TASTE of Manchester is accustomed to attending openings when the last lick of paint is still drying or they haven’t chiseled off the nails in the rustic tables. Sometimes even the menus haven’t been printed. B.EAT Street is, well, different. You don’t keep your street food cred by slapping on a smooth veneer.
So once-moribund Deansgate Mews, site of their new permanent Great Northern Warehouse successor to the boys’ hugely popular Friday Food Fight pop-up retains its rough and ready look. Perfect for an alternative food, booze and art universe, complete with Godzilla murals and a seven metre long T-Rex.
The leftfield imagination of co-hosts Chris Legh, Lyndon Higginson and Bart Murphy has certainly run riot in this hipster-friendly enclave high above dull old Deansgate. And there’s a welcome variety, too, to the range of food and drink on offer.
The split-level, heated all-weather terrace with a rooftop sun deck and outdoor grill host seven hand-picked street food traders, across micro-diners serving 150 covers:
Big Grillie Style: "Best loaded grilled cheese sandwiches this side of Cincinnati or Chicago" apparently.
Bart’s Dog Kart: Dogs, nachos, loud Hawaiian shirts.
Bali Beach Hut: Indonesian street food from family recipes.
Eat New York: Salt beef, bagels, loaded shakes that are a bite out of the Big Apple
Indian Street Canteen: South Indian stuff from the savvy folk who brought you Chaat Cart.
Lekker: Dutch diner with their own sweet-toothed handle on pancakes
Jerk: Charcoal-fired Jamaican barbecue.
The three bars are definitely an eclectic bunch, too:
Milk of Burgundy, a wine bar with no pretensions (and coffee, too). Whether it’s name comes from Shakespeare’s King Lear or an outré Chicago performance space TOM is not sure. We do know that…
Kozel Bar comes from the Czech name for billy-goat (koza). The brewery in Velké Popovice providing acclaimed beer (the Dark is highly recommended) has had a live well-groomed goat as its mascot since the 19th century. We don’t expect it to come over for the launch, but we do expect it to be rammed! There should be plenty of Lucky Cats, though, at...
Lucky Lucky, which is flagged up as “a sleazy, neon-lit nod to Tokyo dive bars”. This is where the cats, Japanese film posters and Godzilla murals enter the scheme of things. Also prepare for a huge gong to summon us all to wacky end cocktails.
The art contribution to the 9,000 sq ft development looks equally wacky with outdoor and indoor installations plus the Brickhouse Gallery, curated by local artist Harrison Edwards.
Follow @beatstreetmcr for further news.
Our thanks for the pictures to Carl Sukonik of The Vain Photography.
