Welcome to Manchester Confidential
Reset Password
British
You are here: Manchester Confidential › Food & Drink › British.
New Bar Restaurant For Didsbury
'Trendy' new Chalk Bar Grill set for May opening
CHALK is a new independent bar and restaurant soon to open on Wilmslow Road.
"The mood will be very relaxed and informal during the day, but in the evenings, that will be when the cocktails and the champagne come out and the mood changes into an exciting and vibrant evening venue.”
The new venture, located between Grove Lane and South Road, is the creation of Didsbury-based businessman Chris Longmate and Dominic Gottelier, former general manager of long-standing gastro pub The Wizard in Nether Alderley.
£350,000 has been thrown at the three adjoining units on Wilmslow Road to transform the space into a 3,700 sq ft offering ‘both great food and a lively bar atmosphere under one roof’. There’ll be ‘zoned’ dining and bar areas with the main restaurant seating 80 people and an outdoor terrace.
The menu, created with former Wizard head chef Colin McKevitt, will be focussed on high quality with contemporary English dishes including Lancashire cheese terrine, ham hock black pudding and blackened fillet of cod on spiced lentils aimed at clientele from ‘the prestigious south of Manchester and Cheshire’ – Didsbury’s pram sorority and lunching ladies will relish the sound of an entire ‘champagne wall’.
“There are lots of either small independent bars or small independent restaurants – but not both together,” said Longmate. “The look is classic contemporary, but it’s also a lovely warm and inviting space.
"The mood will be very relaxed and informal during the day, but in the evenings, that will be when the cocktails and the champagne come out and the mood changes into an exciting and vibrant evening venue.”
Longmate and Gottelier have also begun a recruitment drive with 45 jobs available for opening on May 14.
Chalk Bar and Grill, 784-788 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, M20 2DR. 0161 445 1042
Like what you see? Enter your email to sign up for our newsletters which are chock-a-block with more great reviews, news, deals and savings.
13 comments so far, continue the conversation, write a comment.
Explore The Site
Content
About Us
© Mark Garner t/a Confidential Direct 2021
Privacy | Careers | Website by: Planet Code | SEO by The eWord
Written by...?
Have you got a job, Poster Boy?
It says who wrote it at the top of the article, David Blake.
Groan. Champagne wall!? Sounds incredibly tacky. Shopping thinking all of affluent South Mancunians are wags.
That should've read 'stop thinking' clealry
Bit of an affront for the previous restaurant that died here when the MEN said the building was derelict. There isn't enough lunch time Didsbury money to support something like this...CIBO died and they were only charging £10.00 for lunch plus wine.
CIBO died because it was barely a coat of paint better than the hideous La Tasca is replaced. This looks like it is a very different offering and has a main road location to help it. As always with a new venture I wish them luck, they certainly have the pedigree. I'll be popping in once they open :D
Wishing them the best of luck, never had a bad meal or service at the Wizard. It should be fantastic. Look forward to sampling some if the champagne.
Good service along with decent food is all thats required not rocket science, best of luck will pop in for a swift one.
The Wizard was good under this guy
I think it's important to support these two in their new venture. They do say don't knock 'til you've tried it after all. Have eaten at the wizard many times, I've never had a bad meal and Dominic is a wonderful host supported by an attentive team. From this article I get the impression that chalk has a large offering of a day and night setting plus bar and restaurant in a big square footage location. So I surely wish them all the best and will certainly be visiting - I'm sure it will have all the charm and charisma that Dominic offered the wizard without the "pretentiousness!"