The Botanist, Deansgate, First Look

THE BOTANIST will be a huge success on 'the strip' of Deansgate. The fit-out and the food and drink offer will lift the area and ensure it will be packed to the gills most nights. Nobody will miss Label bar which it replaces.

There will the usual combination of accessible food, real ales, sharp cocktails and container shiploads of bric-a-brac.

We know Botanist will be a success at Confidential because all the other operations have thrived - and there's even one in the basement of a Leed's shopping centre.

The 'pub' opens on Monday 4 August and is from the New World Trading Company (NWTC). This company backed by Living Ventures founders Tim Bacon and Jeremy Roberts has three existing operations in Leeds, Chester and Alderley Edge. They are moving into Birmingham and Newcastle shortly.

The idea of the 'new pubs' began with the Oast House in Spinningfields. People will see echoes of the Oast House in the design and the menus of the Botanist, Deansgate. There will the usual combination of accessible food, real ales, sharp cocktails and container shiploads of bric-a-brac. Live music, as in the Oast House, is key.

The Botanist, Deansgate

"Botanist's are pubs first and foremost," says Chris Hill, MD of the company. "Drinks. Food. Real ales, cocktails. Of course we pay special attention to food so people can reserve places on-line already. The live music is important. Pubs are all about what people want nostalgically from a real pub and often that includes live music. We want Botanists to be comfortable and familiar, happy places not ultra cool bars."

Dave Race, the manager of the new Botanist, agrees, "It's about providing a great pub atmosphere with good drinks and food simple as that. There's something for everyone."

Dave Race, manager, The Botanist, Deansgate

The twist in the story of course is that NWTC's decision to situate The Botanist on Deansgate, will see Tim Bacon, Living Ventures CEO, return to the site of his first ever business, JW Johnson's bar and restaurant, in the early nineties. 

“It is quite surreal walking back into where it all began 21 years ago, Manchester was such a different place then. A lot of memories of all sorts, emotional even. I look forward to breathing some new life into the old girl,” said Bacon.

There'll be lots of old girls, old boys, young women and young men thronging this 120 cover operation. 

The Botanist, Deansgate

The Botanist, Deansgate

The Botanist, Deansgate

The Botanist, Deansgate

The Botanist, Deansgate

The Botanist, Deansgate

The Botanist, Deansgate

The Botanist, Deansgate

The Botanist, Deansgate

The Botanist, Deansgate

The Botanist, Deansgate

The Botanist, Deansgate

The Botanist, Deansgate

The Botanist, Deansgate

The Botanist, Deansgate

The Botanist, Deansgate

The Botanist, Deansgate