Chef Matthew Nutter is leaving Allotment Vegan restaurant – just months after relocating to Manchester

Award-winning chef Matthew Nutter has announced he is to leave the Allotment vegan restaurant – just months after relocating to Manchester city centre from Stockport.

The restaurant will continue trading, with his colleague Adam Leavy taking over the reins as head chef at the venue on Lloyd Street just off Deansgate.

In an emotional statement posted on his Facebook page on Wednesday evening, Matthew said he wanted to spend more time with his partner Siobhan and their family.

He said: “Really happy to announce that I’ll be leaving the Allotment in less than two weeks and my good friend Adam Leavy will be taking the reins and killing it in the kitchen as the new head chef.

“It’s been a long three years to get where I am today, and it’s destroyed me and made me in so many ways.

“It’s time for me to take a long break from the intensity of that restaurant and concentrate on being a dad and half decent partner to Siobhan.”

He thanked everyone who has supported his vegan restaurant concept over the years.

He said: “It’s an incredible feeling to have created something with Siobhan that we can look back on and be proud of.”

Matthew, named Chef of the Year at the Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards in 2017, made the move to Manchester from Stockport in October 2018 after teaming up with Manchester restaurateur Anthony Sheridan.

He won huge acclaim after launching The Allotment in Stockport in 2015 with his creative plant-based menu.

At the time of launching the new Manchester restaurant, Matthew said he was realising a dream.

He said at the time: “This is going to be what we always dreamed of, the reason we worked so hard. Anthony hasn’t just given us the opportunity to open a new restaurant, he’s given me personally the opportunity to develop as a person and a chef.”

Entrepreneur Anthony had a personal motivation behind his decision to back The Allotment’s Manchester move, as his young son has the life-long chronic bowel condition Crohn’s disease. When researching the disease, and treatments, the businessman read that a plant-based diet could help manage it.

His mission to learn more about following a vegan diet, and to source the best food available, led him and his family to Matthew and The Allotment.

New head chef Adam, formerly of Damson and ABode as well as a former Masterchef: The Professionals semi-finalist, will take over from his friend and mentor Matthew at the end of January.

A spokesperson for The Allotment said: “We wish Matt the absolute best for the future. We know how hard he has worked over the past few years and hope that this move will allow him to spend more time with his family, who he is devoted to.

“The Allotment will continue to provide plant-based fine dining, and we look forward to our new head chef Adam Leavy – Matt’s longtime protege – stepping forward and showing his vision for the future of the restaurant.

“The response we have had from diners since opening is that Manchester desperately needed a restaurant that celebrated the vegan ethos, and we look forward to bringing this to diners, under Adam’s leadership, in 2019.”