Diecast, Manchester’s newest venue, opened last night debuting its new style of pizza, dry-aged burgers, a huge outdoor space, frozen daiquiris and a raised runway for hedonistic nights out this summer.
The new project from the team behind Ramona and the Firehouse - and before that the likes of the Albert Hall, Trof, The Deaf Institute and Gorilla - has been almost three years in the making, and has taken over the former Presbar factory space between Ducie Street and Store Street.
Partygoers, brunch seekers and the generally curious will arrive from the Ducie Street entrance, walking through the venue’s beer garden at the front, which is perimetered by US style trailers, which will be bookable for big groups and parties.
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You can then choose to sun yourself with a drink outside or head inside into the huge hangar room, and the restaurant area called Leno (so-named after the eldest son of co-owners Adelaide Winter and Joel Wilkinson).
There, you’ll be able to choose from a huge range of drinks - signature being the frozen daiquiri, seven flavours of which are dispensed from huge dispensers behind the bar.
Strawberry, sour cherry, pina colada, watermelon mint, banana pandan colada, pineapple and passion fruit and garibaldi are the flavours, which can be mixed in any combination you please, with two costing £10. Bespoke daiquiris, mojitos and spritzes come in around £10, with a range of beers from breweries like Deya and Thornbridge will cost from £5.80 to £6.80 a pint.
From the kitchen, there are the venue’s new ‘NeoPan’ style pizzas, combining the Neapolitan style with the New York style ‘pan’ pizzas, featuring a tall, rounded crust and heaped with toppings in the middle.
There’s also a signature Leno burger, made with dry-aged short rib, aged cheddar, American cheese, pickles, its own house burger sauce and caramelised onions on a soft potato bun. On the side, there are spicy Calabrian chicken wings with sour cream dip, and baked waffle fries covered in a layer of truffled parmesan.
The Manchester Evening News got a sneak preview of the menu last night. The Pepperoni ‘NeoPan’ pizza was loaded with fistfuls of crisped pepperoni ‘cups’, and a huge ball of oozing mozzarella in the middle. A marinara also came with eye-poppingly red tomato sauce, mini plum tomatoes, basil and sliced garlic.
Both were excellent. The Leno burger, meanwhile, could already be one of the best in the city, the dry-aged beef flavour up front and the bun perfectly soft. No towering patty situation to try and cram into your mouth here - it’s simple and all the better for it.
Co-founder Dan Mullen told the M.E.N: “We want this to be the best venue in the world. That’s what we want. There’s another three years of development in this building, and we’re always changing, always innovating.
“I think we’ll get there. This is just a tiny section of it. This is a 250,000 sq ft factory. The next stages will be really interesting, but that’s the level that we want to go to. We want to put our flag in, make a difference, do something that no one else is doing.
“Our entertainment, our music, our food, our drink, the overall offering; we get that right and we’ll do it. And then you’ve got to shout about it.”
When Mullen, Winter and Wilkinson were handed the keys, the factory - which made metal parts for the car industry, including wing mirrors for Lamborghini - it was still full of huge metal presses and other industrial machines.
“If you’d seen this place two days ago,” Mullen jokes. “Even three hours ago. It looked nothing like this at all. I’m just so proud of our team. I’m proud and tired.”
It’s still very much a work in progress. When it’s finished, the venue will be able to accommodate a staggering 5,000 people.
In the coming weeks, the outside area will be covered with awnings, with fire pits being installed for the winter. Entertainment-wise, there will be DJs, live music, live art installations and performances throughout the day and into the evening (it will open from Thursday to Sunday).
The venue is currently employing nearly 200 people, a figure which increase hugely once larger sections of the building open up. “We’ll be nearing on 750 employees when we get next door as well,” Mullen added. “Happy days.”
Diecast is open now. Booking is strongly advised.
