With the finishing touches currently being undertaken on site, The Anthologist is due to open at One St Peter’s Square, Manchester on Monday July 2nd, promising a relaxed all-day bar and restaurant perfect for everything from breakfast meetings to client updates over lunch, after work drinks or dinner with friends. An invite-only launch party will follow on Thursday July 5th.
The Anthologist will be Drake & Morgan’s second site in the city centre, the ‘big sister’ to The Refinery in Spinningfields, bringing a constant flow of new drinks and dishes from across the globe, a unique range of innovative cocktails and all-day dining.
This new northern bar and restaurant is located in one of Manchester’s most sought-after locations, offering an everyday escape right in the heart of the city. The beautiful external planted terrace will offer all-year round alfresco drinking and dining, perfect for people-watching with a glass of rosé.
Open seven days a week, The Anthologist will feature an open kitchen and a striking cocktail bar, with distinctive dining areas complemented by the soft finishing touches of copper herb pots, warm tea lights and gorgeous cushions and blankets. The Anthologist offers both a chic and cosy setting for everything from quick breakfast meetings through to long, lazy brunches and cocktails with the girls.
Drake & Morgan managing director Jillian MacLean said: “We are delighted to be opening our second bar and restaurant in Manchester. We have a genuine affection for Manchester and its people. It’s a very proud and distinctively different city that does things in its own unique style.
“That fact has underpinned our approach with The Anthologist in Manchester. We want to introduce a refreshingly independent bar-restaurant experience that comes with a few new exciting additions for our lovely customers and feels very much part of this great city.”
In the first two weeks after launch, guests can enjoy special offers at The Anthologist, with 50% off food for bookings between Monday July 2nd – Sunday July 8th, and 25% off food for bookings between Monday July 9th – Sunday July 15th. Reservations can be made from today (Friday 1stJune) via [email protected].
And let’s not forget the dogs. The Anthologist is a renowned dog-friendly bar and restaurant and positively encourages dog-owners to bring along their beloved pooch when they pop in for some overdue R&R.
The Anthologist also has a trick or two up its sleeve for summer 2018 when it comes to its food and drink offering.
Proving no salad ever needs to be boring, they’ve taken inspiration from the ‘godfather of fusion’ – chef, restaurateur and food writer, Peter Gordon. Inspired by Peter’s book ‘Savour – Salads for All Seasons’, there are five salads to showcase Peter’s legendary flair for fusing interesting global ingredients and flavours to create delicious dishes.
Must tries include baby beetroot with broad beans, goat’s curd and hazelnuts; kohlrabi with watermelon, tofu, mangetout and candied walnuts; and roast cauliflower with seeds, olives, broad beans, peas and olive tapenade.
Also, on the menu is an exciting array of vegetarian and vegan options sure to appeal to even the most committed of carnivores with must-tries including a flat mushroom burger with smoked vegan mozzarella, tomato and beetroot hummus; pearl barley risotto, watercress, asparagus and vegan pecorino; and avocado hummus on toasted gluten-free flat bread with dukkah and pomegranate.
Then there’s The Anthologist’s small plates, sharing boards, burgers and mains featuring impeccably sourced meat, fish and seafood such as a seabass with wilted greens and beurre blanc or chicken wings with maple, ale and chilli glaze.
Business breakfasts and brunches never looked better with dishes such as fritters with poached egg, labneh and mint; ricotta bruschetta with lemon, basil and honey; and grilled pink grapefruit with crème fraiche and pistachios. The Full Works comes as a vegetarian plate as well as the classic and you can top-up on your five a day with fresh juices and smoothies, blended to order.
They’ve got it covered when it comes to cocktails too. The cocktail list has a distinctly botanical feel with creations by Drake & Morgan mixologist Fabrizio Cioffi, in partnership with London Essence and Chris Edwards of cocktail consultancy ‘Salts of the Earth’.
Innovative, bespoke cocktails include the Yoga Mat & Cha, a blend of spit-roasted pineapple gin by the Boutique-y Gin Company, yoghurt, almond milk, honey green tea, baking soda, lemon, sage and hazelnut and the Grassland with Ketel One vodka, absinthe, apple juice, lemon, dandelion and burdock bitters, grapefruit and rosemary tonic. An extended range of zero proof concoctions have also been introduced, many of which are super skinny coming in at less than 50 calories.
The Anthologist opens as multi-billion-pound regeneration plans to transform St Peter’s Square and the vicinity are well underway. At the heart of the transformation is a new sleek office block, right next to One St Peter’s Square. The £100m Landmark Manchester is due to be delivered in the first half of 2019.
