Raft is pretty much all things to all people. On the ground floor, it’s a pub, a welcoming after-work tavern complete with big screen sports, a jukebox… there’s even a fruity.
Upstairs, there’s a huge dining space, wrapped around a central bar, with private dining rooms at the back, and round the corner, a central island with an upscale buffet situation for long and lazy weekend brunches.
It’s inspired by the communal, relaxed eating style venues like The Ned in London and the upscale eateries of Dubai.
Head to the back corner of the dining room, and there’s a late lounge, for just shy of 200 people that will be open into the night (‘if you know, you know’, say the place’s owners), and even a ‘toilet disco’, a DJ booth set up by the loos that might well snare a few folk on the way back to their tables.
“We’re hoping we’ll get a kind of kitchen disco vibe going on,” says the place’s commercial director Ashley Williams.
Sitting at the end of Bridge Street, on the edge of Spinningfields, Raft is nothing if not ambitious.
“We wanted to create a concept that couldn’t be pigeon-holed,” Ashley goes on. “So we could have a bit more fluidity. Different contrasting layers. Rafts are unguided, drifting around from coast to coast. So it lends itself to that idea of flexibility.
“The name kind of came first, we just kind of liked it, but when we delved into the meaning we found it really suited us, and that kind of bohemian, free-spirited idea resonated with us as a concept.”
The tavern will be ‘a boozer’, serving the good folk of Spinningfields, with Guinness and Asahi on draft. “We’re going to have sports events, everything from Glastonbury to Premiership football,” he says. “Then was you come upstairs, the venue is vast, so we’re all about the use of space. We can split things up.
“The island bar sits in the middle, and the restaurant all around it. There’s DJs right in the middle of the restaurant, and so we’ll harness all that energy. People won’t have to leave their tables after dinner to then go to the bar, they can stay there and have that same energy all through the evening.
“We’ve even got tables within the DJ booth, and there’s a stage, so we can have bands, dancers up there.”
On the menu, there will be an a la carte offering a couple of nights a week – small plates and sharers – and as the week approaches the weekend there will be a ‘night brunch’ concept, before the all-day buffet concept kicks in on Saturdays and Sundays, with everything from lobster tails and crab claws to a traditional – but elevated – carvery.
“We’re calling it ‘island dining’,” he goes on. “It’s a huge self-service space, like The Ned, or your Dubai-style luxury hotels, or like Nobu and what they do with their counter service. You’ll be able to go and meander around, drift round the buffet. There will be lots of barbecue, lots of open fire cooking.” Think Talamanca rather than the Toby Grill.
Central to this will be their ‘boheme brunch’, a set £25 price tag for food, and another £25 if you fancy going bottomless. People can then stick around and ‘meander’, rather than feeling they’re on the clock.
Sundays will be punctuated with their ‘Raft Feast’, running from 2pm until late, with bottomless wine and Bloody Marys, all at the same price as the brunch offering.
Alongside the likes of The Ned and Nobu, in terms of inspiration, is the likes of jet-set spot Scorpios in Mykonos, which combines ad-hoc dining with great music and appearances from international DJs.
The whole place is so relaxed, it’s virtually horizontal. “You go to higher end restaurants, and you’re sat at your table and you’re quite restricted. Here is about socialising. Being vibrant. It’ll be something that Manchester hasn’t seen before.”
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