Contemporary French cuisine hits Manchester with a double 'Oh La La', or an 'Ooh Aah Cantona' as we say in these parts. Aubaine, the beautifully chic London favourite is set to bring a taste of the French Riveria to Selfridges with not one, but two restaurants. Perfectly baked, freshly made French patisseries and breads will be on offer daily, as well as an extensive range of tempting simple fresh dishes. The two stunning restaurants will open in November on both the second and lower ground floors of the store.~ 30 Sep
Set to open in late October, following an extensive refurbishment from its previously short carnation as Simple at The Light, the Northern Quarter will get its first fine dining French restaurant with the exciting 63 Degrees. The unique family-ran bistro will offer the very best of French cuisine with the Head Chef coming to Manchester directly from Paris to cook delicious meals using a unique technique at the low temperature of 63°. ~ 30 Sep
Old Orleans in The Printworks has closed down (19th Sep) and will make way for a Harvester Pub, with changes to the current layout. A smaller bar area is planned together with a glass entrance. It will be Harvester's first Manchester city centre offering and follows their recent acquisition of the empty unit next door to Lime Bar at The Lowry in Salford Quays. Other Harvester restaurants in the region are The Ashton Moss, The Atherleigh, Horwich Park Inn, and The Sir Winston Churchill in Rochdale ~ 26 Sep
Obsidian has gone through a rebrand and refurb, re-opening on 1st October as 24 Bar and Grill, so named after its 24 Princess Street address. Aiming to be a friendly neighbourhood bar and grill, the food offering is now more honest, simple and reasonably priced, whilst retaining seasonal, carefully sourced ingredients which are prepared by existing chef, Adrian Taylor. Headling the menu is top quality steaks and seafood with starters ranging from £4.50 to £10 and mains, £8.50 to £21 ~ 30 Sep
New York style Northern Quarter favourite, Simple celebrated its tenth birthday on the 25th September by closing Tib Street to traffic with a Grease-inspired American street fun fair. Watch the video (left) to see the regulars enjoying the 1950s theme with their polka-dots, combed back quiffs and fairground rides, carnival stalls, DJs, cheerleaders, pink ladies, tin-can alley, cotton candy, popcorn, lindyhopping, and a BBQ with enough food to have fed 100 American football teams. ~ 25 Sep
The Chinese Pagoda on the corner of Nicholas Street and Faulkner Street in Chinatown is set to be cleaned and painted. The surrounding benches and the oriental-style fencing, which surrounds the Chinatown car park, will also be painted and repaired. The work will be undertaken by offenders completing Community Payback and will be supervised by Greater Manchester Probation Trust and jointly funded by Manchester City Council and CityCo. ~ 21 Sep
Red Hot World Buffet is looking to recruit 200 apprentices over the next 12 months, with the aim to take on young unemployed people for one-year training courses which will lead to permanent jobs if they make the grade. The chain, which has become Manchester's busiest restaurant since opening its Deansgate venue in May, is looking to expand from six to 18 outlets over the next three years with most of the apprenticeships set to be offered in Manchester, its biggest restaurant. ~ 21 Sep
Following the announcement that Legal & General have bought the Manchester Malmaison, its next door neighbour, The Mint Hotel, has been sold to American private equity firm Blackstone, the company which also owns the Hilton group. It's not yet known if there are plans to rebrand the hotel nor its excellent (but dreadfully named) City Cafe restaurant. The eight hotel group, formerly known as City Inn, was only rebranded Mint a few months ago. ~ 18 Sep
The Printworks' brand new English fish and chip shop opened on the 9th September. Moby's Fish Bar has replaced Dockers Fish & Chips and will be open till late everyday. Together with fantastic Fish & Chips, they promise to serve many Mancunian favourites including Hollands Pies, Steak & Kidney Puddings, sausages, mushy peas, scampi, and - depending on which part of Manchester you come from - chip butties/muffins/barms/baps/sarnies. ~ 9 Sep
The most highly-anticipated Manchester restaurant launch in living memory has been delayed once more, with Jamie Oliver announcing that the lavish King Street branch of his Jamie's Italian is looking to now be in 2012. The popular rustic Italian restaurant will join 23 other branches around the globe, with Liverpool and Leeds being the closest for those desperate to get their tongue around Jamie's Tuscan Wild Boar Sausage. ~ 1 Sep
Three times awarded Michelin star celebrity chef Vineet Bhatia is to bring a team of his chefs to Linen for one night only (28 Sep). In 2001 Zaika, the restaurant he co-owned in London, was the first Indian restaurant to win a Michelin star, a feat he repeated five years later at Rasoi Vineet Bhatia in Chelsea. In 2009, he won a further Michelin star with his Rasoi by Vineet restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Geneva, Switzerland. ~ 1 Sep
Top Italian chain Carluccio's are set to open next door to the new Yo! Sushi in Piccadilly Train Station. They'll replace the Terrace Sports Bar. ~ 26th Sep
Following a visit by TV Chef and judge, Ching-He Huang, legendary Manchester restaurant The Yang Sing has reached the final three in Tsingtao's Legacy of Taste 'Best Chinese Restaurant in Britain' competition. It's up against two London restaurants, one of which has a Michelin star. ~ 26th Sep
Salvi's Mozzarella Bar is set to open on the ground floor of The Triangle. ~26th Sep
Edinburgh seafood restaurant Cafe Fish are working with a leading Champagne house to develop a new concept for their upcoming 120 seater restaurant in Manchester. ~ 9th Sep
Popular Castlefield Greek restaurant Dimitris Taverna is set to expand with a second branch opening in Didsbury next month. ~ 4th Sep
Manchester is to get a branch of London's French restaurant and bakery, with Aubaine set to come to Selfridges The boulangerie and pattiserie is famed for it's homemade breads and cakes. ~ 1st Sep
