There’s been excitement growing about one of the most hotly anticipated additions to Ancoat’s food scene, Simon Martin’s Mana, and with its launch just over a month away, the ex-Noma chef’s venture is looking to justify the hype. When doors fling open on Wednesday 17 October, Mana will be offering top level food without the formality of many of its compatriots, but that’s not to say you won’t get the full works – this is 16 courses in 100 break-neck minutes. Martin is aware that the speed of this dining is different, and says that was part of the reasoning behind their choice of location, ‘We needed to take over an entirely empty unit, so that we could make the space our own – not just for identity reasons, but for layout reasons, too,’ and the fit out of an entirely empty unit doesn’t come cheap, and certainly not the way Mana’s team have done it. The kitchen has come in at £300,000, and this is for a variety of reasons – partly aesthetic, as it’s open plan, and also as they chose more expensive but more environmentally sustainable models. Mana is not aiming for those impressed by a £300,000 kitchen and won’t be ‘making gels and foams and things that are unrecognisable’, this is food aimed at those who want high quality food without the stuffiness of many other fine-dining places and Martin maintains that Mana wants ‘to be accessible to everybody. Mana is about making people feel at home…it’s that simple.’ With murmurings that Mana could finally bring a Michelin star to the city, despite Martin maintaining that ‘a little red star next to your name in a book’ doesn’t make a good restaurant, the excitement seems to be well placed.
Open Wed 17 Oct, Mana, 42 Blossom Street, Manchester M4 6BF. www.manarestaurant.co.uk
- Words:
- Joe Daly
- Published on:
- Fri 12 Oct 2018
