Chicken and Crémant is the new champagne and fries. Manchester’s food scene has never been shy of indulgent high low pairings. In recent years champagne and French fries became the unlikely luxury combination that captured the imagination of diners and chefs alike. The idea was simple. Crisp salty fries paired with fine bubbles created a playful contrast of texture and flavour, with acidity and effervescence cutting through oil and salt. Now, as 2026 takes shape, a new pairing is emerging and one Manchester restaurant is leading the charge.

Butter Bird, the Ancoats rotisserie that has gone viral for its dedicated Crémant bar and weekly Club De Crémant night, is making the case that chicken and Crémant is the next great food and drink pairing.

At a neighbourhood rotisserie on Blossom Street this combination has quietly become a house philosophy. Rotisserie chicken finished with aromatic butters, served alongside chilled bottles of Crémant, is quickly turning into one of Manchester’s most talked about dining experiences.

The pairing feels natural once tasted. Crémant, the family of traditional method sparkling wines made across regions of France outside Champagne, delivers the same elegant structure as its famous cousin. Produced using secondary fermentation in bottle and aged on lees, these wines offer bright acidity, fine mousse and flavours of citrus, orchard fruit and toasted brioche. Those qualities make them ideal partners for roast poultry. The bubbles refresh the palate while the acidity cuts through richness and seasoning.

Butter Bird was built around a simple idea. Do chicken properly. At the centre of the restaurant sits a Rotisol Millennium rotisserie oven where birds are slowly turned over open flame. Each chicken is seasoned and tea brined in house before cooking, allowing the meat to remain juicy while the skin renders into crisp golden layers. As the birds rotate above the heat the meat bastes itself in its own juices, creating deep savoury flavour.

Once carved the chicken is finished with Butter Bird’s signature house butters. Preserved lemon and thyme with cracked pepper, tarragon and wildflower honey with Dijon mustard, and Moroccan spiced chermoula melt instantly into the crisp skin and roasted flesh. The richness of the butter and the fire roasted flavour of the chicken are exactly what make the pairing with Crémant so compelling. The freshness of the wine cuts cleanly through the meat while the fine bubbles lift the herbs and spices.

The menu keeps the focus on bold simple cooking. Guests can order quarter, half or whole rotisserie birds with sides designed to complement the richness of the chicken. Rotisserie potatoes arrive crisp and golden with chicken salt or smoked paprika and Parmesan. Charred Hispi cabbage is finished with burnt lemon and chermoula butter. Basmati rice is cooked with lentils and caramelised onions while salt baked sweet potatoes are served with sour cream and chives. Lighter options include the almost Caesar salad and a bright herb filled fattoush.

Lunch has developed its own following with pulled rotisserie chicken over Caesar salad, a rotisserie chicken sandwich on sourdough and smoked cheddar macaroni topped with pulled chicken. Mondays to Fridays the Lunch Done Proper menu offers these three dishes for midday dining. Sundays bring a Butter Bird roast with half rotisserie chicken or aged sirloin At the centre of the drinks offering sits the Crémant bar, featuring traditional method sparkling wines from Bordeaux, the Loire Valley and Burgundy. Guests can explore Chenin Blanc led Crémant de Loire from Langlois Château, Chardonnay driven Burgundy styles from Jaffelin and Crémant de Bordeaux made from Semillon and Merlot. Some pour crisp and citrus driven while others bring softer orchard fruit and brioche notes, allowing diners to discover how different styles interact with the flavours of rotisserie chicken.

The weekly Club De Crémant night has become a destination event in its own right, drawing wine curious diners and food lovers looking for something beyond the usual restaurant experience. Sparkling cocktails built around Crémant round out the menu including an Elderflower and Rosemary Spritz with St Germain, a Blood Orange Spritz with Aperol and blood orange, and a Bakewell Spritz with Disaronno and cherry.

Together rotisserie chicken, house butters and French sparkling wine create something indulgent yet relaxed. Where champagne and fries once symbolised playful luxury, Butter Bird suggests a natural evolution of the idea. Chicken and Crémant delivers the same sense of celebration but with deeper flavour, greater versatility and a more accessible price point.

In a city that constantly reinvents casual dining, fire roasted chicken, generous butter and elegant French bubbles might be simple ingredients. But together they have created one of the most compelling new food and drink pairings in the country.

Butter Bird is located on Blossom Street in Ancoats, Manchester and is open for lunch, dinner and Sunday roasts. Media visits and tasting appointments are available on request.