Manchester places an order at Zinc Bar & Grill

Conran Restaurants is to open its first UK restaurant outside London on 14 August, as it begins expanding the business both around the UK and across Europe.

The new Zinc Bar & Grill, which has been designed by Conran & Partners, will be situated within the newly rebuilt Corn Exchange In Manchester – renamed The Triangle – which opens this month. The first Zinc eatery opened in August 1997 and is situated on Heddon Street, central London.

Set on two levels, the restaurant will have the Zinc Bar, front-of-house kitchen and seating for 106 people in total. Conran & Partners associate director Sarah Aldridge says the Manchester concept differs from Zinc in London, in that it uses a “more restrained palette of materials. There are timber slats on the ceiling and concealed light fittings, while the floor has concrete pavers, creating a robust feel.”

The venue will be open from 8am to midnight during the week and until 2am at weekends, serving breakfast, morning coffee, brunch, afternoon tea, dinner, late drinks and bar food.

“Zinc Bar & Grill Manchester is the first of many all day bar brasseries around the UK,” says Conran Restaurants managing director David Loewi. “Our aim is to offer great value, good quality food and drink in relaxed surroundings.

“The Triangle has been beautifully restored and I believe it will rejuvenate an area once considered off the beaten track from Manchester’s busy shopping centre,” he adds.

Founded by Terence Conran in 1991, Conran Restaurants has been at the forefront of the restaurant revolution during the past decade and is now one of the UK’s fastest growing restaurant groups. It currently operates 19 restaurants and bars in London, and five in Paris, New York and Stockholm. Further venues are planned in the future.

The Pâtisserie Valerie chain has plans to double the capacity of its Royal Institute of British Architects café Conran & Partners is handling the designs.