We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. 2023 is going to be a great year. Adding to the exciting new openings coming to Manchester in the new year is a bar and restaurant serving modern European classics, Maya.
Situated within an iconic location of Manchester’s nightlife history and split across three floors, Maya will house numerous areas, each with its own vibe, to take guests from day to night. From a canal-side brasserie space serving modern-European classics to a lower ground-floor, elegantly designed dining room that will centre around an ingredient-led, locally sourced and seasonal menu.
Maya will take part of the ground and lower floors of 40 Chorlton Street, an early 20th-century warehouse building, home to the newly opened neighbourhood hotel, LEVEN. Maya’s interior backdrop will merge the original industrial nature of the space with inspired details of art deco grandeur references in beautiful and surprising ways.
Maya is scheduled to open in late 2023 and is being developed by a team of hospitality operators who have worked for brands like Soho House, Isabel Mayfair and Michelin-starred Petersham Nurseries in London’s Richmond and Covent Garden. The new restaurant and bar will be led by Mancunian chef Gabe Lea, who has previously worked at Michelin-starred establishments like Le Manoir and Northcote as well as The French at The Midland Hotel.
The food at Maya – a taste of what’s to come
Menu development is underway with Lea commenting: “There is a lot of creativity going into the design and overall concept of the restaurant, and the menu development is no different. Our approach will be to champion the beauty and simplicity of exceptional produce and, where we can, we will focus on sourcing seasonal ingredients locally.
“By having more than one dining space, we can run separate menus. The brasserie menu will be about long-standing favourites that we know people will love, alongside more creative and ingredient-led dishes in the dining room that will change regularly and react to what’s seasonal and available.”
We were lucky enough to get a flavour of what’s to come on the menu at Maya by trying potential dishes at the restaurant’s test kitchen. We sampled the likes of tuna tartar with Exmoor caviar, Loch Fyne oyster with kimchi consume and glazed rib of Cull Ewe with apricot.
These were then followed by hand-dived Orkney scallop with kohlrabi, clams and dill; tomato essence risotto with seasonal vegetables, mascarpone and chervil; and Anjou pigeon, foie gras and herb emulsion. The scallop was served with a lick-the-plate kind of sauce and the pigeon was served perfectly rare inside a beautiful, buttery pastry.
For mains, Gabe Lea served up the likes of cured chalk stream trout, buttermilk and horseradish; stone bass with broccoli and brown shrimp butter; and retired dairy cow ribeye with onion. The brown shrimp butter accompanying the stone bass was delightful and the beef dish was the right balance of both comforting and elegant.
The test kitchen preview menu finished with a chocolate marquise with honey ice cream. Full of finesse and incredible skill, this little taste of what’s to come to Maya has proven this Manchester restaurant is one to watch.
Maya will open in Manchester in late 2023 and will be located at 40 Chorlton Street, M1 3HW.