DAYS to go to the launch of the spectacular Albert’s Schloss and Taste of Manchester is dusting down its lederhosen and straining its larynx with the odd yodel. All to give a big Wunderbar! and Willkommen! to this self-styled Bier Palace and Cook Haus on Peterstrasse (OK, Peter Street).
Upstairs is Methodist temple turned iconic music venue the Albert Hall, below is now a mix of Bavaria, neighbouring Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic) and any Alp where the edelweiss rears its winsome little head. The extra oompah in the concept comes from the folk behind Trof, Gorilla, Deaf Institute and Albert Hall teaming up with Revolution Bar founders Roy Ellis and Neil Macleod.
Their advance warning promises roaring fires, taxidermy, dark wood and debauchery. There’s a nod to to Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s Teutonic spouse, in a brand that sounds more Willie than Kaiser Wilhelm, but promises to be fun.
To fuel this Lust for Leben the Schloss features Manchester’s first Tankovna, serving the freshest, unpasteurised Pilsner Urquell this side of the Danube from four 900 pint copper barrels – refilled each week after a perilous cross-continental beer run. There are also 10 'heritage (sic) brews' on tap, Alpine cocktails and the weird and wonderful flavours of homemade Schnapps.
The culinary offering in the 350 cover restaurant is Germanic Strasse Food. Pretzels, doughnuts, cinnamon knots and sourdough bread are freshly made every day in the Schloss’s own bakery. The mains are rustic – expect schweinshaxe (pork knuckle), sauerbraten, meatballs, sausages and schnitzel. Those with less hearty appetites should try Flammkuchen (below) – a traditional German/Alsatian flatbread, topped with meats, cheese and creme fraiche.
There’ll be a different music offering every night from Albert’s Indie Duke Box to On The Piste – apres ski party vibes, utilising a state of the art sound system, as you’d expect. from these guys.
The look of the places is ski lodge/beer hall gone berserk – TOM approves. Especially the bum-friendly, undulating benches. 80 per cent of the wood used – and there is a lot of wood – is reclaimed and the floors are made out of 200-year-old timber taken from a whisky distillery in Scotland. The white cream bar bricks were taken from a former mental institution near Preston, while the white wood is from Rusholme’s old tram shed. The stained glass is original.
Albert's Schloss opens to the general public on Sunday, October 18
