If there’s one thing maximalist restaurateurs the Big Mamma group knows how to do, it’s dial up the drama on dinner. Circolo Popolare Manchester, the 29th from owners Victor Lugger and Tigrane Seydoux, followed the headline-making success of their outposts in Milan, Brussels, Hamburg, Madrid, Paris, London and a wealth of other cosmopolitan spots around Europe.
Set within Gary Neville’s St Michael’s development just off Deansgate, the new OTT space provides purest escapism — part flamboyant festa, part fairy-tale courtyard, all rooted in the kind of food-focused theatre the group is abundantly known for. Festoon lights, a courtyard stuffed with antique curiosities, ceramic heads, and (obviously) a wishing well, and you’ll find yourself in an eye-popping fantasy vision of Sicily.
Embracing Italian kitsch and kissing it firmly on both cheeks, it’s an operatic love letter to the country’s rich culinary traditions, delivered with a nod and a wink. Head upstairs and you’ll find a terracotta-tiled villa floor from where you can watch the open kitchen where head chef Alfonso is at work on the grill, and in one corner sit beneath paintings of cardinals and assorted religious iconography.
The food made ‘for the table’, best shared, with Big Mamma’s links to 170 family-run producers making it feel authentic despite its pan-European reach. Think creamy burrata from Puglia, prosciutto from Parma and San Daniele, and pistachio tiramisu served straight from the dish. There’s even a three-litre bottle of amaro doing the rounds to keep things lively.
On the walls, bottles upon bottles of spirits and amaros, bringing the conviviality from behind the bar right into the restaurant, while the booths look like they’ve been hewn from the walls of a trattoria clinging to a cliff on the Amalfi Coast. It’s a LOT of fun.
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