A new rooftop restaurant is set to open at the top of Gary Neville’s St Michael’s development, bringing one of the world’s most upmarket eateries to Manchester.
Called Chotto Matte, it will bring upscale Peruvian and Japanese cuisine to the heart of the city centre, opening its first UK restaurant in the north on the developments’ 20,000sq ft rooftop space just a stone’s throw from Albert Square.
Part of a global chain, currently Chotto Matte currently only has one UK site in Soho, West London, as well as global sites in locations like Miami and Toronto.
However, that is all set to change when it opens its doors up here following the development’s completion – bringing its famous sushi doughnuts, octopus tentacles and lychee ceviche along with it.
Image: Chotto Matte
The restaurant will feature open sushi counters, Robata and Hibachi grills, and sushi torched right at your table.
Design-wise, it will incorporate inspiration from lava stones and graffiti through its artwork, with live entertainment promised in the evenings too.
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Specialising in Nikkei cuisine, must-tries on the menu at Chotto Matte include delicate ceviche, spicy tuna rolls and salmon tataki tartare.
Elsewhere, you’ll find BBQ edamame, tostada chips with guacamole, Japanese wagyu sirloin (flamed at your table, no less), plus spring rolls and various meat and plant based gyoza.
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The famous Nikkei sushi doughnut, available at Chotto Matte. / Image: Chotto Matte
The restaurant’s menus also span a large range of sashimi, tempura and sushi, as well as tempura dishes and premium meat and fish cooked on its Robata grill.
From the grill, think marinated and smoked lamb chop with coriander, and Peruvian chilli miso, tentáculos de pulpo (baby octopus with yuzu and purple potato), and black cod in a chilli miso marinade with yuzu and chives.
Alternatively, if you really want to go all out, there’s also an option to have tuna belly and top-tier wagyu cooked at your table on a special Hibachi grill.
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Image: Chotto Matte
As for sides, choose from the likes of steamed or fried rice, cassava wedges and truffled purple potato mash. This is the place to go all out.
Sharing a mock up of the new restaurant to the brand’s Instagram today, the Chotto Matte team wrote: “We are thrilled to announce that Chotto Matte will occupy the spectacular 20,000sq ft rooftop at the upcoming St Michael’s development, brought by the Relentless Developments group and @gneville2.”
The £200m St Michael’s development, located at the old Bootle Street police station site, will also feature a nine-storey office block and a new public square.]
Image: Chotto Matte
Image: Chotto Matte
Image: Chotto Matte
Work began on the St Michael’s development earlier this year, with the first phase scheduled to be ready by 2024.
Founder and owner of Chotto Matte, Kurt Zdesar, said: “We are delighted to continue our expansion plans and allow more people to experience the very best of authentic innovative Nikkei cuisine across the UK.
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“I am personally very excited to bring Chotto Matte to such an ambitious place. I have been monitoring the city’s growth for years but never found the right opportunity until now.
Image: Chotto Matte
“It is only when meeting with Gary Neville and understanding his vision, with Relentless, for this first of a kind development that I felt a great synergy with our brand.
“The city is growing at an exciting pace and timing couldn’t be better for Chotto Matte to bring diversity to the local landscape. I see this new opening as an important part of our international expansion plan.”
The 2027 World Climbing Series is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
In yet more huge sporting news for Greater Manchester, the 2027 World Climbing Series is coming to 0161 later this year.
We’ve had plenty of big peaks of late, but things seem to just keep going up and up.
Set to host the global event for the first time in our history, Manchester will welcome the World Climbing Series (WCS), which is set to include both Olympic and Paralympic disciplines ahead of the next Summer Games in 2028.
2027 will mark the 38th edition of the series, which will also be one of only a handful to be held in the North – it’s just down to our city to make it the best.
Officially announced on Friday, 16 January, the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) confirmed the return to the UK.
Founded back in 1989, the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) is coming up on four decades since the competition first began – Leeds being chosen as the inaugural hosts – the event has come a long way since then.
The IFSC’s rebranding of the annual bouldering, lead and speed trials to the modern WSC, which began last year, was initially revealed back in 2023.
Welcoming continental talent right down to the youth level, the upcoming 2026 World Climbing Series is taking place in the summer and will be hosted by the city of Innsbruck in Austria.
As for the WSC’s Manchester debut, which is being organised in collaboration with the City Council, Manchester Accommodation BID, MCR Active and the National Lottery via UK Sport investment.
It’s not the only big sporting celebration that the Council will be supporting in 2027.
Paul Ratcliffe, CEO of the British Mountaineering Council, said in an official statement: “It’s exciting to be able to confirm that a World Series climbing event will return to the UK in 2027 as part of the BMC’s major event programme.
“Hosting a competition of this scale in Manchester is a strong statement about the UK’s place on the international climbing stage and a great opportunity for our athletes, fans, the climbing community and the wider public to experience the sport at the very highest level.
“Our ‘Route to Adventure’ strategy sets out how we will build on moments like this to support people into climbing and help them progress, whatever their starting point. Using major events to inspire participation, strengthen pathways and reinforce our commitment to inclusion is central to our long-term approach.”
Scheduled to take place in June, you can find out more information about the 2027 World Climbing Series in Manchester by signing up for the official event mailing list HERE.
The Tour de France is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
It’s official: both the male and female Tour de France are coming to Greater Manchester and nine other destinations across the UK in 2027.
As one of the biggest locations on the list, it’s another big sporting landmark for us Mancs.
Confirmed on Thursday, 15 January, the men’s race and the Tour de France Femmes (TdFF) will be passing through our region next summer.
Revealing the news in an exciting announcement video on social media, you can see the other cities and towns that the world-famous endurance event will be hitting here:
With Greater Manchester boasting not only the National Cycling Centre, but having already hosted the Tour of Britain – which has passed through Altrincham on multiple ocassions – we’re well-versed when it comes to the sport.
It’s been more than a decade since the Tour de France last took place in the UK, with London and Yorkshire hosting three stages of the biggest date on the annual cycling calendar back in 2014.
Fast forward a dozen years, and not only will they both be participating again, but Great Britain will see dual Grand Départs for men and women for the very first time.
Not only are we buzzing that the racing will be returning to our friends in Leeds and Sheffield, but also nice to see other Northern regions lending their roads and stunning landscapes, such as the Lake District and wider parts of Cumbria.
You can see the full route map broken down below.
🇬🇧 Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, London 🇬🇧
💛 Grand Départ Great Britain 2027: in the footsteps of the pioneers!
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) January 15, 2026
Speaking in an official press release, race director Christian Prudhomme said: “The UK has always welcomed the Tour with passion and pride, and the route details we are revealing today reflect the beauty and diversity of Britain’s terrain.”
“Bringing both Grand Départs here is a testament to the strength of our partnership with British Cycling and the enthusiasm of the UK.”
TdFF counterpart, Marion Rousse, added: “The UK has played an important role in the history of women’s cycling, with champions such as Lizzie Deignan.
“Starting the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in Leeds is a strong choice, closely linked to this heritage and to the enthusiasm of a public that knows and loves the Tour. These stages clearly reflect the race’s ambition: to continue growing women’s cycling and to inspire future generations.”
Georgina Pellant -
12th April 2022 
