Award-winning restaurateurs Ben and Joe Wright are to open a second branch of their popular ‘Porta’ tapas bar in Altrincham.
The brothers have secured the Greenwood Street site – in the unit previously occupied by With Decorum interiors – and will look to open their third restaurant in September.
For the past decade they have been running the eponymous Joseph Benjamin on Northgate Street in Chester, and opened the original Porta in the city 2012.
Ben said the aim for Porta Altrincham was to create a “relaxed, totally informal environment inspired by the tiniest independent tapas bars of Barcelona”.
“Call it tapas, call it bar snacks, call it dinner – no rules, just tasty food, good beer, wine and conversation – Porta is a tapas bar, not a fancy restaurant!” he added.
The menu will be “a tour of Spanish tapas classics”, and they will collaborate with Altrincham’s “growers, producers, butchers, fishmongers, bakers and makers”.
After a deal to open a new restaurant in Manchester’s Northern Quarter fell through, the brothers expanded their search to south Manchester and first viewed the Altrincham premises in January.
A strip-out phase at 50 Greenwood Street will lead on to full refurbishment of the premises, and a recruitment drive will commence shortly, with chefs, managers and floor staff roles to be filled.
Joe, who will be head chef and worked at Cheshire country pubs The Boot in Willington and the Chetwode Arms in Lower Whitley before opening in Chester, said: “We’ve been working toward this expansion for over a year now and after some tough ups and downs, we’re really excited to find such a perfect location. Alty is buzzing at the moment, it’s a great spot.”
Ben added: “We’re both huge admirers of what Nick Johnson and Jenny Thompson have achieved with Altrincham Market – it’s very inspiring. We’re really looking forward to getting involved in such a vibrant scene.”
