When Ply opened its doors just over three months ago, the pizza oven (or, aspiring disco ball) stole the show. The social media magnet glittered away in the corner, and come the opening night, pictures of the ostentatious oven were winking at you from all over the twittersphere.
But Ply describes itself as a ‘creative space’. There must be more to it than pizza.
Now the heat of the oven has died down, I’m meeting with Hana Kaczor-Dawson and Beki Rymsza, GM and Marketing Manager of Ply to find out what’s behind the pizza paddle.
So, lets get straight to it. What does creative space actually mean?
‘It’s about people being able to use the space in different ways,’ Beki explains. ‘It’s creative in the sense that we really support art. We have artists coming from all over the world in the next 12 months. We have the doodle wall so local artists are invited to refresh the art.’
The current exhibition is from New York based fashion illustrator Will Broome. ‘Will Broome: A Retrospective’, is an eclectic mix of the artist’s signature wide eyed characters, including pandas, bears and owls.
As well as the exhibition, Ply also hosts a Doodle Wall, which provides a more spontaneous outlet for local artists.
From April 21, Ply officially launched its large-scale Doodle Wall and the first artist to make her mark was Manchester based illustrator and photographer Katie Cooper. Refreshed every eight weeks, the Doodle Wall is a long-term initiative delivered in partnership with Absolut, Ply’s arts partner.
Beki was also keen to point out their mini library, which is nestled in the corner of the room.
‘We’ve got the book exchange which ties in with that. It’s a little area in the bar where we have loads and loads of books, you can sit and have a read and you can pop one in if there’s on you want to swop.’
Ply have been getting creative with the menu too. A shake up of the cocktails and a new summer lunch menu are another reason to pop in. The lunches were launched just two weeks ago, and feature a flatbread sandwich made from scratch, and fired in the famous oven.
‘We’re going to look at putting some summer salads on the menu in the next couple of weeks,’ adds Hanah.
‘The salads will be rustic with local ingredients, but with an Italian twist. We want them to be nice and fresh for summer.’
The cocktails, beers and wines are getting a summer makeover, with a new cocktail menu launching in the coming weeks.
‘We’re getting more seasonal beers. For example we have a really heavy coffee stout, for summer we’re doing Flat White by ABC. Even though it’s a heavy porter stout it’s a lighter drink.’
‘We’re also changing the cocktail menu in the next two weeks... We’ve kept the popular ones, and there’s a couple of classics on there with a twist. We’re also going to do a spritz menu as a sub menu, which is going to have an Aperol Spritz featuring.’
'We’re getting a rosé prosecco – keeping with the Italian theme. I havant seen that anywhere else in Manchester, so that’s something we’ll do by the glass.'
Finally, Beki affirms the ethos of Ply in three words; 'bright, creative and fun.' With this in mind, try not to be dazzled too much by the pizza oven, and explore some of the other layers that Ply has to offer.
Ply, 26 Level Street, Northern Quarter, M1
1DW
0161 711 0401
In association with PLY