The Instagram-hit is swimming upstream to become bigger and brighter
Back in August, Instagram was inundated with pictures of pouting people - including local celebs like Hollyoaks’ Jorgie Porter, Coronation Street’s Kimberly Hart-Simpson and Cheshire Housewives’ Tanya Bardsley - posing inside a huge, hot pink Barbie box.
We took a gamble when we chose to open during the regional lockdown
The social media frenzy - which also featured backdrops of a cow-print-overkill living room and a dream house-facade with bubblegum pink front door and faux blue sky windows inserts - hailed the arrival of a rose-tinted new restaurant concept.
This Birmingham brand heading north was welcomed with gusto in a very grey year, flying out of the traps to reach over 50k followers on Instagram in, well, an instant.
The restaurant, 202 Kitchen, knew its demographic and was an immediate, Pepto-Bismol-hued hit with hearty trapbox food and copious drinks to lubricate the party. A gold box featuring gilded lobster and truffled mac and cheese (amongst other things) on a bed of fries, encapsulated the soul-food meets Kardashian-chic vibe.
But it always had a temporary feel and - for better or worse - stood out like a bright pink sore thumb next to Manchester Hall. The good news for fans of this hearty haven of hedonism is that it is flamin-going places and has confirmed a move to a permanent home, bigger, better and, if it’s even possible, brighter than the original.
While 202 Kitchen is keeping the exact location of the garish new gaff close to its chest it pinky-promises there will be a 2020 essential: plenty of outdoor space. A new menu is on the cards too, with globally inspired ‘light bites and small plates’ but the original, overflowing trapboxes aren’t going anywhere.
Leon Beckford, co-owner of 202 Kitchen said:
“We were absolutely overwhelmed with the positive reception we’ve received since opening 202 Kitchen Manchester back in August. This year has been a difficult one for the hospitality industry as a whole and we took a gamble when we chose to open during the regional lockdown, however we’ve quickly established an incredible customer base and made our mark in the city and feel now is the time for us to continue to grow and move to a permanent home where we can really look to expand the 202 Kitchen brand further.”
Follow 202 Kitchen on Instagram for further announcements on the new venue and to be ready when bookings go live.
