Higher Ground
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Higher Ground
Higher Ground first landed as a pop-up at Kampus in 2020, cut short within months by Covid. Chefs Joe Otway, Richard Cossins and Daniel Craig Martin – who met working the pass at Dan Barber’s Blue Hill in New York – used the pause to build Cinderwood, their own a 1.5 acre organic farm in Nantwich, before finally opening a permanent restaurant in Chinatown in 2023. Around 90% of what lands on your plate at Higher Ground comes from that farm.
The results speak for themselves: a Michelin Bib Gourmand, a run of National Restaurant Awards nods, and a place on the World’s 50 Best Discovery list. As for the cuisine, think of it as a modern British bistro with a sharing-style menu, built around the farm’s veg and whole-animal butchery, alongside low-intervention wines. No booking? Grab a seat at the open kitchen counter, held back for walk-ins, and watch it all come together.
Next door, sister bar Bar Shrimp handles the cocktails as well as – you guessed it – seafood snacks including oysters and shellfish. It’s “One of the best seats in Manchester, if not the North”, according to the Guardian. Pair the two spots and you’ve got yourself a ready-made – and very decadent – night out.
