It was the game-changing bar, restaurant and micro-brewery that was so ahead of its time that people still talk about the legacy of Mash & Air.
Bursting onto Manchester's dining scene back in 1996 inside a former textile warehouse, revellers recall it was so unlike anything that had come before it was "like a spaceship landing in the city".
It fast became the place to see and be seen - welcoming the city's movers and shakers alongside famous faces like the Spice Girls, DJ Zoe Ball, George Michael, Coronation Street icons and the entire Manchester United squad for their Christmas parties.
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Even Sir Alex Ferguson frequented the restaurant - although he did briefly get stuck in the lift - much to the horror of staff inside the venue.
With a dazzling futuristic white and orange design - and with a micro-brewery at its very heart - it was spread over four floors inside the historic warehouse building on the corner of Chorlton Street and Canal Street.
It brought the very first wood-fired pizza oven to Manchester, as well as boasting the fine dining cuisine of chef Jason Atherton on the top floor restaurant Air - he would go on to become one of the world's most-acclaimed Michelin Starred chefs.
The space-age micro brewery running through the middle of the venue was the inspiration for the venue's name, a nod to the brewing process of Mash & Air.
But only four years after it opened the bar was to close after a string of burglaries - including one where artworks nailed to the walls were even removed.
The venue was the brainchild of Irish restaurant entrepreneur Oliver Peyton, who was keen to bring something completely new to Manchester after the success of his venues like Atlantic Bar & Grill in London.
Talking about Mash & Air now, Oliver tells the M.E.N : "Why did I open in Manchester?
"I had this really strong feeling that at the time everything seemed to be Londoncentric and I didn't understand why people hadn't done more stuff outside London.
"I think in a way what we were trying to do was fill a gap after the Hacienda closed, for the more mature crowd who still wanted to go out, but didn't necessarily want to go clubbing til 2am.
"I had this abiding feeling of why go to a sweaty club to drink late when you could go out to a nice bar environment instead?"
Working with influential designer Marc Newson, the micro-brewery was at the very heart of the project.
Oliver recalls: "It went through all four floors, it looked like a spaceship.
"It's funny now, one of the reasons I wanted to do a microbrewery at the time was in England all the beer sold was Fosters or Heineken, there was no British beer unless you went to a spit and sawdust pub, there was no one making British beer.
"I wanted to do something modern about pale ale something like that, and putting things like wine and cocktails together. It seems like standard stuff now, but at the time you just didn't have good beer, wine and cocktails served together.
"It was so far ahead of its time, I don't understand why it took so long for that kind of concept to get going really.
"I'm often far too ahead of my time, I need to be not so far ahead of my time some time!
"It was amazing really, Jason Atherton was there, it was his first head chef role, Marc Newson designed it all, there was a lot of good art and very interesting things in there.
"We had a great time doing it, and I was really proud of what we achieved and I think we did make a difference."
Oliver never intended the bar to be a celeb haunt, but from the off it attracted the great and the good, as well as his personal friends who just happen to be big stars - the likes of Davina McCall and Cold Feet star James Nesbitt.
The entire Manchester United squad at the time became regulars - and Oliver recalls the moment that Reds boss Sir Alex did, indeed, get stuck in the bar's lift.
He recalls: "Manchester United had their Christmas party there the first year we opened, Fergie got stuck in the lift, we definitely worried about how he was going to react - but he was fine about it.
"We thought he was going to come out and give us what for, but he was very understanding about it all.
"It was pretty good for celebs because if they wanted to have private space, then it was a big place. If there was any big star coming to Manchester they would come to us.
"I must admit I used to see Jimmy Nesbitt a lot. He's a very good friend of mine Jimmy.
"I've never been that in awe of celebrity.
"I just see them as anybody else, I'm democratic about people."
It became the obligatory location for big celebrity after-parties, with The Spice Girls all partying there back in 1998, as well as the bar of choice for Coronation Street celebrations and leaving dos.
For those who frequented the bar at the time, the memories live on.
Hospitality and culture consultant Thom Hetherington recalls: "Mash & Air, it felt like something from another planet - it stood out a mile.
"It felt incredible at the time. It felt like a shift of paradigm as to how bars should be and could be.
"It's only when you look back at it now you realise how pioneering it was.
Click or swipe below for a gallery of photos of guests over the years
"It had a really cool bar, sourdough pizza, microbrewery and then upstairs it was fine dining.
"If someone delivered that as a concept now it would be absolutely en pointe - it couldn't be a better summation of what dining is now - yet they were doing it 25 years ago in Manchester.
