Eats

Tattu is opening an opulent new Greek restaurant in Manchester this November

The team behind Manchester's sakura-drenched celeb favourite will open FENIX this autumn

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant - 13th September 2023

Celebrity favourite Tattu is opening a new Greek restaurant in Manchester this November, bringing Mykonos to Manchester with a whole new dining concept.

For years, its sakura-drenched Spinningfields restaurant has been a dining destination for Manchester’s glitterati crowd.

Now, fans will have somewhere new to check out as the team gears up to launch a brand new venture, bringing high-end contemporary Greek-Mediterranean food to Spinningfields.

Following on from the award-winning design of Tattu, diners will also be enveloped in a space subtly created to tell the mythological story of a phoenix rising from the ashes.

The bar, fitted with rich, dark wooden dining tables, sits beneath a canopy of dense, gold fauna, whilst the restaurant space is reminiscent of a Grecian beachside resort with ash-toned driftwood dining chairs paired with decadent marble tables and refined tableware.

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Designed by the acclaimed Fabled Studio, the dining experience combines magnificent interiors, live sounds and cutting-edge light technology which mimics the setting sun and rising moon across the  Greek isles.

fenix
Image: Supplied

Throughout the day, this innovative lighting of the space transforms the restaurant from an idyllic, glowing daytime retreat, through to a romantic, moonlit paradise each evening.

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Set to launch in November this year, the group has recruited two celebrated Greek chefs to lead the team.

Executive Head Chef Ippokratis Anagnostelis has built his reputation across a wealth of fine dining establishments in Athens and Mykonos, bringing modern techniques together with traditional ingredients and flavours at the likes of Jackie  ‘O, Scorpios and Kensho Mykonos, Kiku, and Michelin Star destination Hytrain.

Working alongside his long-time collaborator and Head Chef, Zisis Giannouras, Anagnostelis has created a sharing-concept menu designed to take customers on a journey of ‘Greek discovery’.  

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From fresh pita served with grilled aubergine, tomato confit and feta espuma, to hummus and a smoked taramasalata with fresh white fish roe cream, dishes will focus on innovative plates inspired by Greek traditions alongside Mediterranean flavours.

fenix
Image: Supplied
fenix
Image: Supplied

Elsewhere, diners will find hearty portions of spiced beef meatballs, grilled octopus with Aegean fava beans, shrimp ‘Saganaki’, and Wagyu beef dumplings.

Read more: House of Hoagie – The ENORMOUS sandwiches being served from Manchester’s secret garden

Showcasing the best fresh seafood and locally sourced meats, dishes will be flamed live in front of diners on a spectacular charcoal-fired grill in the heart of the new restaurant.

Pasta and rice dishes will also feature in abundance, including a ‘Raw’ menu with Sea Bass ceviche and steak tartare, clay pot roasted leg of lamb folded in vine leaves, Tiger prawns with yuzu sauce, and a speciality Aegean white grouper poached in olive oil and served with lemon beurre blanc and dill emulsion. 

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A wine list, meanwhile, will focus on the variety of produce from Greek and Cycladic vineyards – promising expressive and complex characters and a smooth, mineral finish, perfect for pairing with smokey, charred meat, fish and vegetables from the central grill.

Elsewhere, the cocktail menu at FENIX will feature sixteen unique creations from Will Meredith, Group Head of Bars, celebrating the four elements: water, earth, air and fire.

Read more: This family-run deli in West Didsbury does a £3 cost of living breakfast menu

Signature concepts include ‘Sirens Call’, a combination of vodka, strawberry leaf and sweet tomato delivered in a seashell vessel, and ‘Whirlpool Fizz’, inspired by the mythical Charybdis sea monster, combining Gin with a silky backbone of stone fruit and tonic.

Other must-tries include the ‘Fenix Nest Sour’, a velvety and rich blend of Metaxa 12 Star and roasted cashew encased in a smouldering nest serve. 

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Read more: The UK’s first-ever standing dining experience is coming to Manchester this month

To celebrate its upcoming launch in November, FENIX is thrilled to announce an exclusive competition that gives hopeful entrants the chance to experience this one-time offering before anyone else has stepped foot in the beautifully designed building. 

FENIX Competition Details: Find, Scan, and Win

To be in with a chance, FENIX have created an interactive competition right in the heart of busy, buzzy and beautiful Spinningfields.

Passers-by are invited to participate in a thrilling challenge: identify three hidden words cleverly concealed among Greek letters. Entrants are then invited to scan the accompanying QR code and enter the uncovered words for their chance to enter the competition and be added to the exclusive soft launch list! 

