EVER since Ramsbottom’s Eagle and Child won ‘Britain’s Best Sunday Lunch’ in the Observer Food Monthly Awards in 2013 it’s been on a roll with a string of accolades, including Best Food Pub in the 2014 Manchester Food and Drink Awards (it’s nominated again this year).
So it seems like a marriage made in gastropub heaven that they have signed up Alex Shaw, current MFDF Chef of the Year, whose accomplished and eclectic cooking has put Volta of West Didsbury on the culinary map. He previously worked at Michelin starred The Old Vicarage outside Sheffield and The Wig and Pen in that city.
At the E&C he follows in the high profile footsteps of Eve Townson, who represented the North West in BBC’s Great British Menu 2015. She left the homely hilltop hostelry in December and is currently working in the Ribble Valley.
A hard act to follow, but Shaw, one of our less extrovert chefs (pictured receiving his MFDF Chef Award from TOM podcaster and radio personality Matt White) made a speciality of Sunday roasts at Volta. So it looks a perfect fit.
He inherits a kitchen with strong ethical principles, keen on local sourcing and supporting green-fingered Incredible Ramsbottom. Glen, who brought the boarded-up pub back to life only six years ago, shows an equal commitment to helping disadvantaged youngsters. With a background in youth justice at Gateshead Council and community regeneration at Leeds charity Groundwork, he has chosen to recruit unemployed under-25s, including young offenders, who have been given their break through a scheme called EAT Pennines.
A sister operation at Heaton Park’s eateries, The Stables and The Pavilion, provides similarly enlightened employment opportunities.
Eagle and Child, 3 Whalley Road, Ramsbottom, Lancashire BL10 ODL. 01706 557181.