I was looking forward to telling you about City Bites, a new food and drink festival I spotted on the CityLife website (the two aren’t connected) earlier this week. I was reading about the 26 Manchester restaurants involved and trying to work out just how many I could cram into the festival’s 11 days (Jem&I, City Cafe and the Northern Quarter Restaurant appealed).

But now, when I try to look back at the City Bites Manchester site, it’s just a holding page. I guess with the festival launching tomorrow they’ll be hurriedly sorting it out. In the meantime, I’ve been looking at the background of organiser Gary Greenwood. According to How-Do, he’s the publisher of Manchester-based Twice Magazine, although that publication’s website is also currently down (PDF samples here). Nevertheless, I’ve tracked down some more information about City Bites here:

It’s time to fall in love with your city all over again… well, at least the food and drink!. The 2009 City Bites festival will take place January 11th-15th and January 18th-22nd and will showcase the Manchester dining scene as a hotbed of culinary activity and diverse dining options. A number of this year’s participating restaurants are in some of City Centres finest hotels, creating the ideal opportunity to explore all that the area has to offer by day, enjoy a fabulous three-course dinner with family and/or friends in the evening, and then stay the night.

While I can’t imagine too many locals would be willing do just that, the prospect of three-course meals for £7, £12 or £18 sounds much better. Each restaurant – Abode, Brasserie Blanc, Brasserie Gerrard, Livebait, Piccadilly Lounge, Dough, Chaophraya, Obsidian, label, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Space, Robbies, The New Samsi, The Metropolitan, Luso, Apotheca, Jem&I, Bacchanalia, The Market Restaurant, Second Floor Brasserie, City Cafe, Pau Brasil, The Northern Quarter Restaurant, Dilli and Zumar – will also offer a signature cocktail and suggested wine pairing.

Full details from the City Bites site – if/when now it’s back up.