Gravy Bar Manchester: the true story of the fake restaurant that fooled the world News that a Gravy Bar was apparently due to open in Manchester this month got everybody talking – before it […]

News that a Gravy Bar was apparently due to open in Manchester this month got everybody talking – before it was revealed to be an elaborate hoax on April 2.

Regional, national and even international press were duped (though i was among the few who suspected a hoax) and the Gravy Bar received the kind of social media attention that most real new openings could only dream of.

We spoke to Nikki Roberts (a pseudonym) in a rare interview to find out how they came up with the idea of a parody restaurant, and whether they anticipated the huge buzz it created.

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Parody as therapy

“We quickly realised reality had overtaken before we’d even finished it and all of our jokes were now real.”

“We actually came up with Gravy Bar a couple of years ago,” reveals Roberts.

“Our favourite Northern Quarter bar’s new menu said ‘Think Gypsy local euro trad USA global new wave brit hop local global intergalactic beers’ on it.”

“Then a cereal bar opened. There was literally no choice but to make some sort of parody as therapy.”

They didn’t get round to launching the concept until last month, however, “due to chronic laziness”.

Looking for the perfect comfort food? Gravy got you covered! pic.twitter.com/qQ8HEENhrp — Gravy Bar MCR (@gravybarmcr) March 30, 2017

Despite the slick hoax they masterminded, this was the pranksters’ first “fake restaurant”, and the idea for a restaurant or bar came before they settled specifically on gravy.

“Originally it was just a more generic bar or restaurant idea, but we quickly realised reality had overtaken before we’d even finished it and all of our jokes were now real,” says Roberts.

“So we had to start again. With gravy.”

Unexpected press attention

“We ended up in 30-something articles including French, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish sites.”

Roberts wasn’t sure if people would fall for the Gravy Bar concept at all, and certainly didn’t expect the blanket media coverage which followed.

“We expected it to be taken more lightheartedly so we weren’t too worried about not being believed,” Roberts admits.

“We hoped to pick up a bit of a Twitter reaction, but never thought we’d get press attention. Instead we ended up in 30-something articles including French, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish sites.”

After something sweet? Make Gravy fabulous again! pic.twitter.com/y9eVyHQrho — Gravy Bar MCR (@gravybarmcr) March 30, 2017

The Gravy Bar menu seriously toed the line between hipster food trend and parody, offering unlikely-sounding “quintuple-shallow-fried” chips, hip flasks of cask-aged gravy, and toppings including hundreds and thousands – but still fooled both press and public.

The creators admit to writing most of the spoof menu in the pub, the birthplace of so many creative ideas.

“It took a good few pints,” says Roberts.

The fact that so many people fell for the menu was a genuine surprise.

“It says cask-aged gravy right there on the menu… and it has a gravy subscription… and Herdwick cows…”

A surprisingly popular concept

“It turns out that people really just want more gravy in their lives. Especially vegans.”

The inevitable outcome of the hoax was how much people wanted to believe it was a real concept.

Did Gravy Bar ever feel guilty when they realised how keen people were to visit?

“There’s a hint of guilt that we can’t give them the gravy fix they so clearly need, but – on the other hand – there’s a Kilner jar of gravy with straws in it on our Twitter feed, so they’ve only themselves to blame,” says Roberts.

We open VERY SOON… Our Gravysmiths have their hands full… pic.twitter.com/4zAvTPV7rB — Gravy Bar MCR (@gravybarmcr) March 31, 2017

Many people suspected gravy bar’s ‘launch’ would be a marketing or PR stunt, something the founders deny. They are also not looking to break into the marketing industry.

“We don’t feel like we actually did much in the way of PR or marketing… we just accidentally hit on a concept that sold itself.”

“It turns out that people really just want more gravy in their lives. Especially vegans, apparently.”