ANDREW Nutter knows how to throw a good party, so no surprise that the outward-going chef arrived by helicopter at the celeb launch of his new pub venture, the Bird at Birtle.
Taste of Manchester, which recently ventured into the Rochdale hinterland to check out The Peacock at nearby Bamford, couldn’t be there, but we had dropped in beforehand to see the £1m transformation wrought at the long derelict Bird i’th Hand.
The pub was bought as a Christmas 2014 present for Nutter by his parents Rodney and Jean and the restored front has echoes of the New Inn up on the moors above Norden, where they set up the culinary whizzkid in his first venture over 20 years ago. Look behind the facade though and the ambitions for the new place are evident in the substantial contemporary rebuild (see above).
OK, without punters, it felt a bit like an out-of-season ski lodge, but we are sure it is going to be hugely popular with the Nutter fanbase and passing trade.
Interesting that just down the road is the Waggon and Horses, a perennial Good Food Guide entry, serving superior gastropub stuff but just a little staid.
Staid’s not the Nutter way and a first glimpse at the menu reveals his signature black pudding wontons, home-cured corned beef, pickled cabbage and hash fritter (with restaurant class presentation, above) and mains that include duck leg confit, frisee salad, cured bacon, parmentier potatoes and garlic croutons.
All this and the rest of a short but enticing pubby menu is in the capable hands of head chef Carl Tait, who has been part of the team for 12 years. Front of house is another experienced Nutter hand, Hannah Powell (above), while dad Rodney has chosen the wine list.
This looks spot-on; the beer less so. The three hand pumps were all dispensing Robinson’s (and the website namechecks dull old Speckled Hen and Black Sheep), but the barman told me there are plans to go local with breweries such as Phoenix in Heywood. Bring on the Wobbly Bob!
Downstairs there’s seating for just 40 (bag a place by the handsome stone fireplace) plus an outdoor terrace, but upstairs, the former landlady’s lodgings, seats 100 with sweeping views over Ashworth Moor.
Bird at Birtle, 239 Bury and Rochdale Old Road, Birtle,OL10 4BQ. 01706 540500.