"It was absolutely the see and be seen place, all of the clichés, everyone used to be in there, there were queues out the door."
Urban Splash boss Tom Bloxham said the bar had a key place in taking Manchester from "dark satanic Mills to Manchester's Original Modern City."
He said: "Mash & Air foretold the future of Manchester - it had Marc's wonderful design and was democratic for all.
"I had some of my best nights there - footballers mixing with business people, journalists, models and street wise Mancs all enjoying the space. It's the restaurant I miss more than any other since in Manchester.
"Oliver and his sisters brought a cool London air to which we added a Mancunian swagger."
Revellers recall quirky details at the restaurant, like being delivered your bill in an envelope with "the damage" written on, and matches in "Mash" and "Air" boxes.
Andy Spinoza was the MEN's Diary Editor when Mash & Air first opened in 1996. He said: "It had that very real, compelling vibe when a place is THE place to see and be seen.
"You knew when you went in there and had a couple of drinks you'd be in there for the night in this bubble of luridness, it was so stylish and modern, but in a sci-fi kind of way.
"It was very brave but it was ultimately before it's time."
But becoming such a celebrity hotspot did have it's drawbacks.
There was famously the time police had to deal with a near riot of people outside the bar when it was rumoured that boxer Mike Tyson was having his after-party there (it turned out he wasn't).
And for Oliver running the venue it started to get tougher and tougher as it became more and more well known.
He says: "It was definitely the hardest place to run because a lot of the staff weren't used to that kind of crowd, we had to have an awful lot of staff training to stop them crossing the line of partying and working."
The end of the party
After four short years, Mash & Air closed in 2000, amid increasing problems with security and becoming a target for criminals.
Oliver said: "I was struggling with the level of management I needed because it was a big building.
"The problem was there just too much trouble around. We had quite a big robbery, and it just became too hard. It was too hard.
"I think if I was there full time and I was running it it would have been fine but the management there were not ready for some of the challenges.
"We had the safe robbed one weekend, they even took a picture off the wall we just couldn't work out how they did it, there was just a series of events. I was finding it difficult with security because I brought the team up from London and they didn't know everyone and that was quite challenging.
"But people still ask me all the time about Mash & Air, it's one of these key moments in time."
What happened next
Oliver went on to open a Mash & Air in London in 1998 before establishing his Peyton and Byrne hospitality business.
But of course in more recent years he has become a household name for his TV work as a host and judge on the BBC's Great British Menu.
And, always striving to stay ahead of the curve, his latest venture is perhaps a little unexpected - a funeral business.
Oliver says: "Everyone is going what? But I just looked at the funeral business as a whole and thought someone needs to do something about this, there's got to be more than one type of funeral director out there.
"So I launched Exit Here in Chiswick in London, I see it as a hospitality business really."
He still regularly returns to Manchester, and hasn't ruled out a return with a new bar or restaurant concept.
He says: "I spend quite a bit of time in Manchester, I often pass the site so it's always in my mind.
"I would love to do something again in Manchester, I have lots of friends still there, it's a great city if anyone out there wants to come to me with a proposition!
"I think it's sort of fascinating, the way it's evolved.
"I don't mean to sound egotistical, but I don't like doing things others have done before, it's not what I was put on this earth for.
"What I like is doing my research, coming up with an idea and putting something in place that others haven't done.
"So if someone says to me 'I'm going to open up a burger restaurant' my first question is why? The reason I got into bars and restaurants is because I have an overactive brain, it gave me a chance to express myself and find a different solution to things, and how I could do it better."
What happened to the Mash & Air building
Oliver sold the landmark building in 2000, and it briefly became the Jongleurs comedy club.
In recent years various plans had been put forward for the building to become an aparthotel, but only now has it come to fruition having been taken on by Manchester brothers Joshua and Ben Senior for the rather spectacular new Leven Hotel.
The 42-bedroom boutique hotel spreads across the original four floors of the warehouse, as well as a new fifth floor boasting luxury penthouse suites with stunning views out across Manchester.
And of course the modern day Village is now very much what Oliver had envisioned when first planting Mash & Air on Canal Street all those years ago.
He says: "I was attracted to the site because it was part of the gay community and I thought it was going to burgeon as a neighbourhood in terms of what it could achieve, but it was just a little before its time.
"Certainly when I started there was no density of population in the city, people were still living out of the city centre, not like they are now.
"I think Manchester now is really exciting, there's lots of interesting building and it's sort of blossoming."
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