DAHLIA STEREO, A NEW BEAT ON THE BLOCK.
by The Designers Menu • 16 September 26
The Northern Quarter has a new address for fire, flavour and very good sound. We step inside Dahlia Stereo, the latest project from WANT STUDIOS
There’s something about a new place that knows exactly what it wants to be.
Dahlia Stereo doesn’t feel like it’s trying to tick the usual boxes of restaurant, bar or nightlife spot. Instead, it blurs the lines between all three; a two-floor playground on Lever Street where food, design, cocktails and music have been given equal billing.
Created by WANT STUDIOS, the creative agency behind Manchester favourites Ramona and The Firehouse, Dahlia Stereo arrives with a distinct point of view. It’s bold, a little unruly and designed with the kind of confidence that suggests it already knows you’ll be sticking around for another drink…
The concept is split across three distinct experiences.
First, there’s Barbacoa Cosmica, an open-fire kitchen inspired by Latin America and the southern states of America. The cooking is built around flame, smoke and sharing, drawing on traditions that stretch from San Diego through to Mexico City and Oaxaca.
Then there’s Bar Mas Bonita, the central Liquorita where tequila, Mezcal, rum and Latin spirits take centre stage. It’s the sort of bar that makes ordering just one feel slightly optimistic.
And then there’s Dahlia Stereo itself; the intimate, music-first heart of the space. Built around a bespoke sound system, it shifts the energy away from the dining room and towards something altogether more nocturnal.
Designed for the night
What makes Dahlia Stereo particularly interesting from a design perspective is the way the different concepts are allowed to coexist without feeling like separate destinations.
There’s a sense of movement throughout the space. From the theatre of the open-fire kitchen to the central bar, before finding yourself immersed in the sound. Rather than designing a room simply to look good in a photograph, the experience feels considered around how people actually use it.
You can sit and watch the flames. You can perch at the bar with a tequila. You can come specifically for the music. Or, naturally, you can do all three.
It’s hospitality designed around atmosphere as much as it is around a menu.
And the food follows suit.
Fire on the menu
The menu is made for sharing, which feels appropriate for somewhere so focused on bringing people together. Char-breads are made from 48-hour sourdough and baked in cast iron pans, while corn tortillas are freshly made to order on the plancha, with gluten-free options available.
There’s plenty of coal, smoke and spice running through the menu. Coal-roasted squash comes with whipped feta jocoque, smoked peanut and chilli oil, while the 400g Churrasco Steak arrives brushed with smoked beef fat and paired with jalapeño and herb chimichurri.
The Half Achiote Chicken is marinated in citrus, chipotle and herbs before being fired to order and coated in a red achiote emulsion.
It’s food with a bit of attitude; generous, smoky and made to be passed around the table rather than politely kept to yourself.
Sides of coal-roasted Massey Farm potatoes with Spanish aioli, fired corn and smoky blackened mushroom rice keep things firmly in the fire-and-flavour camp, while desserts take a softer turn with Dafne’s blackberry pavlova and a rich chocolate mousse.
Turn it up
Then there are the drinks.
Bar Mas Bonita puts Latin spirits front and centre, with tequila and Mezcal pours starting from £5, alongside rum and regional spirits. The Champagne Su-Paloma, a bottled and batched signature cocktail, feels like exactly the kind of drink designed to disappear faster than anticipated.
Because ultimately, Dahlia Stereo feels less like somewhere you just go for dinner.
It’s somewhere you go to spend an evening.
That distinction matters. The food is good, the drinks are considered, but it’s the combination of design, fire and sound that gives the place its identity. There’s a deliberate sense of theatre without everything screaming for your attention at once.
For us, that’s what makes Dahlia Stereo worth keeping an eye on.
It feels fresh without trying too hard to be new. Familiar, but not predictable. And very, very Northern Quarter.
Come for the barbacoa. Stay for the sound system.
The Designers Menu explores the restaurants, interiors, hotels and people shaping hospitality, design and culture in Manchester and beyond.