OUR heads re spinning here at ToM – there’s so many openings, so many projects. So if we miss you out in our (wishful thinking?) Spring Is Nearly Here Round-up, sincere apologies.
Launching a new food and drink business is always bold step. It looks even more so just as the Government’s Insolvency Unit has revealed that the number of restaurants going bust rose by 20 per cent last year. Reasons given? Increased competition, higher wage bills, rising business rates and rents, even food price inflation.
So a tough old scrap for trade out there for our myriad contenders, highest profile of which is 20 Stories, first Manchester/restaurant bar from highly experienced operators D&D London. Ahead of its official opening in March 1, check out our first look at the spectacular sky-high operation and an interview with its Chef Director Aiden Byrne.
We’ve also been down to enjoy new creative members’ lounge The Daisy, also opening on March 1, and have seen Altrincham’s artisan newcomer Blanchflower expand into evenings.
It’s not an A-Z of openings and future projects but we may as well stay with A for Altrincham, foodie boom town. Tre Ciccio has opened on Moss Lane. Its selling point is roast chicken diavola and pizza from Campania, Naples’s hinterland. The tuna and beans, below, looks pretty tempting, too.
Ancoats
A is also for fellow hot spot Ancoats, which as a raft of projects on the way including a second, much bigger Sugo,in Sawmill Court, following huge acclaim in (where else?) Altrincham, a second El Gato Negro, this time exploring the Moorish influence on Spanish cuisine, and Hip Hop Chip Shop finding a permanent berth by the summer First new arrival, at Cotton Field Wharf before a second Cask beer bar, should be Pollen Bakery this spring, already relishing the chance to expand denied them at their Sheffield Street arch. April is the designated launch month for a final Ancoats newcomer, self-styled neighbourhood bar, The Jane Eyre – named after the mum of the Eyre brothers who have created it. They promise small plates and special Bloody Marys from their base in One Cutting Room Square.
Fancy a new Italian?
Smart looking bistro Cibo is now open in what was Per Tutti on Liverpool Road. The folk from Don Giovanni have refitted it and refreshed the menu, using Naples, home town of head chef Salvatore Galdo, as their inspiration. Like so many new places, it’s an all-day operation. Noi Quattro in Smithfield Square is still a way off. Scheduled for the autumn, this offshoot of the popular and affordable Pasta Factory on Shudehill, bills itself as an authentic, traditional pizzeria. The ovens (pictured below), about to be shipped from Italy, certainly look the part. Follow its progress via @noiquattro
The second Rudy’s Neapolitan Pizza may be open before them, in late April, as work goes on a apace to convert the former Army Careers Office on Peter Street, next door to Albert’s Schloss, whose owners Mission Mars took a big share in the Ancoats indie groundbreaker. Like Rudy’s, Blend Pizza and Taste Lab, which opened a fortnight ago in Didsbury, is not run by Italians, as evidenced by Full English and mac n’ cheese on the menu. First reports are encouraging.
Or shall support the autonomous food of Catalonia
Pep Guardiola, no less, is a backer for Tast Cuina Catalana, a Catalan restaurant set to open in the old King Street site of Quill and Suri in June. With a multi-Michelin chef at the helm and the organisational nous of Fazenda behind it, we have high hopes for the project. Full preview here.
What’s Hatching down Oxford Road?
Hatch, under the Mancunian Way flyover (M1 7ED) is a street food pop-up initiative by developers Bruntwood. Already in situ in the shipping units are Blue Caribou Canteen, Eat & Sweet, El Marchador Tacos and Takk Coffee, alongside Takk’s nano/brewery/bar sibling, Te Öl, with a further street food star turn, Oh My Glaze set to add their sticky wings (below) to this indie mall mix very soon. Follow @OhMyGlaze Plus in April supper club whizzes Firebird Hope will land with a mission to create the best chicken sandwich in town (perhaps the Nationale at The Mackie Mayor would have something to ay about that, mind).=
The Mysterious East
We are promised Tokyo Ramen at 55 Church Street in the Northern Quarter this spring specialising in Tsukemen noodles (a cold ramen noodle served with a side soup or sauce for dipping) and twice-fried chicken karaage. With broth as the base, no bookings and just 20 covers, its British owners promise a very Japanese experience, That’s the pledge, too, for a more secretive project from Sax and Haz Arshad, the brothers behind Mughli, Evelyns and Daisy. Brothers Izakaya has its own email address but no real address yet, but the plan is a homage to the Japanese equivalent of a late night pub, where you nibble on yakitori skewers while getting quietly slaughtered on Sake and Shōchū. The Koreans have their own similar firewater called Soju. Whether it will be on the shelves at the ‘Nh West’s Biggest Korean BBQ House’ set to occupy the old Grinch site on Chapel Walks, ToM hasn’t a clue (we said it was the Mysterious East) but believe it is a spin-off from Ban di Bul in St Peter’s Square. Definitely open at 43 Barlow Moor Road is OKitchen, a bar serving a mix of Japanese and Korean foo. Oh yes, and alongside some exotic cocktails, yes, it sells Soju.
Two fascinating projects for late spring
Japan again, but this time we are in the hands of the sushi masters of award-winning Umezushi. Their partially crowd-funded KIAA project will occupy a neighbouring Mirabel Street arch across from to Manchester Arena. It’sa kind of overspill kitchen from the 16-cover restaurant proper, which has become the victim of its own popularity, but also a deli where the public can acquire the freshest of fish and the proper ingredients to make your own sushi. Cookery classes will teach you basic knife skills, fish filleting and the like. There’ll also be a Sake cellar. Sounds fascinating. Chef Terry Heung and his team tell us to expect it to be in operation come May.
The Creameries in Chorlton should be open by then after a major refurb of a shell. Former Aumbry chef Mary-Ellen McTague in tandem with baker Sophie yeoman and designer Snoo Wilkinson have crowdfunded to complete their grand design for the iconic Wilbraham Road dairy site. Artisan bread, the UK’s finest cheese and a community hub, it promises to be amazing.
Meanwhile, Chorlton is home to another ambitious transformation – of the Sher Akbar site at 72-74 Manchester Road into Cantor's Food Store, a Cheadle-born music entrepreneur’s deli tribute to Yottam Ottlolenghi, the chef/writer who gave sumac and pomegranate molasses to the chattering classes. The fit-out is apparently inspired by Los Angeles warehouse bakeries. How chic, how Chorlton. We wish it well, but our money’s on The Creameries.
Manchester Hall – slow burn
ToM is a big fan of Mason’s, the restaurant that opened at the same time as the events space that has transformed the former Freemasons Hall, but the rest of the food offeering seems a long way off. We know that Leeds’ Pintura will not now be moving into what has been the complex’s Garage Bar, but Dishoom, Mumbai-inspired upmarket Indian cafe chain, will. Summer looks the earliest time for the arrival of spectacular Pan-Asian restaurant and bar Fable (above, what it’s going to look like) from Panacea’s Joe Akka.
Work for Idle Hands
Idle Hands have had a disruptive three years thanks to landlord wrangles but have finally found a new NQ home opening soon – at 35 Dale Street, opposite the site they originally planned for. Good luck to caffeine whizzes Dave Wolinski and Lucy Phillips. Check their Tweets @idlehandscoffee. Already open is Pioneer Coffee in the Federation Building (M4 4BF) on Shudehill near Victoria Station, using beans from the local roasters, Heart and Graft. It’s also a licensed diner, offering brunch, sharing platters and Sunday roasts (main picture).