Mark Andrew Developments (MAD Ltd) has appointed a new Group Executive Head Chef to replace Rob Owen Brown. Chris Byron, an award-winning chef with over 25 years’ experience of working for high profile restaurant brands, takes over the helm of the independent Manchester-based food and drink chain.
The 47-year-old, who has held a number of key positions including senior sous chef at the Belfry and Executive Chef at Thwaites Judges’ Lodge where he oversaw a £3 million development and won a 1AA Rosette, will launch a new menu at the group’s Northern Quarter eatery Rosylee as his first job.
Operations Director Jonathan Hawkins said: “We thank Rob for all his help, particularly with Rosylee, and respect his decision to spend more time with his family. And we're delighted to announce we now have Chris Byron on board, who will be launching his new menu at the same time as we unveil a new look at Rosylee. We will be trying out dishes in the run up to the official launch with our customers, to help fine tune the new menu. It’s a very exciting time for the Rosylee brand, as we are on the verge of signing our next restaurant under that name, and for MAD as a whole. We can't wait to reveal all on June 10.”
Chris, who also worked for The Living Room for 10 years, will play a key role in the group’s development plans, which includes a new food venture in the Northern Quarter, alongside rolling-out current brands to other areas of the UK.
His menu for Rosylee, will include new dishes across breakfast, lunch and dinner, using local British cuisine, for which the restaurant is renowned. The father of three who hails from the Black Country says a lot of the focus will be around dishes from Rosylee’s INKA oven, one of only three in the city, which gives BBQ heat and flavour indoors.
New burgers, skewers, duck and different cuts of lamb, beef and chicken will be a mouth-watering addition. And as a self-confessed lover of all things sweet, the re-vamped dessert menu will play a starring role with Chris’s take on brownie (made with Amoretti biscuits) his favourite.
Chris adds, “I’m extremely excited to join the MAD Ltd group, with so much on the horizon, it’s a role I can really sink my teeth into and it’s great to be able to work with such a diverse portfolio of brands. Rosylee is just a taste of things to come!”
Vapiano, the international fast-casual Italian restaurant group has selected Manchester for its fourth opening, which will be the company’s only UK restaurant outside London. The £2m Vapiano Manchester will employ 90 local staff for its 400-cover restaurant - which will be the biggest Vapiano restaurant in the UK.
Vapiano, which boasts 152 restaurants across 29 countries, including three in London, will join the Cosy Club, Pho and Wahaca at the newly redeveloped £30m Corn Exchange later this summer. Designed by Felix Fingernagle Ross, the designer behind Vapiano’s Soho venue, the restaurant will sit over two floors with an indoor terrace in the heart of the iconic Grade II listed building plus an outside seating area looking out on to Exchange Square. Also it will feature a 100 year old olive tree and fresh live herbs on the tables.
The concept of Vapiano is self-service using a smart-card payment system, with guests experiencing face-to-face interactions with chefs. Diners order pasta, pizzas, antipasti and salads directly from the chefs at individual food stations by ‘tapping’ their smart cards on a machine at each station within the restaurant and paying at the front desk when leaving.
Vapiano makes its own fresh dough and pasta on-site and they use the highest quality ingredients including buffalo mozzarella, meats and cheeses which are made into pizza, pasta dishes and salads while-you-wait. Plus all dishes are prepared in front of the customer (taking as little as three minutes from scratch) so that they can be customised and refined to suit individual tastes and specific dietary requirements.
Phil Sermon, Vapiano UK Managing director, said: “We have had many guests who have visited our restaurants in other parts of the world particularly in countries such as Sweden contact us requesting that we open in Manchester,this makes it even more exciting to be launching in one of our absolute favourite cities and in such a fantastic, historical development as the Corn Exchange.”
Click here to read more about what to expect when Vapiano comes to town.
Turtle Bay Manchester has been bringing rum, reggae, jerk and good times to the city since last May. Now, as their one-year Mancunian birthday approaches, they’re celebrating in the biggest way possible… with a second restaurant.
