Evuna is looking to bring its Spanish tapas bar and shop concept to Hale.
It has applied for planning permission to enable 166 Ashley Road to be used as a restaurant/cafe, while maintaining its former use class as a shop. Previously it was home to The Black Rose florists, who vacated late last year.
Should it get the go-ahead, it would be Evuna’s first outlet outside of the city centre. In 2003 it launched its first location on Deansgate, and two years ago opened a second, Evuna Two, in the Northern Quarter.
The Hale operation would follow the same theme as its sister restaurants, which aim to offer fine Spanish wine, Spanish food ranging from tapas to à la carte, and a small retail offering selling “rare wines from small family run Spanish wineyards”.
Below: Evuna is proposing to open a new outlet in the former Black Rose florists on Ashley Road
The first floor space, which the company is also applying to convert from office space, would be reserved for private dining and wine tasting events.
It is proposing to open from 10am for coffee and be open, seven days a week, until 11.30pm, with the exception of Sunday closing at 10pm. There would be dining space for around 54 covers in the ground floor restaurant area, with space for a further 34 upstairs.
The new venue would bring 12 full-time and six part-time jobs to Hale.
Evuna is owned by mother and daughter team Frances and Jane Dowler. A Liverpudlian and former marketing executive, Jane runs the business on a day to day basis and first revealed her hope to open in Hale in 2013.
She told Manchester Confidential: “If Evuna Two goes well then yes, we will be branching out. I wouldn’t do another in the centre but I’d go out into the suburbs, Didsbury, Chorlton, Hale, somewhere like that – It all depends whether the bank will give us more money.”
It’s understood the plans have not been welcomed by some of the neighbouring businesses, with the other side of Ashley Road the more traditional location for restaurants and bars. The proposed new Evuna would also be directly opposite another tapas bar, La Vina.
The final decision will be up to Trafford’s planning committee.
Top and below: Evuna’s restaurant in the Northern Quarter
