WHAT a 2015 eh? With new bars and restaurants popping up across Manchester at an impossible rate this past year, most are predicting a less giddy 2016.
Undoubtedly, a real humdinger will be the opening of Hispi in Chorlton...
Good. We're bloody knackered. Still, don't be getting too comfy, by our (admittedly half-arsed) calculations, we've tallied up at least another 27 restaurants to open in Manchester in 2016 - and they're just the ones we know about.
So what has 2016 got in store? Well, we asked ten of Manchester's finest, most informed and, in some cases, most self-important food and booze writers, experts and know-it-alls to tell us what they're most looking forward to next year... and some things they'd like to bin.
Here's what they came up with...
GORDO | Confidential's bon vivant, food oracle and enforcer
Interesting to see that my colleague Jonathan Schofield was on the money last year. Here is his forecast:
“I’m looking forward to seeing independent restaurants returning to the city centre – from chefs Mary-Ellen McTague, David Gale, and most of all Yorkshire man Simon Shaw, bringing his sublime technique to bear on classic Spanish cuisine when El Gato Negro moves into the old Brasserie Blanc site midsummer.”
If you dear reader, are wondering where to find these three, so are the rest of us. None of them opened. Ooer! Don’t do the weather reports Jonno, whatever you do.
Gordo is looking forward to the owners of the new high-end restaurant, Quill, getting over themselves, sorting out whether they want to be a bar or a restaurant, ditching hipsters and concentrating on the fact that they have true talent in 27-year-old head chef Curtis Stewart who, with another few months of polishing himself and his crew, can compete against the teams of Rogan and Byrne. May beat them as well.
But please, more space and white tablecloths guys, don’t copy the competition, place yourselves ahead. It’s all about comfort at your price range, not minimalism, that’s over. Watch the movie Carol; style, substance and cashmere are key.
The irascible co-owner of Northern Quarter dirty food merchants Solita, Francis Sotgiu, is whispering in Gordo’s ear about building a true New York steak house in the fabulous Barton Arcade. Sotgiu is good at spotting trends; it will be back to the fifties again, with strong, proven recipes, great beef, dry martinis and old-fashioned white apron service.
Finally, I WANT SOMEONE TO BUILD A SODDING SEAFOOD RESTAURANT… and don’t be giving Gordo that farmed sea bass bollocks five ways.
The Barton Arcade
RUTH ALLAN | Restaurant critic
It would be hard for 2016 to compete with 2015, such has been the frenzy of restaurant openings in Manchester this year. Hawksmoor, Siam Smiles and Lunya are three highlights. However, I am looking forward to what Altrincham Market are going to do next. I’ve heard rumours that they are going to take over the old Mackie Mayor market building, next to Band on the Wall in the Northern Quarter, which would be excellent. It would be good to see a progressive Chinese restaurant open up. And of course, wouldn’t it be great if the rumours of Michael O’Hare taking up the reins of what was Stock were true?
I’m also hoping for more easy going, good quality, independent pubs and restaurants like Volta, Gray’s Larder and The Clarence in the suburbs. The kind of places you really look forward to eating at, where you can have a great night with friends in chilled surrounds. On the down side, I’ve been to one too many disappointing kitchen ‘takeovers’ this year. With vibrant food on offer around the city, one-off dining events need to really stand out to make their £30+ price tag worthwhile.
Is Alty Market moving into NQs Mackie Mayor building?
THOM HETHERINGTON | Northern Restaurant Bar CEO and industry standard-bearer
What am I looking forward to for 2016? David Gale and Simon Shaw being back behind the stoves where they belong, at ‘Louie’ and ‘El Gato Negro Tapas’ respectively - two top notch Chef Patrons cooking the food they are madly passionate about in prime city centre sites (yes I know I predicted both openings twelve months ago but they will definitely happen in 2016. Definitely).
What else? Mackie Mayor hopefully blossoming into a mini Mancunian Boqueria, possibly even an urban outpost of Alty Market House; Chapel Street becoming the new Ancoats, full of creativity and foodie indies; and Ancoats finally becoming the Ancoats we always wanted it to be, a bustling big-city mid-rise neighbourhood full of the sorts of bars and cafes you want to linger in with the weekend papers. I’m also interested to see where expected high profile incomers like Bundobust, Dishoom and Shoryu Ramen end up now that Spinningfields and the Corn Exchange are at near capacity – will Manchester develop yet another centre of gastronomic gravity?
And what will make me angsty in the new year? Surprisingly little to be honest, though the continued loss of the city’s proper old school drinking pubs is a serious concern. Otherwise I think Manchester’s dining ecology is becoming rich and diverse enough to simply find what you love and avoid what narks you. That said, I’d like to see a little more classicism about the place, as it feels that Manchester is sometimes overtly hungry for the radical and the new to the detriment of the sort of crisp, timeless brasseries and cafes that you find in the most interesting European cities.
