THE lights are going out all over Manchester. That’s a huge exaggeration but it has been a wobbly week with a spate of restaurant closures in Manchester city centre culminating in the demise of Quill (above), high profile symbol of King Street’s regeneration.
This self-styled ‘den of delectable dining and drinks’ closed its doors on Tuesday, June 4.
A poignant closure notice posted on the door reads: “We are now closing our final chapter. We have always prided ourselves on doing things the right way and we are currently in the process of doing a full housekeep, closing all accounts and making sure all staff and suppliers are fully paid.”
Some £1.7m was reputedly lavished on creating Quill, which has lasted barely eight months. TOM loved tyro chef Curtis Stewart’s ambitious food on first acquaintance, but it was always a risk asking punters to fork out £80 for an eight course tasting menu up top (£145 with matching wines).
It is believed its owner Chris Longmate, who also runs Chalk in Didsbury, has found a buyer ready to move in immediately. That would spare us the forlorn sight of restaurant premises standing empty like gaps in a row of teeth. What next for the Pizza Express site in Ridgefield? Or for other casualties this week, Splendid Kitchen on John Dalton Street and Grinch on Chapel Walks, both of which have blamed the delayed Second City Crossing Metrolink works for blighting their trade.
Mud Crab Industries, who have jettisoned veteran bar Grinch, resorted to gallows humour on the website:
'So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye After 22 years we heave a sigh and say goodbye – Goodbye!
The trams works have won, an area destroyed, others have closed and so must we
So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye'.
Neighbouring premises, once Simple, are also empty, which must be a sobering shot across the bows for the out-of-towners currently fitting out nearby Grafene at a £1 million cost.
That site, formely Brasserie Blanc has stood empty for eight years, marginally less than another heavily funded but doomed project, Ithaca (above, across from current casualty Splendid Kitchen).
Of course, there are still far more places opening than closing but every boom has its casualties, we have been reminded again this week. The media can be vulnerable, too. Back in 2008 when Raymond Blanc abandoned his Manchester Brasserie, the Independent lamented the decline of the restaurant trade in an article inelegantly headlined 'The Munch Crunch'. And where is that particular newspaper now?