The new venue, which will be in Salford, Greater Manchester, follows the sudden closure of Byrne’s Manchester flagship site MCR, according to The Morning Advertiser’s sister title Big Hospitality.
The Merseyside chef is joining forces with developer Salboy to take on the Grade II-listed Black Friar pub on the corner of Blackfriars Road and Trinity Way.
Pub plans
The site is split across three floors of the original building and will incorporate a new one-level glazed building to the side, subject to planning permission.
The main area will have a traditional pub feel with wood panelling and open fires, as well as a first-floor dining restaurant with about 20 covers. The newly created building will have a casual-dining restaurant with an open kitchen.
Big Hospitality reported the £2m restaurant is being funded by Salboy and its construction partner Domis with a ‘significant’ personal investment from Byrne and his wife Sarah, who will run the operations as a team.
New experience
Byrne said: “I am so excited by this. Simon Ismail (Salboy founder and director) and Lee McCarren (Domis director) are just gorgeous blokes who really wanted this to happen and for it to be the very best.
“They have been great to deal with. I was introduced to them and was gobsmacked by the quality and passion of their work in the Blackfriars area.
“It will bring a whole new experience to this part of the city with the ground floor providing the hustle and bustle of casual dining and the pub providing the ‘local for Blackfriars’.”
Byrne will continue to run the Church Green pub in Lymm, Cheshire – the venue where he won a Michelin star at the age of 22.
While he doesn’t hold the accolade at the pub any more, he still is the youngest British chef to win a star.