. The accomodation which can sleep up to 6 people is available to rent throughout the year and is fully vegan friendly, no leather, feathers or wool. They have a comprehensive website with full information and some cracking pictures. Please click on picture for details.

Les Puechs, a small hamlet in the Gard region of the Lanquedoc is some 1200 ft above sea level situated a tad inland between Montpellier and Marseille.

3D JAZZ MUSICIANS
Many diners have taken an interest in our 3 3D illuminated pictures of Jazz Musicians playing piano, saxophone and trumpet. They have a white LED spot light mounted on the top of the frame powered by a built in 4.5 volt battery pack which also incorporates a socket to take a mains adaptor. The effect is still excellent with the light off. We're in the process of having a single lead made to connect the 3 together in parallel using a mains adaptor. Ours were puchased locally in Rusholme but are no longer available from our source. However, I've since found them on the Internet for some 20% less than we paid. Please click on picture for full details.

ONGOING HALLOWEEN SPECIALS
We introduced 2 additional main courses for the Halloween period:
Butternut squash and mixed nut roast (vegan)
Roast pumpkin and goat's cheese pie
In view of their popularity these dishes will probably be continued until the end of the year if not longer.

SMOKING POLICY
The Greenhouse policy on smoking has varied slightly over the years. We have always had a smoke free section BUT since 1997 we have been non smoking throughout the restaurant. However, since 1st July 2007 with the change in law we are totally non smoking under any circumstances. Smoking will still be permitted under the veranda at the front of the restaurant BUT no longer in the porch which is classed as an enclosed area.

DISCOUNTS & SPECIAL PROMOTIONS
Students and members of the Vegetarian or Vegan Societies are entitled to a 10% discount on all meals and drinks purchased except after 5pm on Saturdays and certain booking only days (typically 24th December - 1st January, Valentine's Day, Mothers Day etc). The discount must be claimed prior to the issue of the bill and on production of a valid student ID card, Greenhouse Student Card or membership card per diner. The bill will be reduced pro rata to the number of qualifying diners.

Booking 24 hours or more in advance (1 - 4 people) opens the door to our special promotion designed to save diners up to 50% off our à la carte menu using the "2 for 1" voucher available from this web site (currently at the foot of this page). This replaces and is far superior to our previous early doors promotion (PEDS).

Our Greenhouse Student Card was introduced in October 2001. Initially students could download special vouchers from this site BUT since January 2002 we now e-mail the vouchers direct to card holders. As the word spreads, the number of students coming onboard has accelerated and as from March 2002 has overtaken the levels we previously achieved with Snapfax. For further details please (click here).

DISOS WINES DISCONTINUED
Disos, the much loved, vegan, additive free range of French Wines is being discontinued. Tony Boffey, the driving force behind Disos commented that the escalating bonded warehouse and other costs meant that Disos is no longer cost effective in the UK retail market place. Whilst they could probably still be sold through restaurants, that accounts for a very small section of their existing market. The consignment currently in bond will be their last. Once our existing stocks are sufficiently reduced we will be introducing a range of organic wines from Vintage Roots.

PRINTER FRIENDLY PAGES
Over the coming months we will work through this web site producing printer friendly options for many of the pages and features on the site. An example is the 2 for 1 voucher at the bottom of this page or the Starters, Main Courses, Desserts or Sundries pages from the Food Menu section of this site.

CREDIT AND DEBIT CARDS
Except for American Express and Diners Club, we accept most major credit and debit cards.

Since the end of January 2005 most credit and debit card transactions have been confirmed using a PIN number rather than a signature. Our new terminal was installed on the 19th December 2003. This is a small hand held unit which is taken to the table. If the card presented by a diner is configured for PIN authorisation, the terminal will ask for the diner to enter their PIN number (like at a cash machine - we cannot see the number nor is it recorded on our system).

This is all part of a major step to cut down on card fraud. This system has been in use on the continent and many other countries for some years with considerable success.