It has been quite the year for Manchester’s most opulent restaurant - The Ivy Spinningfields - which marks its first anniversary today.
Launching with a star-studded event 12 months ago, it soon became the city’s go to place, and like its London counterpart, one of Manchester’s more well known celebrity haunts.
Featuring four floors of dining including an Asian restaurant and bar and a roof garden, the site was the largest restaurant to open in the 海角视频 last year, with seating for up to 535 diners.
Housed in the striking, timber-framed Pavilion development, the venue continues to attract diners from across the north west who are looking for the ‘Ivy experience’, says operations director Laura Bamber.
“This has been the most exciting and the most stressful venues I have ever opened and I can’t imagine anything will ever top it,” she said.
“With any Ivy launch there is so much anticipation and big expectation around it and you have to deliver on that.
“The opening was amazing though and it introduced us to Manchester and Manchester to us.”
With so much competition on the doorstep, Laura says the Ivy continues to attract customers who want more than just food.
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“We have one of the most striking venues out there in terms of the design of the interiors and between the onyx bars and marble flooring, there are so many nice finishing touches to our venues that is hard to beat anywhere else.
“But the only thing you can really rely on is your people and your service and that’s why we have to continue to work hard on that so every guest that comes to the Ivy gets an amazing experience.
“It’s not just about coming to lunch or dinner it’s about really feeling like this is somewhere you can visit time and time again.”
She added: “Everything comes down to the people you have and a genuine hospitality. We’re here to welcome guests in to make sure they enjoy coming to us and having an Ivy experience and to go away and share that as there’s no greater promotion than word of mouth.”
As with many businesses, the first year of trading can be tough, and The Ivy experienced its biggest challenge when a fire ripped through the top floor of the lavish restaurant and bar, just weeks after its launch.
Baton Berisha, MD of The Ivy Collection, said: “The roof terrace fire was something that we had to deal with shortly after opening, which for a newly-opened restaurant is always going to be a huge challenge.
“We were, however, completely overwhelmed with the support we received from the city following the fire and without a doubt our biggest achievement was the incredible roof garden reopening in April with the Ivy Circus - we were so proud to donate all proceeds of the event to the Fire Fighters Charity.”
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Bamber added: “I feel like we’ve always been Manchester’s Ivy. Our management is from Manchester, the staff are from here, we’re a local team, but Manchester really took us under their wing after that and it showed real strength of character of the managers that really got through it.”
As part of its first year celebrations, The Ivy Spinningfields has been enjoying a month-long celebration including live entertainment in the Ivy Brasserie and Ivy Asia, a beautiful transformation of its rooftop terraces, and limited-edition cocktails in collaboration with Veuve Clicquot Champagne.
A roaming brass band has been entertaining diners in the Ivy Brasserie, while on the second floor, guests of Ivy Asia have been enjoying live acrobatics.
The birthday month has also seen the Roof Garden’s north and south terraces transformed into the North and South Pole.
Bamber said: “The team are very excited to be celebrating our first birthday in Manchester. It’s been a fantastic year and we’re looking forward to what the next 12 months have in store.”
Berisha said: “We’ve had a tremendous first year and look forward to building on this in 2020 with more entertainment and curated events that help keep us front of mind.”
Asked what they thought about Manchester’s current dining scene and the city’s first Michelin star in 40 years awarded to Ancoats-based Mana, Baton added: “It’s been fantastic to see Mana recognised with Manchester’s first Michelin Star in over 40 years.
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“This has been incredible in shining a light on the city and the ever-growing and innovative F&B scene here.
“Manchester is becoming well-renowned internationally and is very much on par with that of Barcelona and Tel Aviv in terms of growth and reputation.”