I visited Manchester's New York style restaurant Louis where bouncers place a sticker over your camera phone

As hard to attain a booking as it is to gain Oasis tickets, my friend managed to secure a date in December two months earlier for my birthday.

Louis opened its doors in September in Spinningfields and is the brainchild of owners and brothers Adam and Drew Jones who have firmly established themselves in the hospitality industry with many other high end restaurants across the UK including Louis’ big sibling sites in Manchester - Tattu and Fenix.

Their newest venture serves up a side of classic Italian-American cuisine, and nods at a love letter to 1950's New York - think piano playing and singers.

The restaurant is the place to be, but not to be seen as taking pictures is prohibited - a factor that ramps up the excitement and intrigue of the place rather than detracting from it.

Venturing up to the entrance which is emblazoned with a red neon Louis sign with red curtains masking the inside, two friendly bouncers greet me and direct me to where I can take a picture before placing a sticker over my camera phone.

Join our new WhatsApp Community to get the latest news and top stories from across Lancashire directly to your phone

join our new WhatsApp Community to get the latest news and top stories from across Lancashire directly to your phone

Upon entering I feel like I have stepped inside a timewarp, transporting me back to an era when music alongside good company was the core entertainment and mobile phones were unheard of.

We are greeted at the door by a smiling receptionist who takes our coats and directs us to our table.

Get a bespoke headline round-up, as well as breaking updates, when you sign up to the The Lancashire Post’s free emails

The place is already nearly full at 4.30pm on a Saturday afternoon with happy customers tucking into their meals, sampling their wines and enjoying the woman taking centre stage (literally) singing against the backdrop of a piano player.

Waiters swirl round the bustling atmosphere popping champagne and delivering meals to mesmerised guests.

Not long have we taken in our surroundings than we a greeted by a waiter who takes a drinks order from us.

The menu for food isn’t as extensive as I thought it would be, but it still has something for every palate.

I opted for the burrata and tomato salad as a starter and for the main I was torn between pasta vodka and chicken parmigiana but in the end I settled on the latter, adding some truffle potato wedges to the mix.

Both meals and their generous portion sizes I couldn’t finish or fault, only that it left no room for the tiramisu dessert I had been wanting to sample.

For two people, two courses and three drinks each, the total bill came to around £250, this is with a complimentary red wine taken off for my birthday, but this is what you would expect to pay for fine dining in Manchester.

My only gripe would be the toilets as I imagined them to be a showstopper like their Fenix greek-style ones, but this was not the case.

Another bonus is that celebrities are also rife near the restaurant as I also a met a certain famous bear who loves marmalade sandwiches sitting on a bench who was ever so friendly.

With today’s society collecting and documenting pictures of places and meals for their social media feeds and followers, Louis’ relaxed, strip-you-back to a before gadget obsessed era so you can immerse yourself in your surroundings and not your phone is a refreshing alternative and I for one can’t wait to return - and sample the tiramisu!