North West Premier Construction Premier Hospitality

San Carlo Fumo

Fumo, Manchester
Written by Roma Publications

Fumo, Manchester

San Carlo Fumo, the eagerly awaited new restaurant, cocktail and late lounge concept from the multi-award-winning San Carlo Group, has arrived in Manchester.

The spectacular 5,500sq ft. venue – the fifth city site for the family owned group – opened its doors in December 2014 to fantastic feedback.

San Carlo Fumo occupies part of the ground and first floors of One St Peter’s Square, a newly constructed office block situated in the heart of Manchester’s city centre. With floors linked by a grand sweeping staircase, San Carlo Fumo also includes an alfresco dining terrace which will be perfect for summer dining.

With a nod to the popular and critical success of the group’s award winning Cicchetti restaurants, San Carlo Fumo serves expertly crafted small plate Italian and Mediterranean dishes. Guests will be treated to a range of meals, from original pastas and pizzas to speciality seafood, meat and seasonal salads.

Open seven days a week from breakfast through to dinner, and with late opening hours on Fridays and Saturdays, guests are able to call in for a bite to eat, a cocktail or a glass of champagne at the feature bar or take a table and enjoy a relaxed yet stylish dining experience.

Fumo, Manchester

Commenting on the creation of San Carlo Fumo, Marcello Distefano, Managing Director of the San Carlo Group, said:

“Fumo is the evolution of our Manchester based restaurant Cicchetti, which has been a big success.

“When looking for a new location we found that we were coming across sites which were not necessarily suited to the high footfall, retail demographic that had worked so well for Cicchetti. Instead we were finding sites which were situated within business areas, so this meant that we need to look at developing the concept a little.

“In business areas it is a slightly different environment, with a larger emphasis on the drinks side of the business. So we developed Fumo as an extension of Cicchetti, where the food stays the same, but where we have more space dedicated to the bar area – approximately 45%.”

When approaching the design of San Carlo Fumo, Marcello was keen to ensure the restaurant reflected this move towards a slightly different target market.

Fumo, Manchester

He said:

“The design of Fumo had to be transitional as we have a range of guests, from the day time diners to the late lounge guests. Fumo therefore is more contemporary in its design approach, with less emphasis on food visuals.”

Upon entry to San Carlo Fumo, guests are greeted by a stunning, large marble bar – situated in front of a wine store room – which is a strong feature of the ground level of the restaurant. The décor meanwhile has been kept quite simple, with a real Japanese-inspired feel to it.

The theme is continued upstairs which is accessed via a curved feature staircase. One of the main challenges of the site was finding the best way to incorporate the staircase without compromising on the internal layout of the restaurant and bar.

Marcello commented:

“We didn’t want to lose space inside the restaurant so we came to an agreement with Argent – the building’s developer – so that our staircase could run into their reception area. This was the main issue that we had to resolve on the project and on reflection the staircase now looks great.”

Fumo, Manchester

Charles Evans Shopfitters was the main contractor on San Carlo Fumo, whilst Carroll Design provided the interior design work.

San Carlo Fumo is another important opening for Marcello, especially as it is situated in an area of Manchester which is set to be transformed over the coming years with more F&B offerings on the cards.

Marcello, said:

“One St Peter’s Square is such an important project for Manchester, so to be part of it is very exciting.

“We hope people will enjoy the grandeur of this striking new building and the lavish yet relaxed interior which I think has become synonymous with San Carlo. We know people enjoy our food and style of dining, and this time we are bringing our late lounge element to Manchester.”

Fumo, Manchester

San Carlo Fumo Manchester is open Monday to Friday, 8am until 12:30am; Saturday 10am until 2am; and Sunday 10am until 11pm.

For more information about Fumo Manchester, or to make a reservation, please visit: www.sancarlofumo.co.uk or call: 0161 236 7344.

 

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Roma Publications