editorial

With its ramped up cultural offerings and slew of new openings, Manchester has emerged as one of the UK’s most dynamic cities.
<figure id="attachment_139722" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-139722" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-139722 size-full" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Manchester-1.jpg" alt="The Queen’s Arch at the University of Manchester." width="1200" height="800" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Manchester-1.jpg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Manchester-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Manchester-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Manchester-1-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-139722" class="wp-caption-text">The Queen’s Arch at the University of Manchester. (Courtesy of Marketing Manchester)</figcaption></figure>
Manchester is having a moment, with cool new hotels, art spaces, and restaurants popping up quicker than umbrellas in an English summer. But that’s news to most Brits, who, if asked to name three things about this city of some 2.8 million, would probably reply with three standard answers: football, music, and Coronation Street.
The first is understandable, given that Manchester City and Manchester United dominate the sport at a global, not just national, level. The second, too: after all, Manchester gave the world The Smiths and Oasis, and this is where the Bee Gees honed their talents before migrating down under.
The third answer refers to the world’s longest-running TV soap opera: a cultural institution in the UK based on a gritty, fictitious Manchester street that first hit TV screens in 1960 and is still shown at prime time three days a week, nearly 65 years later. Through bank robberies, train crashes, love triangles, and ludicrous plot twists — who wouldn’t marry their burglar? — on it steams. It even has its own behind-the-scenes tour, the <a href="https://www.coronationstreetexperience.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Coronation Street Experience</a>.
My own list would be different. Firstly, I adore Manchester’s solid 19th-century architecture, born from the era when the city, nicknamed “Cottonopolis,” commanded the global cotton trade and sat at the heart of the industrial revolution in Britain. You can see it clearly, for example, in the Victorian Gothic landmark that houses the recently redeveloped <a href="https://www.museum.manchester.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Manchester Museum</a>, with its new galleries dedicated to the Chinese and South Asian diaspora. There’s also the historic <a href="https://nationaltrust.org.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Castlefield Viaduct</a>, a 330-meter-long stretch of elevated railway track that has been transformed into a “garden in the sky,” like a miniature version of New York’s High Line.
<figure id="attachment_139723" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-139723" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-139723 size-full" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Manchester-3.jpg" alt="The Mackie Mayor food hall is an essential stop in Manchester’s Northern Quarter." width="1200" height="800" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Manchester-3.jpg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Manchester-3-300x200.jpg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Manchester-3-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Manchester-3-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-139723" class="wp-caption-text">The Mackie Mayor food hall is an essential stop in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. (Courtesy of Marketing Manchester)</figcaption></figure>
Then you have the friendliness of the place. It’s a very Manchester thing to tack the word “love” on the end of a sentence as a term of endearment to a complete stranger. And lastly, I enjoy the chance to sit and watch the world go by in one of the modern-wave bakeries and all-day restaurants that have blossomed in Manchester in recent years. Take it from me, you’ll want to go to <a href="https://pollenbakery.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pollen</a> for the pear-and-miso French toast, <a href="https://federalcafe.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Federal</a> for the cheddar corn fritters with salmon, and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mackiemayor/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mackie Mayor</a> — a wildly popular food hall inside the former premises of a 19th-century produce market — for the blue cheese–encrusted fried-chicken burger and waffle fries.
“Manchester came out of the pandemic kicking and screaming,” says locally born Robbie Bargh, who runs the London-based hospitality concept agency Gorgeous Group. “This is one of the most magical and multicultural cities in Europe, and it’s seen a huge growth in ‘emotion per square meter,’ that is, [venues] that emotionally connect with the various tribes that live here.”
French design powerhouse Chanel agrees: last winter it held its Métiers d’Art runway show amid the mural-adorned streets of Manchester’s trendy Northern Quarter. Ditto MTV, whose annual European Music Awards will be broadcast this November from the brand-new Co-op Live, the UK’s biggest indoor arena.
<figure id="attachment_139725" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-139725" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-139725 size-full" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Manchester-2.jpg" alt="Visitors exploring the urban park at Castlefield Viaduct; Castlefield Viaduct; small bites at Maya include dry-aged beef tartare on pommes Anna." width="1200" height="893" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Manchester-2.jpg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Manchester-2-300x223.jpg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Manchester-2-1024x762.jpg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Manchester-2-768x572.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-139725" class="wp-caption-text">Left to right: Visitors exploring the urban park at Castlefield Viaduct; Castlefield Viaduct; small bites at Maya include dry-aged beef tartare on pommes Anna. (Photos: National Trust Images/Annapurna Mellor; courtesy of Maya Manchester)</figcaption></figure>
The hotel scene has also heated up. Occupying a former cotton warehouse on Chorlton Street, <a href="https://liveleven.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Leven</a> (from US$130 a night) comes with 42 chic, pared-back rooms that channel a Manhattan-loft vibe; some have fully fitted kitchens and freestanding bathtubs. In the basement, the fine-dining room at newly opened <a href="https://www.mayamanchester.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maya</a> feels more like a nightclub than a restaurant, with Mancunian chef Gabe Lea turning out ingredients-led dishes like stone bass with bouillabaisse sauce and — the culinary highlight of my weekend — a pear tatin drenched in calvados caramel.
