Stow

Move over Erst, watch out 10 Tib Lane, there’s a new small plate heavyweight in town. We kid, we kid, it’s not a competition (even though it sort of is). 

Stow’s thing is fire. A big open fire, on view to all, at the heart of the kitchen. Sure, we all enjoyed a good ‘genie’ in our youth – light a match, stick it in a full matchbox, run – but head chef Jamie Pickles takes flame-artistry to new heights. 

There’s an appealing swagger to Stow. From customer to kitchenhand, everyone here knows the place is something special, and there’s a frisson in the air. 

Not to get all Architectural Digest about it, but the layout and design restaurant space plays a big part. Enter on Bridge Street, saunter past the bar and take a walk down the narrow corridor to find a buzzy, bustling space full of people laughing, drinking and eating. It’s a place where people from nearby bars and venues come to just hang out – it’s a place at the heart of something. 

Enough about vibes, how’s the food? In a word, phenomenal. There’s a dark, smoky heft to everything on the menu, possibly down to the season, but it all tallies up nicely. 

Highlights? It’s always pleasing to see pearl barley on a menu, and this is one of the best executions since Ceaușescu. These meaty, earthy little baubles come heavily doused in dill oil, with a handful of silky mussels studded throughout. 

As for mains, the pork collar is a showstopper that combines inventive flavours without getting all fussy and weird about it. In this case, deftly chopped swine paired up with chicken sauce, golden raisin and tarragon. It’s a winter miracle, coming from culinary brains that know seasons and flavours like you know your best mate’s parent’s landline number from 1997.

The monkfish tail might be the highlight, due to the meaty simplicity of it all. The best beurre blanc this side of Brittany, thick burly tail of frogfish (not sure why that name never caught on) and teeny tiny capers that serve a salty, harmonic purpose without dominating (take note, proper capers) – if you’re a fish guy, get this. 

Stow is among the very, very best of the new wave of Manchester restaurants. The menu isn’t long or overly elaborate, but by Jove it’s mighty. It’s most similar to the new direction taken by Stockport’s Where The Light Gets In – thoughtful and exciting small plates, that manage to wow outside the Michelin-defined confines of ‘fine dining’.