IN a week which sees the lavish launch of 450-capacity Sakana, boasting the highest of profiles, in the heart of the city there’s another, more low-key arrival in suburban Heaton Moor that also promises much.
Brassica, set in a parade of shops along Shaw Street, serves just 48 covers and modestly describes itself as a Grill. In a former incarnation it was a popular tapas bar, La Casona. Now it feels very Modern British in keeping with its chef-proprietor Paul Faulkner who, at 42, has forged out on his own after head chef stints at Zinc, The Modern and latterly The Albert Square Chop House.
He says he has no regrets about quitting the city centre and Brassica definitely has the smart, unglitzed up look of the kind of neighbourhood restaurant many of us crave. The launch menu is playing it careful with dishes and prices but when Paul reels of his list of suppliers and is already enthusing about a choice lot of wild sea bass he has just been offered you sense the kind of evolution that might occur taking it into the realms of Damson down the road and Grenache in Worsley. Tate of Manchester wishes it all the best. We’ll be over to review it once it has settled in.
Brassica opened its doors on Tuesday, October 28. It will be open lunch and dinner, Tuesday-Saturday and for lunch on Sundays.
Brassica, 27 Shaw Road, Heaton Moor, Stockport, Cheshire SK4 4AG. 0161 442 6730. http://brassicagrill.com