SPINNINGFIELDS is set to welcome its first Indian restaurant, as the Left Bank end of Manchester's financial district begins to bubble back to life.
Scene is the latest in a string of announcements and upcoming announcements that promise to slap some life back into Left Bank.
When Spinningfields first delivered a limp and dreary set of chain operators (Cafe Rouge, Strada, Zizzi) running along the Irwell, Manchester turned its back on them. Only a few remain. Just.
Come 2010, The Alchemist opens on Hardman Square and the rest of Spinningfields kicks in: Southern Eleven, Australasia, The Oast House, the list goes on...
Now you can't swing a Mulberry Bayswater handbag for new bar and restaurant openings.
Empty Left Bank - but not for long...
Should you currently choose to dine out in Spinningfields, by our reckoning, you have the pick of more than twenty restaurants serving up: British, Modern European, American, Italian, Pan-Asian, Brazilian, Portugese, Thai and Spanish (nearly, Iberica opens soon enough).
Now you can add one more to the list (it was only going to be a matter of time) - Indian.
Scene, an 'Indian Street Kitchen' will become Spinningfields first Indian restaurant when it opens in the former Strada unit at Left Bank in early-2015.
The new venture from Asif Ali and family will place an emphasis on Indian street food with dishes 'inspired by Asif's extensive travels and numerous visits to street vendors in India, Pakistan and Southern Asia.'
Scene will occupy the former-Strada unit in Left Bank
The restaurant will have space for 150 covers as well as a private dining area for 50, it's likely Scene will also utilize the outdoor terrace overlooking the River Irwell out back.
Asif Ali told Confidential: “We want to create a truly engaging experience that uses all five of the senses, where customers can see the freshness of the ingredients and the vibrant colours of the spices through our open plan kitchen, smell the different aromatic spices used during the cooking process, and watch their food being prepared.”
The former-Strada unit backing out onto the Irwell
Scene is the latest in a string of announcements and upcoming announcements that promise to slap some life back into Left Bank.
Three weeks ago Confidential revealed that MediaCityUK's popular Dockyard bar is set to open a second operation in the empty former Cafe Rouge unit (opposite Strada).
'Spinningfields Kitchens' - a new initiative launching soon to help launch start-up food and drink businesses - will fill a number of Left Bank's empty units with six to seven small-time vendors and give them a crack at the burgeoning Spinningfields market.
The Cotton Building is currently under construction in Left Bank
While across from RBS workers are currently the process of knocking up the ten-storey Cotton Building which promises 30,000 sq ft of space designed for public amenity including leisure facilities, a bike park and a climbing wall (about time).
On top of the aforementioned, Salford's New Bailey development just across the River Irwell and a stone's throw from Scene is beginning to take shape with a brand new 143-bed Premier Inn, a 615-space multi-storey car park and the £50m, eight-storey One New Bailey office building.
The savvy Scene team have got in while the goings about to get good. Very good.
Scene Indian Street Kitchen and Bar will open in early-2015 at 4a Leftbank, Spinningfields, M3 3AN.