Chef Simon Shaw will finally launch El Gato Negro in 2016
JONATHAN SCHOFIELD | Confidential Editor-at-Large, largely in the pub
All I want for 2016 is a new city centre pub that does cracking hearty food the way Robert Owen Brown did in the Mark Addy when it first re-opened, or during his time at The Bridge. I want big full flavours, gravy galore, cow heel pie, tarts, game, rugged pâtés, lobster, Morecambe Bay shrimps, globe artichokes, parsnips, rhubarb tart and punchy Stilton. Maybe if David Gale opens he can start to fill that gap, not that he'll be doing his thing in a pub.
What we do know we’re getting is El Gato Negro on King Street. This will turn the latter into a real food destination adding to the already strong performances Quill is delivering. I hope Curtis Stewart at Quill goes from strength to strength, similarly 63 Degrees in its new site. As for the Northern Quarter everybody needs to get together and declare a moratorium on openings to see if the ones that have arrived in 2015 such as Cottonopolis can fly. I'd make an exception for Mary Ellen McTague. Just. I mean the Northern Quarter too, it'd be nice to see more Ancoats activity with new places promised such as Goose Fat & Wild Garlic.
As for other new openings I worry that Grand Pacific’s fusion food will feel out of place in that superb Victorian gentleman’s club, The Reform, on King Street. I think what should really go in is cracking hearty British food, big full flavours, gravy galore, cow heel pie, tarts, game, rugged pâtés, lobster, Morecambe Bay shrimps, globe artichokes, parsnips, rhubarb tart and punchy Stilton ( I feel I'm beginning to repeat myself). I'm making an appeal, I want to chow down on a perfect rag pudding accompanied by a local ale or even a Latin red so heavy I can hardly lift it. Someone out there humour me.
A new Grand Pacific is planned for the former Reform Club
NEIL SOWERBY | Restaurant critic, oenophile, explorer
Big plates will be the big thing in 2016 and hands off, definitely no sharing. Served in rooms with no exposed brickwork or giant ceiling pipes all the better, but that’s probably just a pipedream while the last fabric cash and carry in the Northern Quarter remains to be converted to faux New Yoik hipsterdom.
Less flippantly, I’m awaiting the fruition of all those casual fine dining projects by proper chefs Mary Ellen McTague, David Gale, Simon Shaw... and Adam Regan, whose Goose Fat and Wild Garlic will cement Ancoats’ Cutting Room Square as an essential destination.
February marks the transplant of Shaw’s luminous El Gato Negro into King Street to keep company with newcomers Quill, whose young chef Curtis Stewart looks a star in the making.
It’s hard to see the craft beer boom subsiding, though with so much competition mediocre micro brewers will go to the wall. Micro-bars are another matter – expect the suburbs to catch up with this national ‘low overheads’ phenomenon, while in the city I have high hopes for Beermoth’s imminent ale cafe on Brown Street.
Comptoir Libanais and Bakchich have led the recent Lebanese charge; now could we please have a piece of the modern Jerusalem action? An outlet for the rocking fusion of Middle Eastern and Med that is Soho’s The Palomar. Oh, yes, it’s small plates again, but I’ll forgive them.
Can McTague return with gusto in 2016?
HUNGRY HOSS | Food blogger & Manchester's hungriest man
Despite often coming across like an old woman on Twitter and in my blog, I’m not really into 'gossip'. That said, there are indeed new places I’m looking forward to in 2016. Top of the list is the coming of #Ramenchester with proper Hakata tonkotsu ramen from Shoryu.
Another is Solita’s, as yet unnamed, 'New York Steakhouse' – its promised splendour should suit the stunning Barton Arcade. I’m particularly excited about their seafood offerings and ‘raw bar’.
The much anticipated opening of El Gato Negro on King Street is set to, along with Lunya, Iberica, La Bandera and others, make Manchester more Spanish than parts of Malaga.
Although we already have the likes of Sale’s The Fat Loaf; Brassica Grill and The Easy Fish Co in Heaton Moor; Volta in West Didsbury and Levanter in Ramsbottom, I’ve always wanted to see more quality bistros in the 'burbs. Undoubtedly, a real humdinger will be the opening of Hispi in Chorlton from Twitter crackpot and Trip Advisor nemesis, chef Gary ‘Sticky Walnut’ Usher.
Another interesting rumour is the possibility of the Northern Quarter’s Mackie Mayor becoming an Altrincham Market House-style food hall. If they get traders in of the desired quality, this would be great news for the city centre.
In 2016 I'd like to see less of the VIP openings and ridiculous PR guff that some new restaurants seemingly deem necessary. Meaningless corporate award ceremonies can also GET IN THE BRIDGEWATER CANAL!
