Byrne returns with a rebrand
CHEF REOPENS THE FORMER MANCHESTER HOUSE IN SPINNINGFIELDS
AIDEN Byrne is set to reopen the former Manchester House, rebranding the Spinningfields site as Restaurant MCR.
The chef announced he was returning to the Tower 12 venue last month after stepping down from rival restaurant 20 Stories. It will reopen tomorrow, offering diners a six or 12course tasting menu for £45 or £90 and threecourse express lunch menu for £28.
Byrne said the menu would represent an evolution of his previous tenure at Manchester House, which he launched with Living Ventures in 2013.
Familiar dishes including his Ribblesdale goat’s cheese and onion soup and a reworked Manchester Tart will return and the likes of crispy chicken skin and crab sandwich with GoldRush apple juice. Byrne, the youngest person ever to earn a Michelin star aged 22 in 2002, said: “The menu I would say is me, evolved. Personally I felt like I was coming home when I walked back in here. It was a crazy feeling – still is. It’ll feel even more crazy when there are people sitting at the tables. Hopefully they’ll feel like they’re coming back home to Manchester House too.”
A full refurbishment is planned for next summer, but for now the restaurant will look the same as when it closed in October – with fewer covers. I don’t have any corporate intervention, that’s what I’m really excited about,” said Byrne, who has financial backing from an industry friend and an investor.
“I’m excited about being able to do everything I wanted to do but wasn’t able to before. We’re not turning any tables. If you book a table it’s yours for the service. In the past we used to do 100 covers on a Saturday night; the most we’ll do now is 67, so we can do it properly.”
The restaurant will close for two weeks in August 2019 for a refit. “I want to make it a bit more cosy and homely. I’m reluctant to change it too much but I feel it’s time to move it on a bit – not necessarily to give it a new identity, because I love it, but there are so many new openings now, you have to move with the times.”
The Lounge on 12 bar will not reopen for now but diners can enjoy a drink before their meal in a new bar area.
Byrne has shed light on the reasons behind his exit from Manchester House, following the death of Living Ventures founder Tim Bacon, and his departure from D&D London’s 20 Stories.
“I was here and then obviously Tim passed away and I just didn’t feel comfortable with the way the place was going forwards,” he said. “I stepped out of Manchester House itself to help oversee the creative side of Living Ventures, but that side of it just wasn’t for me. Then I got asked to do what I was doing for D&D and that was a very exciting challenge. As much as I really enjoyed the time there I felt like I was losing my creative side just because of the sheer size of the place. The day I heard what had happened [at Manchester House] I put a request in to see what it might potentially be going for and managed to get a couple of people together to help me open it.”
The name did not come with the sale but Byrne hopes Restaurant MCR retains the spirit of the original restaurant while distancing it from the ‘baggage’ that comes with the Manchester House closure.
“All I want to do is get my head down and get back to serving people and making them happy. That’s what I love doing and what makes me happy as well,” he said.
Visit restaurantmcr.com for reservations.