There’s a lot brewing at Red Bank. No, really, there is.
As part of the latest regeneration project from Far East Consortium (FEC), the area’s restaurant, bar and cafe scene is hotting up. A Finest fave, Foundation Coffee is the latest to announce an opening. Foundation will move into a 2100 sq ft space in the retail unit on the ground floor of the Stile building, part of the £200m Meadowside residential scheme.
FEC is the developer behind Manchester’s Victoria North regeneration project which, as we have written about before, is a £4bn development of the area near Victoria station and North towards Cheetham Hill. It plans to bring 15,000 new homes as well as new schools, healthcare facilities and transport links to the area.
Red Bank’s burgeoning food and drink scene
The Red Bank neighbourhood and its neighbouring Green Quarter already have lots of indie food and drink stars to love. Foundation will join the gorgeous Alpine spätzle restaurant The Sparrows, indie street food collective GRUB and the new Green Arches brewery and bar from former Beatnikz brewers. A stone’s throw away is plenty of other good food, drink and socialising options including pan-Asian street food spot Unagi, artsy pub The Derby Brewery Arms, Baseball activity bar Base and teeny Thai caff That’s Thai. More announcements are set to follow as part of FEC’s FOUND commercial strategy which is being delivered in Red Bank.
More coffee, dear?
This will be the fourth Foundation Coffee House launched by the brand in Manchester. The original Northern Quarter venue on Lever Street was quickly followed by additional sites on Whitworth Street and Portland Street after the local team built a fantastic reputation. We love it for its brilliant brunch menu with all the bennies you need (on sourdough toast not muffins) and the lemon and blueberry
cheesecake French toast, of course. We also love its extensive coffee menu, make ours a Kevlar (that’s an Americano with butter and coconut oil in case you missed that memo). The coffee shop is also well known for inviting local food pop ups to spend a stint in its kitchen. Recent guests have included Lazy Tony’s lasagne, Kong’s chicken and Fat Pat’s.
Dominic Beardwell, co-founder of Foundation, said: “We are one of Manchester’s largest independent coffee shops and strongly believe in our brand; the quality of the product, the functional and inspirational spaces we have created and the culture we have imbued within our team.
“We’re excited to now bring Foundation to this part of the city centre and look forward to becoming a genuine neighbourhood hub where we can help develop the local community within our space and through our events. All our spaces are designed with flexibility in mind so they are great spaces to work and play, from early in the morning to late at night seven days a week. From coffee and brunch to drinks and events.”
Jake Scott-Thrale, asset manager at FEC, said: “Our partnership with Foundation epitomises our approach for our commercial strategy – working with independent and entrepreneurial businesses to activate this lesser-known part of the city. We are incredibly excited to be working with Dominic and Foundation Coffee Team who have established a fantastic independent Mancunian brand.
“We’re looking forward to more people discovering this part of the city centre and welcoming more businesses to the area as we deliver a combination of new homes, green spaces and local amenities to support seven new neighbourhoods and an additional 40,000 residents.”
All eyes on Red Bank as the next hot Manchester property zone. We’re intrigued to see what other food and drink bizzes announce openings there in 2023.
Tags:
Cafes New opening red bank
