IF you'd have said twenty years ago, 'You know what, I think I'll open a cute little neighbourhood restaurant in Ancoats serving French toast and Tuscan Bean Stew', you'd have been branded an utter barmpot.
Two new restaurants on one public square? Eggs. Basket.
As the clank of those 'dark, satanic mills' ceased, the collapse of industry saw a period of decay, crime and dereliction in Ancoats, one that would continue into the early 00s when the area was still considered the domain of wastrels, swindlers and wild-eyed meth heads
...certainly not somewhere you'd leave your bike.
But take a stroll through present day Ancoats and you'll encounter a number of Manchester's most exclusive, loft apartments and trendiest townhouses; architectural firms and creative agencies; micro brewers and street foodsters; there's even an orchestra. The Halle rehearse in the lovely St Peter's Church.
Seeking to capitalize on this outbreak of rampant development, a recent 'Ancoats Food & Drink Strategy' has outlined plans to establish a 'new cluster of cafes, restaurants, craft breweries, delis and pop-up food operators' in the area over the next year or so.
Sure enough, come March 2015 and two new indie restaurants, Rudy's Pizza and Goose Fat & Wild Garlic, announced their arrival on Ancoats' Cutting Room Square (the centrepiece of 'New Ancoats' framed by five copper green sentinels), followed by Salford-based microbrewers Seven Brothers and the House of Adventure Group - operators behind Manchester's Cord, Simple and Wood Wine and Deli bars.
Cutting Room, Cutting Room Square, AncoatsNext into the fray is the Cutting Room on, yes, of course, Cutting Room Square.
Taking over the former Koffee Lock unit on the ground floor of the Ice Plant building on Blossom Street, the blurb says the Cutting Room will be a new 'neighbourhood restaurant, a place where locals can drop in and grab a bite to eat and drink'. Good start.
Cutting Room is a new project by young friends Adam Regan and Sophie Jarvis - the same pair behind the aforementioned Goose Fat & Wild Garlic restaurant opening over the square in the Fairbairn Building.
Two new restaurants on one public square? Eggs. Basket.
According to the spiel, Regen has done time in the kitchens of Gordon Ramsay and Sir Terence Conran. Of course, this usually means the chef has spent three months as the chef de plongeur in the kitchens of Ramsay and Conran, however, we'll give Regan the benefit of the doubt.
Open from 7am until 11pm, Ancoats' new neighbourhood hangout will begin the day with coffee, eggs and an extensive 'things on toast' menu, before moving on to daytime fare including Thai curry and Tuscan Bean Stew.
Jarvis said: “Adam and I fell in love with the old Koffee Lock café and could see the potential of the space. With an industrial but modern concept to keep in line with the heritage of the area, Cutting Room was born.
“We are very excited to be the first restaurant and bar on the square offering a cosy and welcoming environment, not only for the local residents but for anybody wanting to be part of the most up-and-coming area in the city.”
Ok, so opening a little restaurant in Ancoats may no longer make you an utter barmpot, but opening two little restaurants in Ancoats on the same square within a few months of each other just might do.
Cutting Room plans to open in the first week of September.
Find out more @cuttingroommcr and cuttingroommcr.co.uk
