THE Man is rarely behind the Curtain these days. Michelin-starred Michael O’Hare, fresh from mentoring on the BBC’s current Masterchef finals, has spoken to the influential Restaurant magazine, about his plans for Manchester.
On the back of his rock n’ roll restaurant style that put Leeds on the culinary map, O’Hare was hired by Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs as creative director for GG Hospitality, operating company behind Hotel Football.
His remit, though, is not towards that successful brand. He is there to help shape the food offering at their 30-bed boutique hotel destined to open in the former Stock Exchange building off Market Street in 18 months’ time. “Quite a cool job actually,” he told Restaurant, adding that the high end hotel was going to be very F and B (food and beverage) led.
He admitted: “I’m not quite sure about the direction. There are going to be three restaurants in the building and they are all going to be quite different. I’m not saying one is going to be McDonalds and one the Gavroche but there will be different levels of enjoyment. Not necessarily for the poor and the rich. I like the idea you could stay there and do all three. Restaurants with rooms. The main dining room is going to be phenomenal.
”Gary Neville, in particular, is very keen on development for Manchester and it doesn’t stop there. These three initially, maybe a fourth. There are visions to go further afield.”
O’Hare confirmed in the audio interview he will continue to run Man Behind The Curtain in Leeds.