  1. Spot the three secret words cleverly hidden among Greek letters at the designated activation area. 
  2. Using your smartphone to scan the QR code provided, which will lead you to the competition entry page.
  3. Enter the three words you’ve discovered and your email address.
  4. Be amongst the first to experience FENIX

Featured image – Tattu

Eats

‘Do not let Britain’s independent businesses disappear on your watch’ – Manchester bakery makes heartbreaking plea to Andy Burnham

Clementine Hall Clementine Hall

A beloved Manchester bakery has issued an open letter to Andy Burnham ahead of the Budget begging him for help.

Barbakan Deli in Chorlton is basically an institution at this point.

The legendary bakery and delicatessen has been serving the community for 62 years, famed for its freshly-baked loaves of bread, its handmade sandwiches, and its pastries and cakes inspired by bakes from across Europe.

Posting on Instagram last night on Thursday 18 September, Frankie Dyer the director of Barbakan, issued an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

Images: The Manc Group

It read: “Dear Mr Burnham, As an independent business owner in the hospitality sector, I am begging you to please read this.

“Really read it. And seriously consider what businesses like mine are telling you before the upcoming Budget.”

It continued: “In just the last two years, we have self-funded new bakery machinery, new catering kitchens, essential repairs and renovations and opened a second retail site, creating another six local jobs. We have won more than ten national awards for the quality of what we do.

“We have invested. We have grown. We have employed more people. We have worked harder than ever. In short, Prime Minister, we are doing everything you keep asking British businesses to do.

“And our bank balance is finished. That is the reality.”

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Barbakan Delicatessen Ltd. (@barbakandeli)

The letter finished by Dyer inviting Andy Burnham to come visit the bakery and pleading for a ‘fighting chance’ to save the business: “We need action. We need meaningful reductions in the tax burden placed on employers.

“We need Employer National Insurance looked at urgently. We need a business-rates system which allows independent high-street businesses to survive. We need VAT reform for hospitality. We need Corporation Tax to reward businesses which reinvest, employ and grow.

“And we need proper grants and incentives that help established independent businesses invest and expand — not schemes with endless criteria which most ordinary businesses can never access. We need you to do something.

“And we need more than one token gesture in the Budget. A band-aid for a bullet wound. So I am asking you, Prime Minister, to come back to Manchester and see it for yourself. Pop an apron on and stand behind our counter.

Images: The Manc Group

“Come into our bakery in the middle of the night and meet the people making Manchester’s bread while most of the city is asleep. Look at our payroll, our energy bills, our rates, our supplier increases.

“Look at what leaves our bank account every single week simply for the privilege of keeping 50 people employed and our doors open. You said you wanted a government that understood the regions. You now have an opportunity to prove it.

“Independent businesses across this country are not asking for a handout. We are asking for a fighting chance. I sincerely hope your next Budget gives us one”.

You can read the full letter here.

Read more: Entire Blossoms band rock up to independent takeaway for ‘best sandwiches in Manchester’

Featured image – The Manc Group

Eats

Drinks prices revealed as Manchester Airport’s first-ever Wetherspoons pub opens inside T2

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

It’s official… Manchester Airport’s first-ever JD Wetherspoon pub has officially opened its doors inside Terminal 2.

The 300-seater pub – which welcomed its first customers earlier this week – is named The Belle Vue after Manchester’s historic showground.

Throughout the pub, you’ll spot design features that nod to the city’s sporting heritage – including vintage event posters and memorabilia, a ‘locker wall’ hosting trophies and other sporting exhibits, and a cricket-themed design in the carpets and bar panels.

Creating around 150 jobs in the process, The Belle Vue is the final planned new eatery to open in the airport’s redeveloped Terminal 2, marking one of the final steps in the super-terminal’s decade-long, £1.5bn transformation.

Manchester Airport’s first-ever Wetherspoons pub has opened inside Terminal 2 / Credit: Supplied

According to the MEN, pints are priced from £6.20 for Carling and Coors lager, £6.45 for Budweiser, £6.60 for Guinness, and £6.70 for Poretti and 1664 Biere.

Prosecco is £9.20 for 175ml glass and £37.10 for the full bottle, while spirts and mixers are £6.80 for singles and £10.20 for doubles.

There’s also the classic Wetherspoons tea and coffee machines, where you can refill as many times as you like for just £3.60.

“It’s a proud moment to see the final new retail unit opening in our new-look Terminal 2,” commented Richard Jackson, who is the Retail Director at Manchester Airport.

“To be rounding off this 10-year programme by adding such an iconic name as Wetherspoon to the terminal is particularly special and we know that it will prove extremely popular with passengers. We think they’ll love the nods to Manchester’s heritage in the décor and design – and of course the name.”

Read more:

The Belle Vue will be open from the first flight to the final flight each day, and food will be served from opening until 10pm.

Featured Image – Supplied

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