Promotion

TARIFF & Dale is now more known for cool than cotton - in fact, according to The Times it’s amongst the top 25 coolest eateries in Britain - but the restaurant site was once home to a very different industry to that of hospitality.

 

A hydraulic press still lurks at the back of the kitchen

 

And the address 2 Tariff didn’t even exist until T&D invented it: its front door was originally the tradesmen’s entrance of 45 Dale Street.

Yes, for those in the know, this is one restaurant that serves up a side of history with its wood-fired pizzas and artisan sausage rolls: occupying a site whose story is one of the most fascinating in Manchester.

 

 

The tale, of course, begins with textiles - which, along with metalworking, formed the original building’s primary trades. Torn down around 1885, it re-emerged as the showroom and warehouse of cotton spinners Ralph Waller & Co Ltd; a manufacturer who lived in a fine house in Withington and who financed Wilmslow Road’s Methodist Church.

 

 

A hydraulic press still lurks at the back of the kitchen, harking back to a time when the basement was filled with weaving machines and looms. It’s one of several clues that bespeak the building’s rich heritage for those who know where to look.

 

 

For instance, hanging in the doorway you’ll find a black-edged envelope from 1896, stamped with a penny lilac and addressed to Messrs Willcocks & Sons Ltd. Following Waller’s death, the building was occupied by several businesses - one being that of Mr Willcocks, a merchant of Cheapside then living in a Chortlon mansion on Edge Lane.  

 

 

In the lobby stands an old bale crusher while in the entrance you’ll find a vintage weighing machine. Even the restaurant logo is reminiscent of the cogs that once powered Manchester’s position at the heart of the Industrial Revolution.

 

 

It’s not only the building’s history as a mid nineteenth century cotton warehouse that have history buffs weak at the knees, however. Bombed during the Manchester Blitz of WW2, it might well have crumbled to dust were it not for the huge girders in the basement.  

 

 

So, whether you’re popping in for a craft beer or cocktail in the lift shaft booth - another quirky feature - or enjoying explosive (sorry) cuisine in the downstairs basement, just remember you’re one of many chapters in the Tariff & Dale tale.

Tariff & Dale, 2 Tariff St, Manchester M1 2FN

Find out more