“APPARENTLY they’re filming the new ITV television series Houdini & Doyle next door – I’m pretty certain it’s not the upcoming movie with Johnny Depp. We’d benefit from a lot of the crowds outside if it did,” smiles architect-turned-entrepreneur Nick Muir. Confidential is getting a preview of Muir's first bar and restaurant venture, Cottonopolis, on the burgeoning Dale Street, Northern Quarter.
We’ve been sympathetic to the building and the original features.
In 2011, the nearby buildings were also the setting for Hollywood blockbuster Captain America: The First Avenger including a scene for a ripped Chris Evans to leg it after a demonic red Nazi agent in a 1940s' New York.
Muir similarly picked his unit on Dale Street, above Black Sheep skate store, for its authentic period features.
“The previous owner would use this site for period dramas,” says Muir, jumping over some building work. “It had been crying out for something. I’ve been looking at the building for some time. It’s Grade II Listed and a former textile warehouse, so the name Cottonopolis felt appropriate.”
Captain America On Dale StreetIt is. Back when Manchester was the smoggy 'first modern industrial city' and the sky was a faded to grayscale this was 'Cottonopolis' dubbed for its control of the global cotton industry with over 80% of the world trade in the finished material being bought and sold from the Royal Exchange. That age of textile dominance, of mills and warehouses, still defines the city in the Northern Quarter, Chinatown, the Village and down past Oxford Road.
Today, Cottonopolis, is an 80 cover bar and restaurant. It aims to have Manchester's industrial heritage entwined in the walls and the fit-out but not necessarily in the food.
“We found a load of sewing machines under the floorboards – some we’ll keep. We’ve been sympathetic to the building and the original features. The cast iron columns still remain as do the original lifts. Timber floors have been retained," says Muir.
It's a large upper floor space, benefitting from original windows and high ceiling. Muir, hands-on in building process, has installed a generous sized bar ready for a wide ale selection. There's to be an open kitchen, although what it will serve is still up for deliberation.
He adds: "We're thinking along the lines of Pan-Asian food. It'll potentially be Japanese junk food. We were conscious to not replicate the burgers and the pizzas already in the area."
Why not a modern British theme given the name?
"Well in the Victorian era, the British were always sampling ideas and flavours from elsewhere. We robbed so many other ideas - so we didn't think we had to stick to British. We think pan-Asian will sit comfortably with the Northern Quarter's current offering," says Muir, enthusiastically stretching a point.
Cottonopolis above Black Sheep
On first look, Cottonopolis will be welcomed with open arms into the Northern Quarter bar circuit. The surrounding area continually gains new life and benefits from continued gentrification with punters spilling out from Kosmonaut and El Capo.
Muir was still applying the finishing touches when we visited, in the middle of painting on his 'reworked' Manchester Bee logo when we met. He's given himself a month and a half to finish and open doors.
Fresh and new to the fold, how does he think it'll go down with the punters?
"It'll be mega. It feels like the right time to do a project like this and we're excited."
Follow @LOreal_B on Twitter.
