FRESH from celebrating their first birthday – naturally with a swish party on their vertiginous rooftop terrace (there was even a magician) – it looks onwards and upwards for 20 Stories. Not that physically the restaurant/bar can get more upwards.
Already they have announced the arrival of an interesting new exec chef, Brian Hughson, aiming to take the food offering to a new level (staying with the metaphor).
20 Stories, the kitchens then headed by Aiden Byrne, opened on February 28 in Manchester’s coldest night in a decade, not the easiest of baptisms for that open air terrace.
The city’s biggest success story of recent times? Judge from the first 12 months statistics released. 20 Stories has accounted for 114,265 diners in the restaurant and seen customers order 22,117 steaks. Then there is the not so small matter of 12,631 ‘20 Stories’ signature cocktails enjoyed on that terrace, alongside 97,582 pints of Peroni beer, 97,203 G&Ts and 21,609 glasses of its Manchester Tart Punch Cocktail. Overall first year cocktail total 161,503; champagne/sparkling wine 35,157.
Marketing manager Becky Wilkes told us: “It’s been an incredible first year for 20 Stories – the restaurant has exceeded all expectations in terms of the number of diners who have passed through our doors and the response of the city to our unrivalled roof top bar terrace. With a new head chef in place and changes to the menu afoot, we expect the next 12 months to be equally exciting.“