Japanese restaurant MUSU to open in Manchester this autumn

Translated as ‘infinite possibilities’, the new restaurant will give diners three different menu options - an a la carte ‘sentaku’ menu; a seven and 11-course kaiseki menu; and a omakase menu, which will be served at a six-seater omakase counter presided over by head sushi chef Andre Aguiar.

Ingredients will be sourced from Japan where necessary, including kombu and soy sauce and A5 grade wagyu beef, but also more locally, with langoustines coming from the Isle of Skye and salt-aged free-range duck from Devon. MUSU will also serve wild bluefin tuna that is certified, sustainable, and traceable.

Chef-patron Shaw’s CV includes time spent at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons and Pied à Terre co-founder Richard Neat’s eponymous restaurant in Cannes. Aquiar trained under Japanese Sushi Master Yugo Kato.

The new ‘multi-million pound’ restaurant will feature bespoke Italian furniture and geisha wall designs and will have an open kitchen in the centre of the dining room as well as bar area. A private dining room will accommodate up to 14 guests and can be completely separated from the main dining room by a glazed telescopic wall that can be frosted at the touch of a button.

The restaurant has also been designed to transition into a more drink-led late-night venue at weekends, replicating the Japanese after-dinner tradition of ‘nijiki’ with booth tables able to be turned into more cocktail-style tables.

MUSU is run by Manchester-based hospitality experts Vincent Braine and Marius Kamara, who have operated venues including Suede, The Milton Club and Dive Bar & Grill. Its operations director is restaurant consultant Danny Fox who was a founding partner of Living Ventures.

MUSU will open on 6 October.