Gary Usher confirms second Manchester opening
June 2018
EAT. DRINK. SLEEP
Industry News
Manchester brewers collaborate with restaurants on one-off beers Eight Manchester brewers have partnered with leading, independent restaurants in the region to promote beer as a suitable bedfellow for high-end food.
Murphy said he finds it infuriating that restaurants put so much effort into sourcing the best ingredients and championing provenance of their food, yet stick to standard, bigbrand lagers on their drinks menus.
Cloudwater Brew Co, which was recently voted the second-best brewery in the world by RateBeer, is working with Stockport restaurant Where the Light Gets in, while Thirst Class Ale is working with vegan eatery The Allotment. Showcasing the diversity of beer for food pairing, Runaway is brewing up a Japan-inspired beer for Jay Raynor’s ‘hidden gem’ Umezushi sushi bar, and Squawk is creating a special drop for Bundobust, which specialises in Indian street food.
‘Wine has traditionally been seen as the only suitable pairing for food, possibly because of the strong French influence on modern, highend cuisine, with beer being viewed as merely a working man’s drink,’ he explained. ‘Too many people view beer as simplistic and onedimensional, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
‘Few people genuinely understand its history, process and different flavour profiles and so there’s a lack of confidence when it comes to Connor Murphy, who organised the adding beer to a menu – brewers, initiative as part of Manchester Beer particularly at the smaller end of the Week, told Imbibe that the project scale, need to get better at coming would go far beyond rebadging together to collectively market their existing beers. products to the wider market.’ ‘In one case, the brewer has been working with the restaurant to create a beer inspired by their food and using core ingredients from one of their dishes,’ he said. ‘In another, the beer has been designed to match the most popular dish created by the restaurant. By giving a fairly open brief, we should get a varied set of results, which makes this even more exciting.’
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The beers will launch in Manchester Beer Week, which runs from 29 June to 8 July, but Murphy hopes the collaborations, and conversations engendered by them, will continue beyond. This is the third year that Manchester Beer Week has been organised, and it’s caught the imagination of the city from the off, with 94 events held across venues in its first year.
Restaurateur Gary Usher has confirmed the opening of his second Manchesterbased site, Kala, in September this year. he news comes just hours after he announced plans to raise £50,000 in 24 hours to fund new restaurant Pinion, in Prescot, Merseyside, which he hopes to open this summer. Kala on King Street in Manchester’s city centre will join Hispi which opened in Didsbury, South Manchester in 2016; Sticky Walnut in Hoole, Chester; Burnt Truffle in Heswall on the Wirral; and Wreckfish in Liverpool. The restaurant will not be crowdfunded, however a post from @stickywalnut on Twitter encouraged followers to give support through opinions on “furniture, plates and menu ideas.” Hiya@kala_manchester opening date September 24th. No Kickstarter. I’d still really fucking love your support, advice & opinions though X — STICKY (@StickyWalnut) May 3, 2018 Usher told The Caterer last September, shortly after opening Wreckfish, if it got to the point where it could sustain itself “why not go for the next one and keep up a good track record?” He continued: “My plans are scatty, but they often work out to something. I’m really in to this journey with the restaurants. I’m enjoying myself and we are creating careers and I don’t want to stop.” The Kickstarter for Pinion will launch at 7pm on 29 May.