Michael O'Hare's the Rabbit in the Moon to open with Giggs and Neville on 3 January
The Rabbit in the Moon, the new "eccentric space-age Asian" restaurant from Michelin-starred chef Michael O'Hare and former Manchester United footballers Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs, is to welcome its first guests on 3 January.
O'Hare, who has joined Neville and Giggs' company GG Hospitality as creative director, will oversee the launch of the restaurant on the fifth and sixth floors of the Urbis building in Manchester city centre. His protégé, Luke Cockerill, who has worked at O'Hare's Leeds restaurant, the Man Behind the Curtain, will head the operation as head chef.
The venture will offer a 17-course tasting menu for £75, including dishes such as Wagyu nigiri and edible plum stone, with drinks offering curated by bartender Matt Whiley, owner of London-based company Fantastic Mr Fox.
O'Hare, said: "We've been very true to ourselves in designing the menu and although we aim to stand out, being noticed is not the most important thing to us.
"We've been extremely precise in making sure every detail is executed to the highest level and myself, Luke and the rest of the team have had great fun in designing it. We've done away with tradition and used familiar flavours to help us create a space age Asian theme Manchester hasn't seen before."
Neville described the Rabbit in the Moon as being "very different" to anything Manchester has seen before. "The team have created an unbelievable menu, which tastes phenomenal, and the cocktails Matt has created add a unique edge to Luke's dishes. We think Manchester will be blown away by what has been created."
The Rabbit in the Moon is the latest venture from GG Hospitality, which operates the Hotel Football and Café Football brands, as well is creating a 35-bedroom boutique hotel in Manchester's former new Stock Exchange building.
Michael O'Hare to launch new restaurant in National Football >>
Michelin-starred chef Michael O'Hare signed by Neville and Giggs >>
Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs set to open second Manchester hotel >>