FIRST LOOK | 63 Degrees Restaurant Moves And Improves

Confidentials 7 August 2015

63 DEGREES has been amongst my top ten Manchester restaurants since it opened in 2011.

We want the food and wine to be the stars of course but we want people to feel really at ease here.

The food quality has been consistently high from that date delivering memorable dishes such as a sea bass tartare with caviar which 'packed in flavours like people cramming into a Mini to get a Guinness World Record'. There have been perfect veloutes, exquisite meat dishes and some of the most cleverly constructed desserts around. The food has always looked beautiful.

Part of the charm has been the close attention to detail of the family that own it, a relocated bunch of Parisians by the name of Moreau. Alex is the owner and boss of the business and Eric, his dad, is the chef. They have a very French, no-nonsense, no compromise, way of doing things that has gained them a deserved reputation and a loyal following. There is also the sister business owned by Alex in Didsbury, the acclaimed patisserie Bisous Bisous.

Back in the city centre the pair have moved out of their cramped if good-looking restaurant on Church Street, over the road from fake swords and weird bikes in Ridelow and down the road from one of the most 'interesting' bus stops anywhere, to a seemingly perfect location on High Street, the former Market Restaurant.

Eric and Alex Moreau

The Market was a Northern Quarter pioneer delivered by the team of Peter and Anne O'Grady and chef Su Su Edgecombe. It opened in the eighties when all around was failing and it stuck it out as a Good Food Guide regular until the area started to turn. After they left the business in a few years ago it declined.

Now it has been re-invented. Now it is glorious. I only went in to take pictures but left satiated and happy having munched and gargled one of the best food and drink combinations in the region. The pictures tell the tale and we'll be doing a formal review in a little while, but the seabass, the lamb (with a wonderful gravy from the meat juices and bones reduced overnight), the scallops and strawberry dessert were so lovely people should book now and get stuck in. The two wines shown in the images on this page, a very pure and smooth white and a port-like dessert wine from Grenache grapes were exquisite.

There are 60 covers across two floors and potential, once the licensing has come through, for another 25 on the terrace outside, under the old fish market walls. The colour scheme is gold, black and teal, but the main decoration are the bars and the linen covered tables with sparkling cutlery and a single flower in a vase - there's some quality to linen tablecloths that make a dining experience feel special. There is a generous wine cellar too. Alex envisages a comprehensive programme of tastings and events.

63 Degrees, High Street

Alex Moreau told Confidential, "I want the new 63 Degrees to be very comfortable, with the tables more spread out compared to former site on Church Street. We want the food and wine to be the stars of course but we want people to feel really at ease here and be excited about what we offer. This building should allow us to really show off what we can do."

There aren't enough proper French places in Manchester. In fact there are only two in the city centre, 63 Degrees and Bistrovin on Deansgate with its wine shop downstairs and its wine bar upstairs. Cote is a chain and does what it does fairly well, but for the classic chef-proprieteur Frenchie restaurant then 63 Degrees is the only game in town. Get in there before it gets too busy.

63 Degrees is at 104 High Street, Manchester, M4 1HQ. 0161 832 5438