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.
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.
Image: Supplied
Image: Supplied
Elsewhere, diners will find hearty portions of spiced beef meatballs, grilled octopus with Aegean fava beans, shrimp ‘Saganaki’, and Wagyu beef dumplings.
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.
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.
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!
Spot the three secret words cleverly hidden among Greek letters at the designated activation area.
Using your smartphone to scan the QR code provided, which will lead you to the competition entry page.
Enter the three words you’ve discovered and your email address.
Be amongst the first to experience FENIX
Featured image – Tattu
Eats
Top Manchester restaurant ‘so chuffed’ after receiving glowing national review
Daisy Jackson
Top Manchester restaurant Skof has received a stunning review from a national critic, with the team saying they are ‘so chuffed’.
The acclaimed NOMA restaurant, headed up by chef Tom Barnes, has rapidly become one of Manchester’s most decorated restaurants.
Not only does it proudly display its first Michelin star – earned in less than a year after opening – but it’s also been named the coveted AA Restaurant of the Year.
And now Skof can add a rave Guardian review to the list too, with critic Grace Dent heaping praise upon the business.
She said that Skof is ‘well worth the hype’, describing it (much like its parent restaurant L’enclume) to be ‘one of those intensely relaxed yet still ferociously fancy restaurants’.
Dent praised ‘hugely scoffable’ snacks like a cheese biscuit topped with broad bean, pike roe and shiso, as well as a lightly set custard with truffle and mushroom dashi (‘a quiche filling on steroids’).
In her Guardian review, she also loved the final course always served at Skof no matter how much the menu changes with the seasons – the tiramisu served from a giant bowl, tableside.
“The final hurrah: that scoop of Tom’s dad’s tiramisu, served from a big bowl,” Grace Dent wrote.
“It’s a clunky, sentimental and, ultimately, glorious end to the meal. Many Michelin-starred restaurants bookend your visit with a gift of seeds, teabags or fancy chocolate, but at Skof they send you on your way with this tiny taste of boozy stodge that’s both incongruous with everything that went before but at the same time is also symbolic of Tom Barnes’ life and everything that went before.”
Grace Dent heaped praise on Skof in a recent Guardian reviewSkof placed 29th in the National Restaurant Awards
The amazing review also said: “Fine dining can at times be truly maddening, and leave diners hungry and hoodwinked, but Skof is proof that this often precarious blend of pacing, staging and portion size can be properly magical.”
She signed off by saying: “Skof is clever and emotional… It’s also well worth the hype, so do try to nab a table, if you can. It’s fancy, yes, but it also fills you up. This is fine dining that even a naysayer would like.”
Skof has said that it’s ‘so chuffed’ to receive the review, which landed in The Guardian on the restaurant’s second birthday.
They wrote: “Our 2nd birthday just got a quite a bit more special with an absolutely amazing review from @gracedent. We’re so chuffed with the write up. Hope the man from the traitors comes down, so we can serve him a crumpet.”
You can read Grace Dent’s full Skof review in The Guardian here.
The legendary Hulme community pub The Old Abbey Taphouse has been reborn
Daisy Jackson
The closure of The Old Abbey Taphouse was a real blow for Hulme and the surrounding university district area; the community pub was a bit of a local institution thanks to its grassroots music and inclusive atmosphere.
But now it appears that the spirit of the venue lives on, under the new name of The Abbey.
Some of the city’s most experienced independent operators – who have been behind venues like YES and The Deaf Institute, and music promoters Now Wave – will be the new custodians of this beloved local landmark.
The pub, which closed early last year, has now been carefully and lovingly restored ahead of its big relaunch, which will start in true Manc vision with an exclusive opening night gig.
The Abbey is reborn. (Credit: The Manc Group)
The vision for its new chapter will be ‘Old Pub, New Music’, creating a new home for grassroots live music and emerging artists.
There’s also affordable, hearty pub grub, including Pieminister pies, and a huge range of beers from local breweries and beyond.
Bringing The Abbey back to life are a core team of four: Ruth Hemmingfield, Wesley Jones, Jonathan Wickstead and Gareth Butterworth.
Ruth, Jon and Wesley are co-owners of YES; Ruth previously launched and programmed landmark Manc venues including The Deaf Institute, Gorilla and Albert Hall; while Wesley and Jonathan, through Now Wave, promote hundreds of independent gigs and live events each year.
As for Gareth, he’s the founder of the multi-venue festival Manchester Psych Fest, meaning that all of them have plenty of hospitality, late-night, live music and events experience between them.
The team behind The Abbey pub. Credit: Piran Aston
The rear of the site of The Old Abbey Taphouse will be extended to create a new dedicated live music and events venue, while the cherished beer garden is given a facelift with new decking and its own bar.
The Abbey has stood in Hulme since the 1890s, playing an important role in the area’s heritage – this is where activist Len Johnson managed to overturn the shameful ‘colour bar’ policies of the 1940s.
Its restoration and relaunch are part of the flourishing Manchester Science Park development.
Matthew Pazos, Senior Retail Commercial Manager at Bruntwood SciTech, said: “Ruth, Wesley and Jonathan are the perfect custodians to breathe new life into The Abbey.
“Their reputation for running independent spaces in Manchester, alongside their live music expertise, will ensure this much-valued pub once again becomes a beating heart for Hulme and the wider neighbourhood.
“The reopening of The Abbey will create an inclusive new hub that welcomes everyone – from the Hulme locals who have looked after the pub over the years, to the Manchester Science Park community, university students, and the many residents and workers across the Oxford Road Corridor.
“We are delighted that such a culturally significant and important pub is set to open its doors once again.”
Ruth from the new Abbey team commented: “We love a good pub. With The Abbey, we’re excited about bringing a brilliant old pub back to life, protecting what people loved about it, and creating something special: a great local, alongside a vital grassroots music venue for the area.
“We’re honouring the pub’s history while building its future.”
Georgina Pellant -
13th September 2023 
