This year, arguably Manchester's most iconic restaurant and bar, Australasia, celebrates 10 years in the city. To mark the occasion, the restaurant will be celebrating with a series of events including raiding the archives for stand-out dishes that have brought hundreds and thousands flocking to the Spinningfields favourite over the years.

When Australasia opened its now iconic glass doors to the world in 2011, few would have predicted what lay in store for the stylish underground restaurant.  Two recessions, riots on Deansgate and a global pandemic are just a handful of events that this most dynamic of hospitality venues has seen…

The brainchild of the late Tim Bacon, the restaurant was created to reflect his love of his antipodean homeland. After opening, the restaurant was described as a 'game changer' in the city and certainly defied the odds. An underground restaurant with no street frontage and at the time one of the largest restaurant spaces the city had seen, not many would have taken on the challenge.  

This year, Australasia celebrates its 10th year serving the diners of Manchester and begins a year of celebrations to mark its ten years of trading. Jeremy Roberts who founded Living Ventures and Australasia with Tim Bacon commented: “Ten years is a long time but in so many ways it seems like yesterday that we sat down with the landlord to discuss bringing the old dining hall of the Manchester Evening News to life in a most unexpected way.

“Originally there was no plan to have a Deansgate entrance, but we felt that was necessary. We had traded so well at The Living Room for ten years and we knew the value of the location. Being an underground restaurant, we felt we needed all the help we could get and so the idea of the now iconic glass pyramid was born.” 

A bold and beguiling design by Michelle Derbyshire brought Tim's vision to life in a way that remains surprising every time you make the journey to this day as you walk down that illuminated staircase to reveal the wonderful space below ground. The Living Ventures team then created what has become an enduring menu style; combining the small plates revolution with more traditional dining style and overlaying the legendary Living Ventures service ethic to create a stylish modern restaurant experience. 

Amongst the events planned to celebrate the anniversary, the Australasia team will be scouring the archives for the original menus and bringing back some of the most-loved dishes from the first menu in 2011, as well as celebrating the signature dishes that have survived 10 years.  So, get ready to experience a serious wave of nostalgia as Australasia celebrates 10 years in the city and many more years to come…

For more information, visit @australasia_mcr.

ENDS

For more information or additional images, please contact at Riikka at LUYA on: riikka@luya.co.uk