KOFFEE Pot bosses have unveiled their plans for 2015 including a move to Oldham Street, extra seats, a bigger kitchen and an expanded menu alongside a new bar and deli.
"We're really determined not to lose the feel or soul in the new place, but there are loads of things we can do to improve."
On Friday 5 December, Manchester let off a yelp like a bursting sausage.
Koffee Pot, Northern Quarter's 'ole dependable caf' and the beating (non-alcholic) heart of indie Manchester, was to be tossed out on its ear.
Hatters Hostel, owners of the Stevenson Square site where the cafe had stood for decades, were looking to expand and Koffee Pot was well in the way.
It closed on Friday 19 December.
Koffee Pot, Stevenson Square
Closed
What most didn't know was that the battle for Koffee Pot was one that had been bubbling away like beans on the boil for years.
"One day in 2012 the landlord's son walked in with a letter saying we had to be out by 2013," owner Chris Devlin (main image) tells us. "It was very short notice, but I was able to apply for a new lease and buy us some time to find new premises" (Confidential has contacted Hatters for a comment).
"We kept the whole thing very quiet," Devlin continues. "I had a duty to my staff and customers."
Devlin, a former chef at the Bluebird in Chelsea and understudy to Great British Menu restaurateur Oliver Peyton, acquired Koffee Pot in 2006 and the re-imagined low-price caf', with added graffiti, creatives and haggis, took off like a speckle of egg-white on a hob turned up to 11.
Eight years later and Devlin, alongside former Koffee Pot business partner Sam Dunwoodie (recently returned from London after helping 'hipster-hangout' The Clove Club bag a Michelin star), nearing the end of the line wander past the empty Ryan Vintage store at 84/86 Oldham Street (at the top-end near Ning restaurant) following a few at The Castle boozer.
"Sam says 'how about in there'," Devlin explains. "Four months later and we're moving in."
Sam Dunwoodie (left) and Chris Devlin (right) outside Koffee Pot's new home on Oldham Street
Inside the new site - cafe
Koffee Pot's new home on Oldham Street is at least twice the size of the old premises on Hilton Street, which, by their own admission, was 'limiting the business'.
Come weekend mornings and it was usually 50/50 whether you'd get to park your crapulent arse at all. There were also no toilets (not ideal three coffees down on a Sunday morning).
"We're determined not to lose the feel or soul in the new place," Dunwoodie tells me, "but there are loads of things we can do to improve on an already much loved cafe.
"Toilets, table service, more covers and a card machine will make it a much more pleasant dining experience for everyone.
"We are also adding stuff to the menu like home-cured salt beef bagels with homemade pickles, beef dripping chips and an amazing grilled cheese sandwich to name but a few."
"We want the all-new Koffee Pot cafe to be up-and-running by the end of January 2015," says Devlin. "Then we're looking to model the new bar and deli on New York's iconic Katz's Deli (the one where Meg Ryan faked an orgasm in When Harry Met Sally).
"But the second phase is still in the idea stage. The deli and the new bar can wait until April 2015, getting the cafe going again is our priority."
Chris, Sam and a massive banner
Koffee Pot brekkie
Still, moving to a much less central spot in the Northern Quarter, are they confident the customers will follow?
"We hope so. People have been gutted to see us leaving Stevenson Square," says Devlin. "But the regulars have been great, some are even helping us move stuff over and No Chintz interiors across the road have offered to do the decor for free."
"It's the same old KP," says Dunwoodie, "but it's getting a facelift and hopefully people will love it as much as the old place."
Listen lads, you had us at 'beef dripping chips'.
Koffee Pot 2.0 should be up-and-running at 84/86 Oldham Street by the end of January 2015.
Keep an eye out here @thekoffeepot
