A MOLECULAR cocktail laboratory, cryogenic drinks freezer AND kangaroo tacos all in one fun bundle. Sounds Impossible? Well, that’s just what it is – the bizarre new venture of that name in the old Bar 38 site next to Great Northern.
Bar/eaterie Impossible Manchester and separate gin nest Ginpossible are further confirmation of Peter Street’s regeneration, following the arrival of Revolucion de Cuba, Sakana, Brewdog and, above all, Albert’s Schloss with a Rudy’s Pizza also in the pipeline.
None of them offer the same possibilities (sic) as this entertainment experiment from serial club entrepreneur Aaron Mellor, officially opening on Wednesday, June 19 with a VIP bash.
It promises drinks inspired by the amazing feats achieved in Manchester alongside impossibly difficult signature dishes such as salt and pepper crickets and those Skippy-themed tacos and 63 Impossible gins from around the globe. Oh yes, and it looks really crepuscular and cosy inside. In contrast, the garden outside is one of the city's best sun traps.
Mellor is MD of Tokyo Industries, the UKs largest privately owned nightclub operator, with 36 of the UKs coolest bars, clubs and music festivals. But this latest project is dear to his heart – a homage to his home town, origin of everything the first computer to the first ice cream cone; the first passenger railway to splitting the atom, the decor reflecting such feats.
Following a £3m renovation of the three floor site with a chequered past the ground floor will feature a 280 cover bar/restaurant serving a duplex menu. A full kitchen menu operates noon until 9pm with a separate ‘Impossible Taco’ popup serving guests through to the early hours.
The second floor mezzanine area has been transformed into a gin palace featuring a log fired hideaway with secret booths, and a molecular cocktail laboratory with an alcoholic mist condenser and an ‘Impossibubble’ lickable champagne bubble generator. The idea is to challenge your perceptions
A cryogenic freezer, one of only three in the world, will be used to freeze any alcohol at minus 74 degrees so that guests can ‘eat’ a selection cocktails. Barman Alex debuted it for us, producing a flight of four frozen gins, each ‘cryogenised’ with a splash of tonic, and then beautifully garnished on a platter.
Hazard warning – slurp 'em quick or they are mush (or maybe it was just the hottest day of the year for the launch). Too hot to get wrapped up in the snazzy fur wraps draped over banquettes in the cosy upstairs gin den.
Impossible, Peter St, Manchester M2 5GP.