Celebrity chef James was back in Manchester this week to hail his “amazing journey”
James Martin at his James Martin Manchester restaurant speaking to diners(Image: Carl Sukonik)
Celebrity chef James Martin has hailed his “little hidden secret” in Manchester as he cooked up a storm in the city.
James has been chef proprietor of his self-named restaurant for 12 years now, which is tucked away inside Manchester 235 casino just off Deansgate.
But even having cooked up in the city for over a decade, James says his restaurant remains one of the city’s best kept secrets.
Celebrating his staff and customers in an Instagram message this week, James said: “I’ve had the restaurant pushing on 12 years now, it’s been an amazing journey.
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“Before that we had a restaurant in a casino in Leeds, but then we moved from Leeds here to Manchester and we have been here ever since.”
James praised his “little hidden secret”(Image: Carl Sukonik)
He added: “It’s Manchester’s little hidden secret – that has been here for over a decade.”
The TV chef regularly returns to host “An evening with” events at his restaurant, where he cooks up a five course dinner in the kitchen before heading out to speak to guests and pose up for photos with fans.
James described the inspiration for the restaurant as “all the really great produce, particularly where we are in the north west of England.”
He said: “We take our influences from amazing producers of round and about the area and a little further beyond.”
James cooked up some of his iconic dishes(Image: Carl Sukonik)
The latest dinner featured some of James’ personal highlights – including one dish he said that has “never been off the menu for me for the past 35 years” and that’s his legendary crab risotto.
“It has become sort of iconic,” he laughed. He also cooked up his famous apple dessert as well on the night.
When asked what are the biggest sellers at the restaurant he said: “There are new flavours, new dishes coming through, but still the steaks and grills are still hugely popular here and the Sunday lunches.”
James praised his staff(Image: Carl Sukonik)
James praised his staff at the restaurant after the “amazing journey” they had all been on at the Manchester restaurant.
He said: “We’ve got amazing staff, we’ve got an amazing team, that’s what makes it special because its gives every diner that special little touch really and hence why we’ve been here for as long as we’ve been here. I couldn’t do it without the staff, past and present as well.”
James in his kitchen(Image: Carl Sukonik)
James will be back in Greater Manchester later this month when he appears at the Bolton Food and Drink Festival. Talking about the event he said: “It’s a very special festival, celebrating 20 years this year.
“I’ve been involved it in for 15 years now and it’s really special. It’s a brilliant festival to be a part of it, those who’ve been before will love it. I’ll be doing demonstrations on Bank holiday Monday, 25th August and I’ll see you there.”
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