Manchester’s twice Michelin-recommended Indian restaurant Asha’s has been closed since Christmas, but now, after five months, it’s revealed plans to reopen – with a swanky new hotel and bar upstairs.
The award-winning restaurant was sold to Kro Hospitality, which also owns Velvet Hotel in the Gay Village, in 2018 following the purchase of the freehold of the grade II-listed 47 Peter Street.
It reopened sporadically throughout the pandemic when it could, but has been shut since the end of last year whilst renovation work was taking place upstairs.
Now, its new owners have revealed plans to reopen the restaurant, alongside a brand new luxury hotel and bar, in Manchester this summer.
The glitzy new hotel, named Forty-Seven in acknowledgement of its Peter Street address, looks set to feature some of the plushest suites in the city.
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Opulently decorated and designed for the ultimate comfort, in total it boasts 32 bedrooms – including a range of duplex and signature suites.
The reopening will also reveal the new Peterman bar, which promises a fine selection of cocktails, wines and beers – all designed with the stories of Petersfield and the Suffragettes in mind.
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The new bar will take centre stage in the former Bollibar, underneath Asha’s restaurant.
Asha’s restaurant has been a mainstay on Peter Street for over seven years, featuring in the Michelin Guide in 2017 and 2018.
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Asha’s has had an award-winning past with both local and national awards, including ‘British Curry Awards – Best Restaurant Outside London’ in 2019 and 2021 – only missing out on 2020 due to the pandemic.
Both the Manchester restaurant and the new hotel and bar are expected to open on Peter Street this summer.
Speaking ahead of the openings, Kim Eivind Krohn, owner of KRO Hospitality, said: “We’re delighted to announce the latest update on our recent venture to create a new, exciting and extravagant hotel in the heart of Manchester’s vibrant Peter Street, which is home to popular venues including our very own Asha’s Restaurant, which will be reopening in our new hotel, ‘Forty-Seven’”.
Kro Hospitality’s other city centre venue, Velvet Hotel, Bar and Brasserie, is currently undergoing an extension of the Hotel to create an additional 18 bedrooms that will offer elegant luxury.
Feature image – Asha’s
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Man arrested for running around Dunham Massey wearing nothing but a pair of walking boots
Daisy Jackson
A man has been arrested for running around local beauty spot Dunham Massey almost entirely naked.
And according to Greater Manchester Police, it’s not even the first time he’s stripped off in the fields…
While most Mancs will head to the beautiful National Trust site to take in the views of the local wildlife, a handful of walkers got more than they bargained for last week.
The man in question has previously been reported for passing through the Trafford green space starkers, leading to his arrest on 2 May.
He was arrested last week for indecent exposure – and his choice of outfit didn’t leave much to the imagination.
The man was clocked running around Dunham Massey completely naked but for a pair of walking boots.
GMP said: “Male arrested for indecent exposure after being seen running around Dunham Massey naked apart from a pair of walking boots!!
“We have had a number of complaints of this guy doing this previously causing alarm, and so action has been taken.”
One person joked: “Completely inappropriate to go running like that… you’ll never get a PB in walking boots.”
The weather has been pretty nice over the last few days, with temperatures around Manchester climbing all the way to 22 degrees.
And some experts are predicting that Britain could be set for a heatwave with temperatures of 30°C and over in just over a month’s time.
Even if we do get an unseasonably warm spring though, probably best to keep your kecks on while you’re out hiking…
Passengers brace for ANOTHER day of ‘disruption’ as train drivers strike again this week
Emily Sergeant
Passengers are being told to brace for yet more ‘disruption’ as train drivers across the UK are striking again this week.
Following on from the announcement back in February that ASLEF train drivers at several train companies and operators, with Northern being one of them, had voted ‘overwhelmingly’ to continue taking industrial action for another six months, members of the union are staging more strikes all throughout this week.
ASLEF train drivers at Northern will walk out this Thursday (9 May).
But, as there are multiple strikes on different days at train operators across the country all this week, this means disruption is also expected in the lead-up to and following the day drivers at Northern actually strike.
Because of this, Northern customers who are connecting onto services with other train operators are being advised to “check before they travel” for all journeys up until this Saturday (11 May).
The company is also warning that its services are likely to be “busier than usual” this week, as it expects people will take alternative travel routes to avoid strikes elsewhere.
“Unfortunately, the action by ASLEF on Thursday 9 May will see our network grind to a halt,” explained Tricia Williams, who is Northern’s Chief Operating Officer.
“On the days when strikes are taking place with other train operators, we will do everything we can to keep our services moving and absorb those extra passengers trying to travel across the region, but we can only apologise, once again, for the disruption this action will cause to people.”
Northern says it’s “disappointed” ASLEF members have chosen to stage more strikes this week, and will continue to do so in the coming months.
Disruption on Northern is also expected on the days surrounding the strike day itself / Credit: Northern
But when ASLEF announced its intention to continue taking industrial action for the foreseeable – which is separate to what is a very long-running dispute with the Department for Transport (DfT) over pay and working conditions – back in February, the union’s General Secretary, Mick Whelan, said he was “fed up to the back teeth with the bad faith shown” by train companies.
He added that train operators like Northern need to “stop what they are doing” and “start to behave properly and honourably”, because their drivers are “no longer prepared to be treated like this”.