Tomfoolery at 34 has announced its closure just five and a half months after opening its doors.
The eccentric and quirky restaurant, which recently described itself on Twitter as "the most wacky place in town" was the brainchild of Alderley Edge resident Manzur Iqbal.
Manzur spent 18 months transforming the former Alderley Rose Chinese restaurant which his father Iqbal Ahmed, Chairman of Seamark Group, purchased.
Along with Laura Burgess, they spent months sourcing the interiors from ebay, warehouses and car boot sales - including mix and match antique sofas and armchairs, old gaming machines, an old TV and typewriter, plus an eclectic collection of lamps, suitcases, ornaments and memorabilia.
Whilst chef Brice Moore, who had previously worked at Manchester House, celebrity chef Michael Caines' Gidleigh Park in Devon and Paul Ainsworth at No 6 in Padstow, created a unique menu with everything handmade on the premises.
We have been unable to obtain a comment from Tomfoolery regarding the reason for their closure and future plans for 34 London Road, although they have posted the following message on their Facebook page:
"What a great Xmas! shattered. Thank you all for coming to our pop up boutique. We hope we brought something new and heartfelt to Alderley Edge hopefully your experience with us made you younger and made you remember the simpler times.
"Moving to an exciting city now! If you want Tomfoolery at your town/city email us [email protected]
"BE COOL...STAY IN SCHOOL."
Comments
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This was quite clearly a vanity/dream project run by an individual with no commercial acumen or experience of any kind.
Besides I had no desire to sit in a bathtub in public view!
The service was bad and the one time we went one of the huge animals on the wall fell on my sister's head! (None of the staff came to help) We were crying with laughter when we left, but for all the wrong reasons...
My only hope is that it morphs into something better and doesn't stand empty for too long.
Family friendly and tasty food with great wine . That's the recipe for success in Alderley
In its place we need a proper, sensibly priced Chinese Restaurant that also does takeaways/delivery. Or an Indian, or Thai. Any of those three can be very successful if done properly in that location.
Quite ironic it closing so soon when you consider the two businesses in that building before them lasted over 100 years.
That's why the Unicorn didn't get transmogrified into a Hickory Smoke House and just remained a decent pub.