Near Manchester Piccadilly station, <a href="https://thereachmcr.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Reach at Piccadilly</a> (from US$130 a night) debuted in July overlooking a canal that once transported goods to the port of Liverpool and onto the rest of the world. In a nod to tradition, some of the guest rooms here have been styled on boat cabins, although Victorian steamers certainly didn’t come with satellite TV or coffee machines. A few blocks away is another newcomer: <a href="https://www.malmaison.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Malmaison Manchester Deansgate</a> (from US$160 a night), with 70 smart rooms and a rooftop bar/restaurant featuring Asian-style tapas and close-up views of the city’s neo-Gothic town hall.
And there are more on the way. <a href="https://www.sohohouse.com/en-us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Soho House</a>, the private members’ club with outposts in dozens of locations worldwide, will open a branch here next year in the old Granada Studios building, a 1950s icon where the Beatles are said to have made their first TV appearance. Design-motel <a href="https://mollies.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mollies</a> will be moving in as well with “budget-luxe” vibes and a diner that channels mid-century America. Also slated to open by year’s end is <a href="https://www.treehousehotels.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Treehouse Hotel Manchester</a>, which promises to bring the kidult playfulness of its sister property in London to the Deansgate area.
For me, Manchester’s fast-evolving dining scene is even more impressive. In the past, it wouldn’t have been too unkind to say fish and chips or a chicken tikka masala might have been the gastronomic pinnacle, but if my weekend was anything to go by, the city’s turnaround is practically miraculous. And as a 30-year Londoner, I appreciated the universally charming service that is not the norm in the British capital.
<figure id="attachment_139724" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-139724" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-139724 size-full" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Manchester-4.jpg" alt="A retro-styled room at the new Malmaison hotel in Deansgate; Chef Tom Barnes at Skof." width="1200" height="893" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Manchester-4.jpg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Manchester-4-300x223.jpg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Manchester-4-1024x762.jpg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Manchester-4-768x572.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-139724" class="wp-caption-text">Left to right: A retro-styled room at the new Malmaison hotel in Deansgate; Chef Tom Barnes at Skof. (Photos: Courtesy of Malmaison Manchester Deansgate; Cristian Barnett)</figcaption></figure>
I pondered on that over dinner at <a href="https://thesparrows.me/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Spärrows</a>. A windowless room under a railway arch may not sound enticing, but the dishes — house-made gnocchi, spätzle, and dumplings with a choice of sauces, matched by an impressive wine and cocktail list — totally won me over. And I loved my lunch at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/etanamcr/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Etana</a>, a contemporary Japanese kitchen inside Deansgate bar and distillery Three Little Words that serves perfectly sized small plates such as Cornish crab toast with yuzu-kosho mayo and dill.
<a href="https://highergroundmcr.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Higher Ground</a>, which bills itself as a “modern and thoughtful bistro,” got the sharing-plates mission right with offerings such as Northumbrian oysters in a pickled garlic dressing, and spring onions with whipped Somerset goat curd. Newer still is <a href="https://www.skofmanchester.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Skof</a>, the first solo venture by acclaimed Cumbrian chef Tom Barnes, who formerly helmed the kitchen at three-Michelin-starred L’Enclume in the Lakes District. A 15-course tasting menu showcases the chef’s signature style of modern British cooking in dishes like cured mackerel in horseradish, Orkney scallops with fried oyster and dulse seaweed, and miso custard topped with hen-of-the-wood mushroom, truffle, and dashi. Or you could just enjoy an elevated pub experience at <a href="https://theblackfriarsalford.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Black Friar</a> in Salford, where the dailychanging meat pie is as good a deal as you’ll find.
Before catching the train back to London, I finished my Manchester weekend with a visit to<a href="https://factoryinternational.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Aviva Studios</a>, a new cultural space beside the River Irwell. Immersive art isn’t particularly me, but you can’t help but be impressed by its potential, or the building itself, a cavernous mishmash of angular metal and glass. A far cry from the solid Victorian warehouses that define old Manchester, it’s emblematic of how the city’s past lives harmoniously with its future. And that’s a place I will gladly return to, come rain or shine.
<figure id="attachment_139721" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-139721" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-139721 size-full" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Aviva-Studios-Manchester.jpg" alt="Set on the banks of the River Irwell, arts and events space Aviva Studios is Dutch architecture firm OMA’s first major public building in the United Kingdom." width="1200" height="800" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Aviva-Studios-Manchester.jpg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Aviva-Studios-Manchester-300x200.jpg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Aviva-Studios-Manchester-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Aviva-Studios-Manchester-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-139721" class="wp-caption-text">Set on the banks of the River Irwell, arts and events space Aviva Studios is Dutch architecture firm OMA’s first major public building in the United Kingdom. (Courtesy of OMA and Factory International)</figcaption></figure>
This article originally appeared in the <a href="https://subscription.destinasian.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">October/November 2024</a> print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“All the Right Ingredients”).

An Insider’s Guide to Manchester