Mowgli Street Food has announced it will open its second Manchester site this Autumn. It will open its doors in the University Gardens area on Oxford Road in September, hot on the heels of the Indian Street Food restaurant’s launch in Oxford last month.
"The bright lights and the big city was Manchester for me,"
says founder and Indian Food writer Nisha Katona.
"I think it's a very nascent area. It's extremely busy but there's not much there at the moment. The demographic for us is the right fit: intelligent, well-travelled, people who think about what they eat and how much they want to spend."
Nisha hopes to open the new Manchester site in September planning another stylish fit-out, with particular attention to solo diners and workers.
"We treasure the solo diner,"
she added.
"Those are the people really doing communion with their food. It's going to be kind of a workspace canteen style.”
Mowgli, founded by barrister and food writer Nisha Katona in 2014, currently operates two sites in its home city of Liverpool and one each in Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham and Oxford. Further openings are planned for Leeds and Cardiff. In July last year, the company secured £3.45m in expansion funding from independent infrastructure, private equity and investment manager Foresight Group, which brought experienced leisure sector executive Karen Jones on board as chairman.
Katona said:
"Mowgli is all about the smash and grab of fresh light zingy Indian food. This makes it a perfect fit for the pace and exacting appetites of the university students and staff. I’m designing this Mowgli to feel light, airy, twinkling and organic. In my mind I see Apple shop meets Indian Courtyard...quite an exciting challenge. I spent my student years in Manchester as an Affleck’s girl. It makes me incredibly proud to be able to feed the city that was so formative in my youth, a city I love"