Just a month after award-winning Northern Quarter ramen spot Cocktail Beer Ramen + Bun (CBRB) announced its closure, bosses have revealed plans to hand the keys to a former employee.
Tom Potts, a former bar manager at the late-night Oldham Street favourite, will soon be taking over the restaurant and turning it into a Kong’s Chicken Shop.
Whilst still working for CBRB, in 2021 Tom took advantage of the furlough scheme to start his own specialist fried chicken sandwich business – even cooking and serving his first sandwiches out of CBRB’s kitchen whilst the restaurant was closed.
So it makes sense that, when the restaurant was forced to shut for good, the first business they approached about taking on the lease was Kong’s Chicken Shop.
Image: Kong’s Chicken Shop
Image: Kong’s Chicken Shop
Over the past two years, Kong’s has moved from pop-up to pop-up. Tom has seen some great success: opening concepts at different locations in Manchester and experimenting with diner food, sandwiches, meat’n’three, roast dinners, tacos, loaded fries, ramen, bao and kebabs.
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At the heart of his menu, the star has always been the same. Using thigh meat, the chicken at Kong’s is brined for three hours, rolled in a secret spice mix, then double-dredged for a crispier texture.
The brand now has three different pop-up sites across the city, with a Kong’s Diner in Dog Bowl, a Kong’s Cantina in Black Dog Ballroom, and a sandwich/burger shop at Hatch street food village.
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And finally, he is poised to open his first permanent restaurant back where it all began. How fitting.
Kong’s has previously hosted a collaboration with CBRB and Asahi where Tom’s signature fried chicken made an appearance in steaming bowls of ramen and fluffy bao buns, and given his propensity for playing with different cuisines we wouldn’t have been at all surprised if the new menu nodded to the site’s history.
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However, if that is the plan he’s not letting on yet – telling The Manc that the new eatery will serve a diner-style brunch with fried chicken French toast, free refills on filter coffee and dedicated bloody mary and Irish coffee drinks menus.
Image: Kong’s
Image: Kong’s
As for lunch and dinner, the plan is to keep things classic with the chicken sandwiches and wings that built up the Kong’s concept in the first place. There’ll also be a selection of nice small plates and larger sharers, with a focus on grilled meats and flatbreads.
As for Sundays, fans of the OG fried chicken roast dinner will be pleased to hear that the dish is set to make a return. With a bar offering running late into the evening, some of the late-night feel will carry over from the CBRB days soundtracked by lots of punk music.
Tom said: “I’m excited to be working on drinks again, it’s been fun. I can’t wait to be able to show off what we can do in our own space, it’s a dream come true.
“Obviously it’s really sad about CBRB closing but at least there’s a silver lining. It means a lot to us to be in the building where we first started and that I worked at since the beginning. We’re excited to be able to show what we can do and really do justice to what came before.”
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Beloved ramen business CBRB officially closed its doors after one last bowl on Sunday 12 February, having announced the news of its closure with a frank and heartbreaking statement.
In it, the late-night Oldham Street business outlined the ‘massive financial strain’ it’s been facing, describing the obstacles that are ‘affecting everyone in the hospitality industry right now’.
CBRB stressed the staggering costs of goods and the doubling of energy bills as the ‘massive factors’ that have forced their hand.
First opened on Oldham Street in 2018, after five years the team has announced it will now hand over the keys to Tom who will turn CBRB into Kong’s NQ.
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In a joint statement released to Instagram, the two businesses wrote: “A Silver Lining // Since the announcement of our closure, we have been inundated with support + lovely messages from you beautiful people.
“But it’s time for a bit of good news… lets be honest, we all need some of that right now.
“Those of you that have been with us from the beginning, will remember our OG Tom.
“Tom was with us from day dot, helping build CBRB (literally) + was a huge part of making this lil ramen gaff the place it was. After flying the nest in 2021 to pursue his own food concept @kongskitchens , using the CBRB kitchen for their first pop up + coming back together a year later for our first ever collab.. we are now super happy to be able to say that the place we’ve called home is going to be staying in the fam.
“You may of seen the news that Kongs will be opening their own venue in the NQ recently + we’re dead chuffed to announce they will be moving into our old home at 101-103 Oldham Street.
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“We’re super proud + happy that after all this, there is a silver lining to our story.
“Give them a follow if you’re not already + stay tuned for more updates on the opening loves!”
