Food & drink news inc. Oystercatcher (now open), TAST (opening July) & Pot Kettle Black

Manchester gets a new seafood restaurant just in time for summer, some Wild Cocktails coming to Barton Arcade, a taste of Catalonia with Pep backed Tast and another Pot Kettle Black heading to Spinningfields.

Book now: Into the Gathering Dusk’s Wild Cocktails & make your own gin at Pot Kettle Black
Deansgate favourite Pot Kettle Black Have extended their Barton Arcade spot to include the Bakehouse and Boardroom, a place to create and debate your best ideas amongst the home-cooked smells of the artisan bakery. To celebrate, they’re collaborating with the excellent Emma Roberts of Into the Gathering Dusk whose Wild Cocktails have starred in a number of takeovers around Chorlton and Didsbury. The event taking place on Thursday 28 June sees guests learning the medicinal and cultural history of tonic, plus having the opportunity to make their very own unique, botanical blend.
Thu 28 Jun, Pot Kettle Black, 14 Barton Arcade, Deansgate, Manchester M3 2BW. 6pm, £12 @intothegatheringdusk www.potkettleblackltd.co.uk

Now open: Chorlton’s Oystercatcher seafood grill (pictured)
Long awaited and much chatted about (they featured here a few weeks ago), The Oystercatcher opens on Friday 22 June. Ex Hispi chef Duncan Ranyard and his former Lead Station stable mate, Recep Canliisik, are taking bookings via their website for the ex-Grays Larder site on Manchester Road. If this weekends excellent weather forecast is correct, their terrace will be crammed with people enjoying natural or tempura oysters (3 x £8) and a bottle of Areal Vinho Verde (£24). Read our full preview here.
From Fri 22 Jun, The Oystercatcher, 123 Manchester Road, Chorlton, M21 9PG. Tel: 0161 286 1961. www.theoystercatcher.org

Opening in July: new Catalan restaurant TAST on King Street
Backed by City’s Pep Guardiola and featuring a menu designed by multi Michelin starred Paco Perez (Miramar, Girona, Enoteca Paco Pérez , Barcelona, Cinco, Berlin), the 120-cover, three-storey restaurant launches Friday 20 July with Miquel Villacrosa, trained under Paco in Berlin, installed as head chef. TAST Cuina Catalana, roughly ‘tastes from the Catalan Kitchen’ arrives onto King Street into the ex Suri and Quill site and hopes to bring the best of Catalan food and wine to the street which already hosts the brilliant El Gato Negro. The Manchester street so well known for its shopping experience might be on its way back to the throne.
Tast Cuina Catalana, 20-22 King Street Manchester, M2 6AG. Tel: 0161 806 0547 (bookings accepted from Sun 1 Jul). @tastcatala

New opening: Pot Kettle Black to open at Number One Spinningfields
With no shortage of glossy bars and cocktail crowds, Spinningfields is set to launch another wave of offerings with London imports The Ivy (if you’d missed this, it’s the enormous wooden, arc like structure masquerading as the hanging garden of babylon, right in the middle of the glass forest) and recent addition of 20 Stories. To this, holding up the torch for independent Manchester are Pot Kettle Black. Pop through the ground floor of the newest tower to find their ‘vibrant and laid back vibe’ and no nonsense approach to coffee. Owners Mark Flanagan and Jon Wilkin dreamed up their concept when on tour in Australia with their other job, the significantly less taxing role of being Rugby League stars. The cafe will serve an internationally-inspired brunch menu, with modern twists of classic dishes along with a wide range of vegan and gluten free options. Homemade artisan bread and pastries will also be available, fresh from the recently opened PKB Bakehouse in Barton Arcade.
Opening TBC: Pot Kettle Black, Number One Spinningfields, One Hardman Square, Manchester, M3 3EB. www.potkettleblackltd.co.uk