SOLITA will open their third restaurant in the former Aumbry restaurant site in Prestwich this May.
Confidential hears they're not done there. Sotgiu hopes to open a fourth Solita this year and an entirely new concept altogether this summer.
The award-winning Aumbry restaurant by Great British Menu finalist and Guardian food columnist, Mary Ellen-McTague, closed in September 2014 for a supposed refurbishment.
However, questions about the future of the Prestwich restaurant (which features in 2014's Waitrose Good Food Guide and AA Guide) were raised when workers failed to show and McTague made moves into Manchester city centre with Northern Quarter pop-up restaurant 4244.
Solita will occupy the former-Aumbry in Prestwich
It has now been revealed that Franco Sotgiu, co-owner of Northern Quarter and Didsbury burger restaurant Solita, creator of the renowned 'Big Manc' and all-round Manchester wheeler-dealer, has been lining-up the area in North Manchester for many months.
No surprise here, Prestwich has been gentrifying at pace for some time (see the trendy bricks'n'mortar Cuckoo cafe and Chorlton-esque Village Green community co-op) and is now the default choice for many young white collar-types unable to meet escalating Didsbury/Chorlton property prices. Plus, it's on Franco's drive home.
The third 150-cover Solita restaurant will occupy the Aumbry and neighbouring Bombay restaurant sites on the corner of Bury New Road and Church Lane.
The restaurant will feature an outdoor terrace, central kitchen, butchery and meat maturing room on site. Sotgiu hopes to employ a full-time butcher in the restaurant to prepare steaks, burgers and other grill items for all three Solita sites.
The second Solita opened in Didsbury in September 2014
Big Manc by Solita
Sotgiu said: “Prestwich has been in our sights since early last year when we looked at a pub to convert, but the deal fell through.
"The Bombay gave us an entry to Prestwich but we were always concerned that the site was going to be on the small side for us. The unexpected option to deal on the Aumbry site too has been a welcome bonus. Aumbry is a special place for me as it’s where my wife and I had our wedding breakfast - in fact, we were the first couple to do so there.
"Prestwich is a vibrant and thriving village, and we’re glad to be part of its expansion and regeneration, and hopefully our move there will encourage other operators to invest in the area.”
It's been a busy few months for Sotgiu and business-partner Simon Pogson, who took on the doomed former-Cibo restaurant site on Didsbury's School Lane to open a second 150-cover Solita in September last year.
Confidential hears they're not done there. Sotgiu hopes to open a fourth Solita this year and an entirely new concept altogether this summer.
The new Solita will open at 401 Bury New Road in late-May 2015.
