Flight Club is back in town next weekend and Mancunians are invited to “schedule some much-needed ridiculous joy back into their lives”.
As staff prepare to reopen doors to the King Street bar on Saturday 1st August, the ever-popular social darts hangout has offered Mancunians an insight into what they can expect their first night to look like post-lockdown.
Bookings for the Manchester city centre location have officially gone live, and given the venue’s enormous popularity pre-COVID, the team are already anticipating high demand for early slots.
Flight Club is excited to show the public what “delights we’ve got on offer”, but what can we expect once we dart back into action?
In an email sent around to fans today, Flight Club explained a little more.
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Private Playing Booths
If you’re ready to step up to the throw line, then your own “semi-private space” awaits.
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You’ll be able to play all of the best games that Flight Club has to offer, whilst ensuring you are socially distanced from other groups, and all without missing out on the amazing atmosphere.
Flight Club MCR
Table Bookings
Flight Club Manchester is the “perfect setting to soak up the atmosphere whilst catching up with friends”, but if you fancy popping down for a drink or two, a bite to eat, or you want to celebrate your victory after topping the darts leaderboard, you’ll now need to book your table.
All bookings can be done via the Flight Club Manchester website here.
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Pre-Order Food & Drink
In order to “minimise contact and ensure the best service possible”, you now have the opportunity to pre-order your food and drinks, which will be ready and waiting for you upon your arrival.
You can add on any top-ups using the Flight Club app in venue, or signal your server with the ‘push for service’ buttons.
?As of 1st August our doors in Birmingham, London & Manchester will officially be open. We’ve been working incredibly hard behind the scenes to make sure we can keep everyone safe, and we wanted to remind you of the delights we'll have on offer.?
— Flight Club Darts (@flightclubdarts) June 26, 2020
Speaking ahead of reopening next week, Flight Club Manchester said: “We’re so excited to open our doors again,”
“We’ve been working behind the scenes to ensure that we can still give you the best experience possible”.
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Steve Moore, co-founder of Flight Club, added: “We were founded on the idea of bringing joy to as many people as possible, which we all need now more than ever, so we are so excited to be opening our doors again and show you what we have on offer.”
“We want to help people make up for those missed moments… and can’t wait to delight and surprise every customer that joins us from August”.
If you’re ready to plan your next night out in the city, then you can book a booth at Flight Club Manchester online here.
For more information, visit the Flight Club website here.
Eats
Inside Popeyes as fried chicken restaurant opens its first Manchester drive-thru
Daisy Jackson
Popeyes is ready to open its first-ever Greater Manchester drive-thru restaurant, where you can pick up its legendary Louisiana-style fried chicken and shakes.
To celebrate its launch, Popeyes will be giving away free chicken sandwiches for a year to the first people in the queue – and when it launched at Piccadilly Gardens, someone waited outside for 16 hours.
People really love this chicken…
In the blink of an eye, the colourful orange and blue building has taken shape on Bury New Road, where hungry diners can pick up meals in the drive-thru or order ahead for curbside collection.
Customers dining in can order through a QR code or touch-screens, before sitting down at one of the many orange booths to tuck into trays piled high with sandwiches, tenders, mac and cheese, and more.
There are 72 indoors plus an outside dining area, dual-ordering lanes, and designated bays for pre-orders.
Popeyes is famed for its viral ‘shatter crunch’-coated fried chicken, its Southern US biscuits and gravy, and its brekkie menu where British classics are given a New Orleans twist.
Inside Greater Manchester’s new Popeyes drive-thru
The doors and lanes to the new chicken shop will officially open on Friday 26 April at 11am.
The first three people queueing both on foot and in cars will win free chicken sandwiches for a year, and the first 25 in both queues will get a free chicken sandwich and exclusive merch.
This new Popeyes marks the brand’s 11th opening in 2024, and 47th since launching in the UK in 2021.
You’ll find it at 288-292 unit Bury New Rd, M7 2YJ, right next to the McDonald’s and Tim Horton’s on the border of Prestwich.
Skof, Manchester’s most hotly-anticipated restaurant, confirms opening date and menu prices
Daisy Jackson
A restaurant with a serious Michelin pedigree is set to open in Manchester very soon, as chef Tom Barnes readies to launch Skof and gives a glimpse into its menu.
Tom’s impressive CV includes time spent at L’Enclume, the three-Michelin star Lake District restaurant widely considered one of the best in the world, and he’ll bring that same farm-to-table ethos to the city centre with his debut restaurant.
Skof will be taking over a historic building in the NOMA neighbourhood, right by Manchester Victoria, with an official opening date now locked in.
Skof is set to launch on Wednesday 29 May, with bookings going live today and tables available all the way through to 14 September (and likely to fill up fast).
Tom Barnes has also teased what’s to come on his menu, with two different tasting menus available.
Skof will have a 12-course tasting menu priced at £120, and a 15-course menu for £165 – plus a £50, four-course lunch offering.
The restaurant will be owned and operated by Tom but falls under Simon Rogan’s UMBEL Restaurants group, and he’ll be weaving in new suppliers as well as using daily deliveries of produce grown specifically for him from Simon Rogan’s Our Farm in the Cartmel Valley.
He’ll be using small-scale suppliers such as Cinderwood Market Garden in Nantwich and Lake District Farmers to fill his exciting menu of home-grown dishes.
The first set of menus will include dishes like roasted Sladesdown duck, peach leaf, Ibis celeriac, and wholemeal bread; Berkswell cheese sable biscuit, crushed broad beans, whipped roe, and bronze fennel; and a lightly set custard, served with Hen-of-the-Woods mushrooms, truffle, and mushroom dashi.
Tom Barnes with the team outside Skof, a new restaurant opening in Manchester in May which has confirmed its launch date and menu prices. Credit: Supplied
There’ll be a lot of thought that goes in to the drinks pairings too, working with restaurant manager Sean Oakford and assistant restaurant manager Max Lawrence (both ex-L’Enclume), on a range of drinks options to include alcohol-free or mixed-alcohol pairings, or matching wines to go with the menu.
Tom has also collaborated with Manchester brewery, Track to create Sidney, a light and refreshing beer intended as an alternative to kick off the meal.
Tom Barnes said: “It’s been a long time coming, so I’m excited to be able to finally release our reservations. I can’t wait to share what we’ve been working on and to return some of the incredible hospitality I’ve received from the people of Manchester.
“With Skof, my purpose is to create an incredible experience that focuses on great quality ingredients but above all, puts a smile on peoples faces.”
Skof will open in Manchester’s NOMA district on Wednesday 29 May.
Emily Sergeant -
22nd July 2020 
