The former bars manager for celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay's restaurant group is coming to Manchester to open a new cocktail venue which will "take inspiration from the best bars in the world".
Dan Berger was also head of bars at ultra-stylish, five-star City of London hotel and members club The Ned.
Called Blinker, the new bar will be opening in the Northspring building on Spring Gardens, close to Hotel Gotham and restaurant Six By Nico in the city centre.
The name of the bar comes from a ‘forgotten’ classic cocktail, made from rye whiskey, grapefruit juice and raspberry.
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The bar’s cocktail offering will be heavily based around seasonality and will ‘reimagine classic cocktails’, with four different key ingredients influencing the menu and changing each month, with an emphasis on using fruits grown in the UK.
In terms of the style of the bar, we are being told it will "take inspiration from some of the best bars across the globe" with the fit out mirroring the menu, using a combination of up-cycled furniture and sustainable materials.
Originally from Manchester, Berger is returning to the city after stints working in both London and high-profile bars in Melbourne.
Blinker arrives as Manchester’s cocktail bar scene is proving itself to be among the very best in the UK.
Schofield’s on Little Quay Street, run by siblings Joe and Daniel Schofield, opened last year to much acclaim, the pair having previously worked at the Liars’ Club and the American Bar at the Savoy in London.
Meanwhile, earlier this month experimental bar Speak In Code, on Jackson’s Row, came in the top 10 cocktails bars in the whole of the UK at the annual Top 50 Cocktail Bars awards.
Schofield’s ranked number 16 on the list, while fellow city nightspot Three Little Words on Watson Street was also commended, winning Bar Team of the Year.
The bar at 10 Tib Lane is also becoming a staple among cocktail fans too, with its daily happy hour and oysters offer.
Blinker is set to open in May, 2022.
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