Shoryu is rumoured to be opening a Manchester outpost in 2016
DAVID BLAKE | Manchester Confidential Editor
First things first: El Gato Negro, Mary Ellen, Manchester Hall, David Gale, Grand Pacific, Bundobust, Hispi, Ceilo Blanco, Busaba, Bar 38, Bourbon & Black, Benihana, Goose Fat, Shoryu, Hispi, the Radisson, Solita steakhouse, Nutter’s Birtle Bird, Volta 2, Teacup 2, Liquor Store 2, Alchemist 3, Walkabout Printworks, Itsu, Hair Metal Chef, Beermoth, Real Junk Food, Gino’s, Taqueria, Dishoom, Tapeo, Roxy Ball Room, STK Rebel, Orange Elephant, Leon, Leaf, Chilango, Favela, Pattersons, seventeen new Indian Street Food gaffs and two f**king cat cafes.
Good. Now 2016 is out the bag, what am I looking forward to next year? I’d like to be there, at 10pm on Saturday night at the mouth of the Printworks, when this Busaba lot realise what they’ve got themselves in to; I’d like Living Ventures to come up with something more deserving for the grand old Room restaurant; and I can’t wait to see Franco ‘Solita’ Sotgui’s face when the bill drops for his new steak restaurant's mooted ‘Himalayan salt ageing and cutting room’. Oh, and Gino D’Acampo’s new Italian at the Corn Exchange, naturally.
And no I don't care how many million quid you've spent on the fit-out or how many four Michelin-starred AAAA kitchens you've peeled potatoes in. What's that? You've got a seasonal focus? I should bloody hope so... you're a chef.
Busaba Eathai will shortly launch in The Printworks
LUCY TOMLINSON | Food writer and philosophiser
In 2016 I’ll be sampling more from super-local producers such as the Companio Bakery, which turns out incredible artisan breads, savouries and pastries with cutesy local names such as the delicious Salford 5-Seed loaf. Or, more decadently, Forest Gin, which is hand-distilled using foraged botanicals from Macc Forest.
As for restaurants, El Gato Negro got picked as one to watch for 2015 several times over last year, but as it still hasn’t opened its King Street venue I feel justified in going for it – plus it represents a couple of ongoing trends with the stamina to thrive in 2016: the resurgence of Spanish cuisine in Manchester, and the (ever so slight) weakening of the pull of Northern Quarter on food and drink businesses in favour of Deansgate and King Street, though having said that I’ll be interested to check out both Evelyn’s and The Good Food Place (hopefully the owners are of an extremely literal turn of mind). Top curiosity will be Second City, an American-style sports bar in Ancoats: sure-fire winner or just plain awful?
Finally, something all of us greedy folk would like to see the back of is the sin of food wastage, so I’ll be investigating how the Real Junk Food Project - a not-for-profit that intercepts food that would otherwise go in the bin - does at the Wonder Inn. Eat up now!
Evelyn's has taken over Superstore in NQ
DAVID FOX | Restaurateur, co-owner of Tampopo
Everyone’s talking about El Gato Negro – so that’s on the list. I've also heard the Teacup boys and girls are in talks about a cafe on St Peter’s Square. That would be delightful.
I'd like to see more local food. We are a cosmopolitan city, but we should also have more of a presence in North Westerly cuisine. There are people out there doing good things, but more often than not you need to seek them out. To be a truly great food city we need more of a culture that is proud of our local food as well as providing great food from across the world. Secondly, a large French brasserie along the lines of Brasserie Zedel in Piccadilly (the London one) would be glorious.
I'd like to see our bars and restaurants unhindered by city centre parking restrictions more stringent than even central London. Also dress codes, we're still not allowed into Australasia wearing trainers? Come on, it's 2016, not 1986.
Will we see a Teacup pop-up in St Peter's Square in 2016?
DEANNA THOMAS | Critic, blogger, cook
I met Chef Simon Shaw when I hosted the stage at this year’s MFDF, so am looking forward to visiting the much delayed El Gato Negro. Many loyal customers and fans came from Ripponden, site of the original restaurant, to watch his demo and let’s hope they continue to migrate when it finally opens. It’s not easy to transpose a provincial restaurant to the city, however successful, and after the recent Armada of good quality Spanish/Iberican/Catalonian openings in the city, let’s hope he hasn’t missed the boat.
I’m interested in how Barton Arcade seems to be evolving into more of a food hub with PKB, Lunya and a promised gangster-glamour steakhouse from the Solita team leading the way. I spent countless Saturday lunchtimes in Ganders Go South as a kid and as a result a hot baked potato with cold prawn Marie Rose never fails to fill me with nostalgic comfort. This warren-like location is a hidden treasure and it looks like owner Morgan Leahy wants to do it justice.
I want to see more independents, more influential Manchester born and bred culinary ideas leading the way and less copy/pastes of London gaffs. Now he’s free from the shackles of a regular 60+ hour working week, Manchester through-and-through Chef Rob Owen Brown has been popping up throughout 2015, doing interesting cooking projects on his own terms. It’ll be interesting to see what he’s got up his chef's white sleeves next year.
Could chef Rob Owen Brown finally settle down?
