By Dianne Bourne

Copyright manchestereveningnews

It’s a “full circle” moment for former Premier League winning footballer Danny Simpson, as he prepares for a whole new ball game on home turf. For former Leicester City and Manchester United player Danny is getting ready to launch his first ever restaurant and bar in his home city. Danny has teamed up with bar entrepreneur Damien Matto to launch new restaurant SDK – which is promising “affordable luxury” with a Mediterranean-inspired sharing plates menu, stylish interiors and an unpretentious vibe. Damien famously ran celebhaunt venue The Bijou Club off Chapel Street in Salford for a decade, before covid brought things to a halt. Stay connected with our City Life newsletter here Now, he’s redeveloping the entire site in the historic railway arches next to Greengate Square, just off Deansgate in Manchester on the Salford border after years of planning. Danny, who had been a faithful customer at The Bijou over the years in his playing days, leapt at the chance to team up with Damien on the new venture now he’s retired from the Beautiful Game. Danny said: “It’s like a full circle moment really for me. I used to go to Damien’s venues, maybe 20 years ago, I used to go out most Saturdays there, I’ve had my birthday parties there, I’ve known Damien a long time. “When I retired from football, I was looking at things to do, you can get a bit lost as you don’t know what to do with yourself with your time. “When Damien mentioned what he wanted to do, it might sound funny, but I only knew a couple of things to do, that was play football and go out with the lads, so I thought why not go on the other side now? To be a part of a nice restaurant where my old friends, teammates, new friends and family can all go to. “With my contacts I thought it was a really cool thing to be involved in. It’s took it’s time but we’re ready to go with it now.” Key for Danny is to make the new restaurant “a place where everyone can hang out, whether it’s couples on dates, work colleagues on a night out, I want everyone to be able to go and have a nice time here.” And while Danny may have seen the finer things in life as a footballer, it was important for him to make the restaurant affordable for all. He said: “That’s the biggest thing for me. The way the country is at the moment, things are really expensive, so we’re aiming to be a lot cheaper than other places in Manchester, you will get a lot more from your money on the food and drinks here.” Business partner Damien said he was excited for the new restaurant to finally be ready to open. He said: “It’s been an emotional rollercoaster, we’ve been working on this since covid. Planning permission took two and a half years, the project evolved from on paper to the reality of walking through the building. “Because I know the building well, it has taken me a long time, and many, many setbacks, but finally we’re here.” He added: “I’ve known Danny for a very long time, he used to be a customer at Bijou, and we’ve always kept in touch, we discussed doing something together he was very happy to be a part of it. “We’ve both got a passion for socialising, meeting people, we both know a lot of people in the city.” As part of the process, the building of old has been carved into four new businesses, with the first of these being the grand restaurant space set to open to the public from Saturday, October 4. The entrances have now changed from The Bijou days – with the entrance to SDK being on the Greengate Square arch side, the civic space in the shadow of Manchester Cathedral and major new building developments like the City Suites hotel and Colliers Yard. SDK will be the first of four ventures from Damien on the site, the others are tightly under wraps for now Damien said: “It will be multiple concepts under one roof, in a city that’s changing so fast the biggest risk was not taking one at all, that’s what I saw with Bijou, the way the city is changing, consumer habits changing, you have to continue to learn to grow. “People don’t drink as much, they don’t go out as much, social media has changed the dynamic as well, so this business model has been formulated to mitigate that, it’s four concepts under one roof, for like minded people.” SDK will be open from Thursday to Sunday, open through the day “until late” with late night entertainment planned too. In the summer there are plans to utilise the terrace area outside the venue too, while inside the interiors are “light and airy” with vibes of the Mediterranean with whites, creams and blues. Damien added: “From a price point of view, everyone is welcome, we want people to come and feel it’s great value for money. Despite being city centre Manchester we have a fair pricing policy, I think people will be shocked at the prices.” It’s a fairly vast new restaurant space with capacity for up to 350 all across one level inside the historic former rail arches. Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE Victoria Bridge, opposite the venue, is listed, and it all sits within a heritage area on the Manchester/Salford border right next to the River Irwell. Danny says he’s now excited for people to come and visit the new restaurant, having got the thumbs up from his friends who “keep it real”, he says. He says: “It’s really classy I think. From the feedback I got from some of my friends, the main thing I got was this is what Manchester needs at the moment, there’s not many options like this. My friends are very honest!” Danny announced his retirement from football last year to some surprise from the sports world, at the age of 37, but he admits he still wonders if it was the right time or not. He sighs: “I miss it every single day. I wish I was one of those players who don’t miss it. I’m playing in Dubai in a friend’s team this week just to play. “There’s no regrets, but there are moments when I think I should have carried on – I’ll probably still think that until I’m 45.” Fresh from his retirement last year, he ploughed himself headlong into another sporting challenge, when he signed up to take part in a KSI Misfit Boxing bout – with just five weeks of training. The match, against Youtuber Danny Aarons would end up as a drawer, and he says the door remains open to box again. He says: “I loved it, I still want to do one more, I spoke to them and if they ever find someone, if anything pops up that would work for me, I said to just give me a call, one more would be nice. I’m trying to do things I’ve ever not done.” With a new restaurant to contend with, can customers expect to see Danny behind the bar any time soon? He laughs: “I’ll be there in a suit! But this time I’ll be on the other side making sure everyone’s OK. “I want people to relax, come along and have a great time, go home happy and then come back again. “There’s loads of things I didn’t realise went in to running a bar and restaurant, but I’m happy to be learning along the way.”