WE never saw this one coming Michael ‘Man behind the Curtain’ O’Hare opens a restaurant in a spot that has never needed curtains. Indeed it was not until the doomed Le Mont morphed into the equally doomed The Modern that they even opened up more of the opaque grey glazing that stopped the occasional punters getting one of the best views of Manchester from the top of the iconic Urbis building.
The icons celebrated inside Ian Simpson’s distinctive building were indeed very indistinct in its early years, but now as the National Football Museum it celebrates the beautiful game that has spawned Sam Allardyce, Joey Barton and a bevy of bountiful overseas owners.
Football’s good guys, certainly when it comes to investing in places to eat and drink, are ex-United stars Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs. So this week’s announcement they were going to open another Cafe Football, this time on the ground floor of the Museum seemed a football match made in heaven. ToM enjoyed the Cafe Football experience (above) down at Hotel Football near Old Trafford – ‘Cafe Football Hits The Target With Some Premier League Bar Food’.
But the pair’s Urbis plans don’t stop there. Beam yourself up six floors and you are in the kind of fantasy land where Leicester City win the Premier League (well, that never really happened, did it?). Actually, the plans of rock star style chef O’Hare (we understand he’s a Middlesbrough fan) may almost transcend that feat. How about a Space Age Asian tasting menu joint? It is to be called The Rabbit On The Moon and will occupy the fifth and sixth floors, as did its ill-fated predecessors. Reached by lift again.We hope they can make that a warmer experience. Perhaps linnet with rabbit fur?
The project has been thought up during O’Hare’s tenure as ‘creative director’ for Neville and Giggs’ GG Hopsitality empire, which is redeveloping the former Stock Exchange off Market Street into a boutique hotel with three restaurants.
O’Hare’s Michelin-starred Man behind the Curtain in Leeds, meanwhile, still boasts epic waiting lists thanks to its chef/proprietor’s high profile success on the BBC’s Great British Menu.
Named after an Asian fable, the new venture will be overseen by O’Hare with protégé Luke Cockerill joining the kitchen from his The Man Behind The Curtain as head chef. He’s pictured right with his boss. It will serve a ‘space age Asian’ tasting menu in the evenings, from Tuesday to Saturday, along with a drinks offering created by Matt Whiley, of London bar consultancy Talented Mr Fox.