TO the point. Restaurant reviews sometimes are. We are going to take Gary Usher at his word. On the opening night of his third bistro, Hispi, he told me: “I don’t want this to be a special occasion place. I want it to be the kind of neighbourhood restaurant you pop into on the way home. Our prices reflect this. As with Sticky Walnut and Burnt Truffle I want it to feel like you are walking into someone’s home.”
I wanted to ask him why, in line with his other bistros, he hadn’t called his new Didsbury outlet Chargrilled Hispi (a dish that does feature on the short, sharp menu – with a pickled walnut dressing). I like such continuity. Still, Hispi or Heaton Moor’s Brassica – who wants to walk into somebody’s cabbagey home? Unless it’s the Savoy.
Keeping it homely, dressing down, we went at lunchtime to avoid the a la carte, wondered if two courses for £16, three for £19, would satisfy. To wash it down discreetly? Tap water and a bottle of a simple Spanish white, the kind cafes over there serve in a porrón – except we had a whole bottle of the tropical, mouth-filling El Circo Macabeo (£19).
We were met with assiduous service of a quality I never get in my own home (and I wish I could persuade our personal chef/butler to do battered salt pickle nibbles as good as Hispi’s).
Looking around, the crowdfunding dosh that created the latest house of Usher has been well spent. It’s as good a fit-out as you’ll find on this budget. The decor features cabinets crafted from old Indian window frames, and tiles found in a nearby salvage yard, while a mirror scrawled all over with names is a thank you to all Hispi’s Kickstarter backers, who pledged £50,000 towards the project, originally (oops) planned for Chorlton.
The exterior is all cabbage green, a radical change from when it housed predecessor Jem ’n’ I.
Usher’s chef is the boyish Richard Sharples, once of Prestwich’s departed Aumbry, benchmark for homeliness married to high technique in the suburbs.
The presentation of his food is engagingly shy, belying the bold, clear flavours under the crispy potato strands or flurries of microleaves. Take my starter – truffled potato salad, charred spring onions, crisps (pictured above). Underneath the green shoots and spiralised turnip (?) lay spud cubes in a remoulade-like emulsion with wedges of heritage black potato basking like sharks.
Cut to my companion’s buffalo mozzarella, baked celeriac, hazelnut butter, honey (a dish I found cloying, she liked it). All the key players lay concealed under a tangle of escarole.
Mains were more upfront. Indeed tranches of whole mackerel flaunted their skin and abundant bones. Accompanying confit fennel, kohlrabi and pickled trompettes offered a gutsy power of their own. My lunch companion couldn’t resist a side of truffle and parmesan fat chips, just as glorious as at Sticky Walnut.
Fish and vegetables dominate the set menus with just braised featherblade there for the carnivores (and no safe old chicken option) and yet it feels right, all the pickles, charrings, sproutings. My al dente linguine with pesto main (top picture) is a stand-out, the pesto here made from hazelnut, parsley and sage, pooling into brown butter, topped (naturally) with a coy blanket of crispy potato.
We regretted not ordering the parkin, butterscotch and creme fraiche after rubbernecking a neighbour’s, but my Eccles cake with whipped cream was as good as I’ve had in a long while; the dark chocolate, intense pistachio sponge with pear butter and milk granita less impressive, oversweet and a little dull.
So Hipsi achieves all Mr Usher promised? Certainly, it is precise, contemporary cooking that puts to shame its Didsbury chain rivals. Why then just the four points? Well, every home has room for improvement.
Hispi, 1C School Lane, Manchester M20 6RD. Tel: 0161 445 3996.
