Le Comptoir Libanais plans Manchester opening
Le Comptoir Libanais is on the brink of securing its first restaurant outside of London, in Manchester's Spinningfields district.
Provided the deal goes ahead, Comptoir will open its 12th restaurant in the city in September this year.
It will occupy the former Brooks Brothers unit adjacent to Thai casual dining restaurant Thaikhun.
The Comptoir Libanais brand, which serves Lebanese-style food in a souk-like setting is run by Tony Kitous' Levant restaurant group.
Levant co-owner and managing director Chaker Hanna told The Caterer: "We are in advance negotiations regarding securing a site for Comptoir Libanais at Spinningfields Manchester, we are just about to exchange, aiming to open this site by September.
"This will be our first site out of London, we are very pleased that after voluminous requests from our guests over the past few years to open a Comptoir in Manchester, we have now finally managed to get the right location so we can delight them with our food and hospitality. The entire team are very excited and working hard to set it up for success."
Having entered the restaurant business at the age of 22, when he opened his first restaurant Baboon in 1993, Kitous went on to work with Gary Hollihead to open Hollihead, later relaunched as Oceana restaurant and bar.
Kitous opened Levant in London's Wigmore Street in 2000. He launched Le Comptoir Libanais in 2008.
