AS food and booze continues it's amicable coup of Manchester's bohemian quarter, two new Northern Quarter venues were announced within hours of one another this week.
Confidential received word that one of Manchester's best brunch and Sunday lunch spots, Superstore on Tib Street, are calling it a day
Following on from the success of their first NQ endeavour, Guilty By Association bar on Stevenson Square, St Joseph Ltd plan to open another as yet unnamed cocktail bar next door to GBA in 26a Lever Street - tucked beneath the new PLY pizza bar in the former Absolute fashion wholesalers.
Steve Pilling, the prolific greengrocer-turned-restaurateur who made a success of Manchester's Chop House group before striding on to further acclaim with Damson restaurants, Dockyard bars, Stockport's Red Lion and King Street's Liquorice, is behind the swoop.
Though Pilling and business partner Mark Whyte are giving little away about the new venue. "We're in the very early stages," says Pilling. "But what I can say is that we've been to Japan and drank a lot of whiskey."
Japanese whiskey bar, Steve?
The new bar will sit next door to GBA and underneath PLY on Stevenson SquareShortly after Confidential got off the phone with Pilling, we received word that one of Manchester's best brunch and Sunday lunch spots, Superstore on Tib Street (main image), are calling it a day.
"Hold on", said Dave from Accounts, "Haven't Mughli just signed on a new spot in Northern Quarter?"
Yes the Zanna Group behind Manchester's hugely popular Mughli - a family-run business that began in Rusholme around twenty years ago and has since become everybody's default Curry Mile restaurant - are primed to take a punt on the city centre after taking on the Superstore lease from owner Mital Morar.
Morar said: “I couldn’t be leaving Superstore in better hands – the team and I have always been a fan of Mughli in Rusholme and the brothers themselves have a tremendous reputation in the industry for exceptional and vibrant restaurants."
READ OUR RECENT REVIEW OF MUGHLI HERE
Superstore on Tib Street has been taken on by MughliMughli owners, brothers Sax and Haz Arshad, will again team up with chef David Gale at the new venue following the success of the trio's Alderley Edge pop-up collaboration, The Railway Cafe (reviewed here).
Superstore will continue as is for the time being, with the brothers and Gale planning to launch a 'global brasserie' sometime later in the year.
'Global brasserie' meaning 'we're not sure exactly what to do with it yet but global brasserie gives us enough international scope to dick around with Asian, Latino and Mediterranean grub and see what sticks.'
READ MORE MCR FOOD & DRINK:
- Manchester's Best Restaurant Deals This August
- Home Sweet Home To Launch In Great Northern
- Northern Quarter's New Cottonopolis Bar Takes Shape
Confidential is yet to have a bad meal from Gale, who made his name in the kitchens of London, New York and San Francisco before taking over at the Hilton Deansgate in 2012. Gale is currently Executive chef at both The Lawn Club and Spinningfields new 'clean-eating' joint, Rust & Stone, and will soon launch his very own restaurant, Louis, at Leftbank.
Sax Arshad said: “We spent our childhood in dad's clothing business on Newton Street round the corner before he opened Mughli in '91. To see the changes to the area since has been great and now we're a part of that”.
Having launched a sister Mughli in Knutford, The Railway in Alderley and two London restaurants in Soho and Battersea, The Arshad's clearly have grand plans. Give us your best fellas...
