The National Football Museum at Urbis is set to open on the 6th July 2012. It has also been confirmed that the top two floors, vacated by The Modern restaurant and bar, will once again house an upmarket destination bar and restaurant to complement a cafe on the ground floor. When the ill-fated Urbis museum closed in February 2010, the closure of the multi-award winning Modern was seen as one of the biggest losses to hit Manchester's dining scene in recent year. ~ 30 Mar 2012
Michael Caines at Abode Manchester played host to a dream meal with celebrity Michelin-star chefs Nigel Haworth (Northcote Manor) and Paul Heathcote (The Longridge) joining Michael in the kitchen to cook up a five course feast in aid of Hospitality Action. Andrew Nutter hosted a charity auction to help bring the total raised to over £8,000 for the charity which cares for those in the industry who've fallen on hard times. The trio will be reunited at The Longridge (May 24th) and at Northcote (Sep 27th). ~ 29 Mar
Genting Casino on the corner of Portland Street and Oxford Street have closed their highly-acclaimed 110 Restaurant for extensive refurbishment. The move will see the restaurant and its theatre-style kitchen relocated to be underneath the new Salle Privee VIP lounge, which opened on 22nd March and overlooks the gaming floor. The entire casino is to undergo a plush new facelift ahead of 110 Restaurant's relaunch in the summer. ~ 22 Mar
Mirroring the scenario experienced by most Manchester restaurants, sandwich store Philpotts have complained of a "challenging breakfast and lunchtime market" with sales dropping by £200,000 in 2011. They've closed their Mosley Street branch on 26th March although retain four more units in Manchester city centre together with one in Knutsford.
Formed in Chester 25 years ago, the 21 branch Darlington-based company, has seen year-on-year profits drop from £1.12m in 2010 to £415,000 in 2011. ~ 16 Mar 2012
The incredibly popular Manchester branch of Jamie's Italian have submitted a planning application for outdoor seating. The request should come as a welcome relief to the many customers who have regularly patiently waited for upto three hours for tables to come free since the King Street restaurant opened its doors in February. Jamie Oliver's restaurant is that popular, there's said to be a four month wait for available tables on Friday and Saturday evenings. ~14 Mar
Following two raids by the UK Border Agency, six workers at EastZEast Riverside and EastZEast Ibis were taken away and are now being held, awaiting their removal from the UK. In the operation, four Pakistani men were arrested for working in breach of their student visas. An Iraqi man, who didn't have permission to work in the UK, attempted to hide from officers above the kitchen, whilst another Pakistani man was also escorted from the buidling for also not having permission to work in the UK. EastZEast face possible fines of up to £10,000 per illegal worker. ~12 March
Joining the upmarket King Street restaurants Browns, Room, Rosso, Jamie's Italian and soon-to-open L'Entrecote, plans have now been submitted to convert the beautiful Lloyds Bank building on the corner of Cross Street into restaurants and shops. The stunning statuesque building dates back to 1902, when it was built for Lloyds, who are soon to vacate the premises. The proposed scheme looks to refurbish the ground floor, banking hall and basement, where The Rice Bowl restaurant is currently located. ~ 12 Mar
Restaurant, Bar & Grill on John Dalton Street have unveiled plans for a fifth floor roof terrace. ~ 30th Mar 2012
Following their December opening in MediaCity, Italian restaurant chain Prezzo are set to come The Printworks. The 150 branch London chain offers a choice of pizzas created by Aldo Zilli. ~ 30th Mar 2012
The unit vacated by Billie Rox on Portland Street is set to become home to Tops Restaurant. ~ 30th Mar 2012
There are plans for a new restaurant in Piccadilly Station on the recently refurbished mezzanine level. No more details are known at present however Carluccios are confirmed for a neighbouring unit. ~ 30th Mar 2012
Chester gastro pub company Brunning & Price have confirmed that Jackson's Wharf in Castlefield is set to re-open as The Wharf in June 2012. ~ 30th Mar 2012
Carluccio's in Spinningfields closed on the 26th March ahead of a major refurbishment. It's set to re-open on Monday 2 April. ~ 27 Mar 2012
Piccolino have applied for planning permission to expand the restaurant and add an Al Fresco dining area, increasing capacity from 72 to 102 diners ~ 27 Mar 2012
Pizza Porto, a new modern Italian restaurant has opened on 20th March in the Albert Square unit outside the Town Hall, vacated by Chez Gerrard ~ 20 Mar 2012
Yang Sing owner Gerry Yeung has opened Wokooshii, a new £200,000 Japanese and Korean restaurant next door to his Cathay Dim Sum unit in The Trafford Centre ~ 19 Mar 2012
The Ramsbottom Chocolate Cafe have created a Chicken Tikka Masala Chocolate bar, which is made from milk chocolate, chicken, coriander, cumin, ginger, tumeric, garam masla and pepper. ~ 18 Mar 2012
Bridge Street restaurant Cafe Istanbul celebrates its 32nd birthday with the launch of a new private dining and function room. ~ 6 Mar 2012
Secretive Friday and Saturday night temporary restaurant Almost Famous Burgers has opened "for those in the know" via a wooden door and office building above Keko Moku in the Northern Quarter. ~ 3 Mar 2012
