Celebrity chef Tom Kerridge ran a high end pub/restaurant concept at a Manchester hotel, but left in 2022. He has now praised the city’s ‘amazing’ food scene
Celebrity chef Tom Kerridge has praised Manchester’s ‘amazing’ food scene(Image: MEN Media)
Celebrity chef Tom Kerridge has named three Manchester restaurants that are “amazing” as he praised the city’s food scene.
The 51-year-old had previously run the Bull and Bear restaurant at the Stock Exchange Hotel in Manchester city centre. But in 2022 he announced he was pulling out of the venue to focus on his other businesses.
The hotel, owned by Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs, has since recruited chef Niall Keating. And despite quitting his high end pub/restaurant concept, Tom has spoken fondly about Manchester’s food scene.
On his Proper Tasty podcast with Capital Radio star Chris Stark, the Great British Menu judge named three destinations in particular that he enjoys. However, he also praised the city’s street food-style vendors.
Gushing about Manchester, Tom said: “It’s amazing, it’s beautiful, we had a restaurant there for a while during Covid times. The food scene in Manchester is brilliant, there’s two places there now with Michelin stars, so there’s great restaurants and great cooks.
Higher Ground restaurant in Manchester(Image: Manchester Evening News)
“It’s really embracing not just top end cuisine but also street food. [There are] Brilliant pizza spaces, fantastic burgers, like smash burger places, there’s also the really bougie, lovely interior design places, places to be seen that’s really cool, but there’s also some great cooks and chefs up there.
“There’s a great restaurant called Higher Ground that’s amazing, fantastic food. And then obviously you’ve got Skof and Mana, two one Michelin star places that are run by young, brilliant chefs that are making a food scene that’s amazing.”
Based on New York Street, Higher Ground originally started out as a pop-up in a bungalow venue opposite the Gay Village. It has since gone on to win numerous awards as well as receiving glowing reviews from national food critics.
Skof is located in the Hanover Building, a former drapery warehouse, in the city centre (Image: Manchester Evening News)
In September 2023, the restaurant was one of two Greater Manchester venues to be namechecked in the Michelin Inspectors’ Favourite New Restaurants too, later picking up a Michelin Bib Gourmand award. One Michelin inspector said: “The focus is unerringly on pure, simple flavours, with no unnecessary additions on the plate.
“Put simply, it’s the food type of food we all want to eat and its clear to see that it’s the type of cooking the owners enjoy too. Everyone works as a team here and enjoys what they do, which results in a great atmosphere.”
Skof, in Federation Street, was awarded a Michelin star less than a year after it was opened. It became one of the hottest tables in town when it opened in May 2024, with settings reserved most nights.
Mana in Ancoats was the first Greater Manchester restaurant with a Michelin Star(Image: Manchester Evening News)
The venue is the brainchild of chef Tom Barnes, who worked at L’Enclume in Cumbria alongside esteemed chef Simon Rogan – who gave his blessing for his protege to launch Skof. The Telegraph’s William Sitwell described Skof as a “slam-dunk reason to love and admire this city”.
Mana in Ancoats was the first restaurant in the area to be awarded a Michelin star. In 2023 it was dubbed Manchester’s most expensive restaurant, costing £175 for the full main tasting menu.
Michelin says the “personality and experience” of chef Simon Martin “shine brightly” at the modern venue. It comments: “There are many Asian techniques on display and the cooking marries complex flavours with a pure, natural approach, in dishes such as a superb roasted hogget with white miso sabayon.”