GASTRO-concept chain The New Moon Company is to open branch of its Manchester operation, Beef & Pudding, in the former Noble House restaurant.

Owners Dave Mooney and Paul Newman say 40 jobs will be created in the 140-cover venue which sits directly opposite the Restaurant Bar & Grill on Brunswick Street.

Noble House, which came from the former owners of Alma de Cuba, served up some pretty decent fine dining when it opened in 2011. But it closed two years later when the landlord of the Heywood Building changed the locks. At the time Noble House blamed the "onerous nature of the current lease" which meant that the business had struggled to make money in the second dip of the recession.

No such worries for Beef & Pudding. It's the second Liverpool restaurant announcement from New Moon which revealed plans earlier this year to convert the Old Blind School, aka the former Merseyside Trade Union and Unemployment Resource Centre, on Hardman Street, into a bar/restaurant. That is set to open in June.

As with the other Beef & Pudding, "the menu will focus on fresh, well-sourced food, while the drinks menu will offer a wide choice of wine, local real ales, sparkling wine, and cocktails," (booze)  it says here.

The company already operates several locations in Cheshire Life Land  including the Lord Binning Pub & Kitchen in Kelsall, the Old Sessions House Pub & Kitchen in Knutsford, and the Mockingbird Taproom in Chester.

Mooney trained with Raymond Blanc and also worked as a commis chef to Marco Pierre White, while Newman was one of the founders of Living Ventures.