One of Manchester’s newest restaurants has revealed the secrets behind its unique steak and gin dining concept and it’s set to get city diners talking.
Alston Bar & Beef will open its doors to the public on Friday October 27th at the Corn Exchange. It will bring the highest quality steaks in the UK to the city, alongside a selection of gins from all over the globe.
The 160-cover restaurant will offer diners a menu which features eight different cuts of beef including a chateaubriand and 500g T-Bone, as well as classic fillet and sirloin cuts.
Each cut has been selected from the top one per cent of Scottish beef and dry hung for 35 days for optimum flavour and cooked to perfection in specialist Montague ovens.
The menu also features dishes such as crab linguine in a bisque sauce and a beetroot and goats cheese risotto.
Alston’s bar is one of the first in the city to produce its own cold-compound gins, which have been created to accompany the steaks and dishes on offer, as well as to be enjoyed on their own.
With a unique blend of plants and botanicals – many of which have been foraged from in and around Manchester – each gin has a distinct flavour profile, ensuring the bar offers a gin for every palate.
Up to ten cold-compound gins will be available on rotation at the bar, including a British Hedgerow Gin, with sloes, haws, rose hips, rowan and blackberries all foraged locally and a Wild Horseradish Gin, which has again been picked from the local area.
The bar will also boast a selection of 58 gins from around the world, including several local brands such as Manchester Three Rivers, Thomas Dakin and Manchester Gin.
Riki Bennett, General Manager, Alston Bar & Beef Manchester, said: “We are excited to finally be able to open our doors to the city of Manchester.
“We have invested a great deal of time and effort into securing the best quality steak for our customers, as well as handpicking the range of gins from around the world, with a focus on delivering the perfect accompaniment to our food.
“We are breaking the age-old myth that only red wine should be served with steak or that gin is just an after-dinner drink.
“From our menu, there are obvious pairings such as the rainbow pepper and wild horseradish gin infusions which lend themselves well to the rich flavour of our steaks. Stripping it right back, a simple serve with any of our gins offers a crisp, refreshing drink that cleanses and resets the palate for each bite of steak.”
The restaurant, which is accessed via the external Cathedral Street entrance of the Corn Exchange, has undergone an extensive transformation with interior design and architecture practice Jestico + Whiles.
Guests enter the restaurant via a feature staircase and are greeted by the bespoke stylish bar centred around the venue’s extensive gin offering.
The restaurant space will draw the eye to a 10m wide mural feature wall, which has been specially commissioned by Manchester-based street-artist Tank Petrol. The space is completed by a high spec show kitchen and private dining room catering for up to 12 guests.
This is the first England opening for its award-winning Scottish counterpart Alston Bar and Beef in Glasgow and represents a £2m investment from owners Glendola Leisure.
Alex Salussolia, Managing Director, Glendola Leisure, said: “We are looking forward to bringing our unique offering to the city of Manchester and welcoming new faces to our restaurant.
“The Alston brand prides itself on attention to detail and our food and drink will centre on the perfect presentation and taste. We have invested heavily in our staff to ensure they recommend the perfect cut of beef or perfect serve of gin to best cater for our customers.”
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