THAT glorious Oxford Road ‘sleeping giant’ The Palace Hotel is shaking off the cobwebs big time in one of the most astonishing reinventions even for Manchester.
As part of its multi-million pound refurb it has hired the Unabombers to curate an uber-cool overhaul of its food and drink offering. Justin Crawford and Luke Cowdrey and, DJs turned bar entrepreneurs, will oversee the new look open-plan restaurant, bar and lobby, created by knocking together the Whitworth Suite, Tempest bar and the main lounge.
Fear not the over-top Victorian exuberance of the Grade II listed former Refuge Insurance Building will not be lost. “It’s going to look stunning, it really is, “ says Luke. “It’s such a beautiful, opulent space it’s hard to do anything other than respect it. There’s no novelty going on, it will be maintaining that original feel.”
That won’t be the case with the food, TOM trusts. Justin and Luke, after creating the excellent Elektrik bar in Chorlton, went one better with Volta on Burton Road, West Didsbury, which was shortlisted for Restaurant of the Year in the 2016 Manchester Food and Drink Awards and won Chef of the Year.
When the Palace revamp is completed in the summer the pair hope to replicate the laid-back but buzzy dining experience found at Volta and the kind of relaxed vibe of London’s Hoxton Hotel. They are keeping quiet about their plans for the food and drink menu but check out the current Volta menu to see the kind of thing that night be in shore for Palace punters.
Volta will continue to operate as normal and is going from strength to strength, having just extended upstairs.