After a hugely successful 9 months trading, Mancunians have given Caribbean dining a big thumbs up, so much so that it's been singled out by bosses to become the first city in the UK to get a double helping of Turtle Bay.
This time it’s the fashionable Northern Quarter that’s set for some Caribbean sunshine. The new restaurant is opening on Oldham Street, in the old Ryan Vintage site, and will hold 120 covers.
Whilst the menu will boast all the same favourites that Manchester knows, and quite clearly loves, the interior of the restaurant is set to be different to Oxford Street with £1m being spent on a unique fit-out.
Turtle Bay Founder, Ajith Jayawickrema commented: "Our second restaurant is testament to how much we love Manchester! We're delighted that people seem to really 'get' Turtle Bay here. The Northern Quarter is such an exciting community to be part of - we can't wait to bring Caribbean good times to that side of town".
When it opened back in November 2011, The Alchemist in Spinningfields Manchester was a hit from the outset – and naturally incredibly busy with guests vying for space. Fortunately an opportunity arose for the venue to expand and it has now doubled in size to 5,200 sq ft with a beautiful new dedicated dining area.
Seating has doubled both inside and outside, with 116 covers in the restaurant and 140 more on the outdoor terrace. However despite its size, the spectacular lighting and clever layout within will ensure that a warm and comforting atmosphere will envelop you, as your eyes gaze in wonder at the stylish leather booths, huge wall of apothecary bottles, old chemistry desks used as tabletops and even a huge lighting structure which has been created in the exact molecular structure of alcohol in the main bar area.
Fascinating additions to the cocktail menu such as The Indigo Sunset, will do much to satisfy variety, as will the many delicious options available on the new food menu. Open from Friday night, 1st May.
"We are delighted that the bigger and brighter Alchemist is set to re-open in Spinningfields. The original and fire-starter for the Spinningfields we see now, the Alchemist opened in 2011 and was an instant hit if a little on the small size so when the opportunity arose to acquire half of the old All Saints site we jumped at the chance to let the Alchemist grow. Come down and checkout the new design, whilst enjoying a Smokey Old Fashioned of course, it is amazing." Tim Bacon, CEO of Living Ventures.
From today until the 7th of May, secure yourself some tasty treats and tuck into All Star Lane’s Election Selection: three mini buns and coalition fries (a 50/50 mix of classic and sweet potato fries) for just £13!
Pick your fav, fill in your ballot slip and we’ll make the winner the special for the rest of May.
Here are the three candidates gunning for your glory:
Milibacon Burger: our classic beef slider wrapped in delicious bacon
Clucking Clegg: buttermilk fried chicken with sweet creamed corn
Dave’s Dog: mini dog topped with caramelised onions & blue cheese sauce
The Chinatown branch of Red Chilli, the Chinese Szechuan specialist, has closed its doors with the group who runs it going into administration. Long established and recognised as one of the best and most authentic places to eat in Chinatown, Red Chilli's closure will come as a great loss to the area. For now, the branch on Oxford Rd is still open for business, so fingers cross that this continues to be the case. _ May 2015
High end junk food connoisseurs Solita have announced that their new Prestwich branch is set to open on August 1st. The premises is still pretty much a shell, but the company responsible for the fitting have assured Solita management of their confidence in the project’s completion, so that a launch on this date is all but certain. _ May 2015
The now mecca of Mancunian BBQ; Reds True BBQ, has launched its pre-election special dishes, following the owners pilgrimage to the USA, during which some new and authentic BBQ tastes were discovered. Dishes include a new meaty, sky high burger, a giant roast turkey leg, and the amazing sounding bacon wrapped hot dog. Punters can vote for their favourite dish, which will then be given a place on the permanent menu _ May 2015
Manchester's leading vegetarian restaurant 1847 is eyeing up a third opening. In a novel, and financially ethic twist which in in vein with the food itself, the money will be raised by crowd-funding, as opposed to the usual and traditional banking methods. Owner Damien Davenport hopes to raise £60k over the next six weeks _ May 2015
