A luxury three-storey restaurant is set to open in a former warehouse building, right in the heart of Manchester.
MAYA has confirmed it will open this month in the beautiful building that’s also home to the LEVEN lifestyle hotel, on the corner of Canal Street and Chorlton Street.
Diners inside the 20th-century warehouse building will have views down the iconic cobbled street from the ground-floor brasserie, while the main dining room is tucked away below ground level.
The new opening, which was first announced back in 2022, comes from the same team behind Isabel Mayfair.
They want MAYA to provide a new all-day dining experience in Manchester, all the way through to the early hours.
The brasserie will be serving a modern-European menu of classics, in a bright and open space.
Stunning.Maya is a new restaurant and bar on Canal Street in Manchester. (Credit: The Manc Group)
But downstairs it’s much more moody, with a menu that changes regularly to show off the best of each season.
There’ll be a secluded and hidden lounge bar below the main dining room too.
The final touches to the site are now taking place ready for its long-awaited opening later this month.
Guests can expect a contract of styles, from bespoke handcrafted furniture from Portugal to disco-inspired neon installations.
Even more stunning food.
MAYA wants to approach its opening with a ‘dinner plus’ concept, where your dining experience evolves into last-night entertainment, with a roster of DJs all week.
The food side of things is all headed up by Mancunian chef Gabe Lea, whose CV includes Michelin-starred Le Manoir and The French at the Midland Hotel.
The brand itself is the creation of Scottie Bhattarai who, alongside MAYA, is the CEO of Isabel Mayfair and its sister brands. Bhattarai has previously led restaurant brands in the Soho House stable, as well as taking Petersham Nurseries to Michelin-starred recognition.
Scottie said: “The term ‘iconic’ is often overused, but the location of Maya can truly claim the label. As we eagerly anticipate its spring opening, we aim to write a fresh new chapter for the city’s vibrant and wonderful hospitality scene.
“The team’s ongoing work over the past 18 months is to be applauded; the care and craft that has gone into ensuring every part of what will make MAYA unique is something that I am incredibly proud of.”
Joshua Senior, CEO & Co-Founder, LEVEN added: ”Myself and the LEVEN team are delighted to be joined by Maya in our iconic, heritage building here in Manchester’s Village neighbourhood.
“The opening will offer our guests and locals alike a brand new dining experience – whether that be a canal-side lunch for two, or an all-night-long celebration with friends – Maya’s unique spaces will mean guests can enjoy things on their terms, a perfect fit with our ethos here at LEVEN.”
Bookings for MAYA in Manchester are now open ahead of its official launch on 30 March.
Lively Irish pub Nancy Spains set to open in Manchester for the first time
Daisy Jackson
An Irish bar famed for its live music is heading up to Manchester for the first time, and is promising £2.50 pints to lure us in.
Nancy Spains will be venturing out of London for the first time promising to bring the ‘ultimate traditional Irish pub experience’ to the Northern Quarter.
If you were to ask what the hottest trend in hospitality is right now the answer would, apparently, be Guinness. We’re drowning in the stuff.
This latest opening is more about Murphy’s, another Irish stout, than Guinness (they actually won’t serve Guinness at all) but the craic will be much the same.
Nancy Spains is actually set to open almost directly opposite the aforementioned Salmon of Knowledge, taking over the former Corner Boy unit on Stevenson Square in the heart of Manchester.
To celebrate its opening, the pub will be serving its first 5000 pints of Murphy’s for just £2.50, so that it can show off the atmosphere that’s established it as ‘one of London’s favourite pubs’.
They’re promising an array of Irish whiskeys behind the bar, live music performances, and a lively late-night setting.
Nancy Spains was set up by three brothers who travelled all over their home county of rural Kerry researching Irish pubs, before launching two venues down in London.
They want it to balance a traditional pub with the vibrancy of the city.
Peter O’Halloran, co-founder of Nancy Spains commented, “We’re so excited to be launching in Manchester, bringing Nancy Spains to the heart of the Northern Quarter.
“After the success of our two venues in London, it was only right to bring Nancy Spains’ infectious spirit and Irish pride to Manchester. Slainte!”
Nancy Spains will open its first Manchester pub on Saturday 15 March at 21 Hilton Street.
Lucky Mama’s – The Italian restaurant serving pasta in a dough bowl and ‘pregnant’ pizzas
Daisy Jackson
Lucky Mama’s is a local sensation, thanks to its slightly whacky but delicious Italian creations like pasta served in a bowl made of pizza dough and its latest offering, a ‘pregnant’ pizza.
What on Earth is a pregnant pizza, you ask? Firstly we should stress this is a nickname we’ve bestowed upon the dish, rather than Lucky Mama’s chosen branding.
But essentially it’s a helping of fresh pasta that’s folded into the bubble crust of the pizza, like a half-calzone.
Lucky Mama’s started life when founders Mamadou Dhiam and Gaby Santos set up a trailer in their backyard in Eccles in the depths of lockdown.
But thanks to a formidably loyal following that’s spread the word of Lucky Mama’s far and wide, it now has two pretty pink restaurants in Greater Manchester.
Back in 2022, they threw open the doors to their Chorlton restaurant, before returning back to home turf for spot number two in Monton in 2024.
The recipes are fresh and pretty authentically Italian up until the last step, when they throw a curveball by loading their pasta into unconventional vessels.
‘Pregnant’ pizzas at Lucky Mama’sTraditional Roman pizzasLucky Mama’s pink restaurant in Chorlton
Their pasta pizza bowls are what they’re best known for and they fly out of the kitchen – this is where pizza dough is placed around a metal bowl before being baked in an oven.
Then it’s piled high with freshly made pasta, with popular flavours like cacio e pepe, mushroom alfredo, and rasta pasta.
Pasta is available in a regular ceramic bowl too.
You’ll find Lucky Mama’s at 565 Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton; and 217 Monton Road in Eccles.
Daisy Jackson -
7th March 2024 
