In 'My Top 10' we grill local industry experts on their favourite foodie spots in Manchester. Where do brewers go for a pint? Where to chefs go for dinner? We want to find out.
Throughout these features, there’s been one venue that’s been popping up rather a lot. The recently revamped bar and restaurant The Lawn Club has been chosen by the likes of celebrated Manc chef Robert Owen Brown and local brewery Shindigger.
So who better to interview this week than David Gale - consultant chef for the The Lawn Club (amongst others – he has his fingers in many well-executed pies).
This weeks Manchester top 10 list is a little different from usual, (see number 3) David certainly dishes out some food for thought. But what would you expect from a world renowned chef, whose impressive career ranges from the three Michelin starred Chez Nico and Nico Central in London, to opening the famous Soho House in Manhattan, to heading up the Hilton Hotel.
Over to David.
1. Top bar
Well, it’s probably a little loaded, but I think when the sun shines I don’t think there’s any better place than The Lawn Club. When the sun shines its just a wonderful place to sit.
I like the bar at Great John Street Hotel, because no one goes in there and it’s a beautiful little place. I prefer places on a Monday through Thursday. I don’t think we use them enough, we put too much weight on the day we go out, and not the entertainment of going out.
2. Top pub
The Parkfield which is up near Prestwich is amazing for Sunday lunch – I love it up there.
I've always liked the Marble Arch as well, I think Jan is a wonderful owner. I love the fact they’ve never done that much with the interior. A lot of people would have ripped off the riles and extended or converted, but they haven’t. They’ve kept the snug, they’ve kept the tiles – and they brew their own beer which is great.
3. Top restaurant
Top restaurant in Manchester, well… I would really struggle to name one.
I’ve had very good food at different places. I had an amazing dessert at Tattu the other day for lunch. The dessert came and it was amazing, it was beautiful, it was so well sculpted. A little bit too fussy for me, but the skill level was very high in what they did.
But, I wouldn’t name any restaurant as my favourite restaurant. There’s no restaurant that I would continually go back to.
In fact, in the whole of Manchester I will categorically state there is no restaurant that I revisit many times. I’ve been to some more than once but I don’t return regularly because none of them draw me back in.
I’ve had great meals at The French. Aiden- I’ve eaten twice at his place (Manchester House) and the food was fantastic, so I think there are some good restaurants but none that would draw me back.
I think there’s a bit of a rut in Manchester and people are fighting for the same audience. I remember one person telling me that Manchester’s food scene is very much like a happy parent content with B+.
4. Top spot for everyday eats
I find it a bit hard to say that one as well really.
My go-to place at the moment would be Bangers and Bacon at The Kitchens. They do great coffee, and he does a sausage swirl which is lovely. I would eat that maybe two or three times a week.
5. Top cafe
Café Metro opposite the Arndale does some of the best coffee in Manchester. Caffeine and Co in The Old Granada Studios also has great service, and the new Ezra and Gil in the Northern Quarter serves great coffee.
6. Top newcomer
I like Ibérica, I think the product is good, they do great things with great ingredients. Tariff and Dale I like, but it’s very similar to everywhere else.
7. Top Brewery
Sadly I’m a larger lout. But I do find the evolution in ale drinking fascinating. I had a beer a while ago called Brooklyn Summer Ale. They produce it in very small batches and I was obsessed by it… but nowhere else does it now, and it’s all gone. I'm devastated!
8. Top street food trader
My favourite was Chaat Cart. I love what they do there. I also liked Bangers and Bacon when they were street food traders. Their treacle cured bacon is one of the nicest products I’ve eaten.
9.
Hidden Gem
I opened a restaurant called The Railway Café in Alderly Edge which is a collaboration with Mughli in Rusholme, and that is very much a hidden gem in the village. We’ve been open for six or seven months and we still get guests in from the village that have never been to us. So, I don’t know if it’s the best hidden gem or just the worst marketing in the world, but it’s a really fantastic little place.
I also had a fantastic pint of ale and a wonderful doughnut at Common. And I know its not a hidden gem, but it was a very good experience for me. The doughnut was amazing. I'm not sure if anyone knows that ale goes with doughnuts but it does. Maybe not venue wise, but food combination wise – a hidden gem.
10. Wild Card
I think Lucy Danger at Love Food Hate Waste. She's also part of a food recycling company called EMERGE. She collects food from supermarkets and delivers it out to refuges and hostals and the homeless.
I also met someone recently at The Lowry Hotel. There's a new chef there - Andy Green - who used to work for me, so we went down to have dinner there. It was amazing night, I was with my partner and there was a fantastic singer at the bar.
His name was Tony Smith, and as well as being a guitarist and singer he also feeds the homeless every Thursday. It was my birthday and we ended up chatting for a while, so I'm going to go out and help him feed the homeless and put him in touch with people who have great waste in the city and hopefully we can feed more people. He was a hidden gem because he was a fascinating bloke. So that's it - my hidden gem would be Tony Smith at The Lowry, the guitarist who feeds the homeless.