Feature image – The Manc Group
News
Elbow get behind campaign to save Jodrell Bank from closure
Danny Jones
Manc band Elbow are among the latest to get behind the campaign to save Jodrell Bank Observatory from closing permanently.
The Greater Manchester natives famously played a sold-out gig at the important scientific and cultural landmark for a very special live album recording well over a decade ago, and know all too well the site’s national and, indeed, global heritage.
Choosing the Observatory and the rare chance to perform a show in the shadow of the world-renowned James Lovell Telescope, it probably remains one of their most significant standalone UK date ever.
With that in mind, the local lads have been left just as worried by the news of its impending closure as everyone else, and have therefore issued a fresh appeal to help keep it open.
Posting a timely statement on social media, the group wrote: “Jodrell Bank has long been close to elbow’s heart. In 2012, the band played beneath the Lovell Telescope for one of the most memorable shows in our history.
“The recent news that funding for the e-MERLIN radio telescope network is set to end in 2028 puts the future of the scientific work at Jodrell Bank under serious threat. It is a remarkable place, with an extraordinary history, and one that continues to play an important role in science, culture and education.”
In addition to reliving clips and images from the historic live set all the years later, they also pointed people towards their ‘elbow – Live at Jodrell Bank‘ album documentary, which has now been made available online for the very first time as part of wider efforts to raise awareness around the cause.
Directing people to key online resources shared by the institution and astrophysics centre itself following their unfortunate update late last month, the push to not only find the funding but sustain support for the facility continues to ramp up throughout the world of science, arts and industry.
For anyone who somehow missed the news – 2028 being the current deadline handed down as per budget cuts across the sector – concerned parties here in the North West and all over the country have since started petitioning to save Jodrell Bank Observatory from shutting down for good.
In addition to being described as a “huge blow” to the field by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), some have even gone so far as to describe the decision as a form of “vandalism” when it comes to research and British culture as a whole.
Having also served as the host venue for the annual bluedot Festival since 2016, the multi-genre science and arts celebration could soon be forced to find a new home.
The battle is far from over yet, and the community has time to rescue Jodrell Bank Observatory from its fate, but it will take lots of money and more notable public figures to make it happen.
Once again, you can do your bit by signing the petition mentioned above right HERE.
Featured Images — Emma Farrer (via Wikimedia Commons)/The Manc Group
News
All Greater Manchester boroughs to have 24-7 night buses from next month as new services launch
Emily Sergeant
Extra night buses, new routes, and more frequent bus services are being rolled out across the Bee Network at the end of this month.
You may remember that back in March, it was announced that every borough of Greater Manchester was set to get a night bus service in what is hoped to be a ‘boost’ to the night-time economy, and now plans to introduce these from September onwards have been confirmed by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), along with a series of other measures.
Oldham, Stockport, Tameside, and Trafford will all get a 24-hour bus service by next month, meaning every part of the region will have a night bus operating Thursday through to Sunday.
It’s expected that once the new services have launched, it will help around 625,400 people working in the night-time economy across Greater Manchester, as well as those out enjoying the region’s nightlife, TfGM has said.
Some of the other changes set to be introduced from next month include a selection of brand-new bus services, and more frequent buses during the day and at the weekends.
All Greater Manchester boroughs will have 24-7 night buses from next month / Credit: TfGM
There will also be better connections overall to key employment and leisure destinations like Manchester Airport, Trafford Centre, MediaCity, Middlebrook Retail Park in Bolton, Kingsway Business Park, and Logistics North.
“The Bee Network belongs to the people of Greater Manchester and it needs to work for every community,” explained Mayor Bev Craig.
“As we build it, we’re listening and responding to what residents want with the biggest set of improvements we’ve ever made in one go.
🚌 More improvements are on the way across the #BeeNetwork.
36 service changes will benefit around 740,000 people across Greater Manchester, helping more communities access reliable, convenient public transport.
“We’re bringing night buses to every borough, launching new routes and ensuring buses run more often in the mornings, evenings and weekends. In doing so, we’re making it easier than ever for people to get around the city region by bus, but we’re also supporting our businesses, whose staff and customers need a reliable and safe way to reach them.
“Almost three quarters of a million people live within walking distance of a bus route we’re improving over the next few months, and we’ll continue improving connections for even more communities based on the feedback we get.”
Georgina Pellant -
3rd March 2023 
