TV chef Rick Stein names Manchester restaurant one of his favourites in the UK

“It really shows how much food is improving in Manchester…”

Rick Stein is a household name amongst avid Saturday morning cooking programme watchers. He’s known for his simple seafood recipes and travelling around the globe to sample and document how different cultures cook their food.

In a recent interview with travel magazine Condé Naste titled Where the Chefs Eat, he declared Manchester restaurant Higher Ground among his favourite places to eat in the country right now.

“I was up in Manchester one weekend for the cricket,” said Rick Stein, “and Higher Ground was where we started off. It really shows how much food is improving in Manchester, and it pulls in a very foodie crowd.”

From arrival to departure, you’ll have a warm, welcoming and thoroughly enjoyable experience at Higher Ground.

Owned and run by three friends, who lead the cheery, well-organised service themselves, Higher Ground was named in the Michelin Guide this year alongside Orme for 2023/24.

“It’s now coming in as a top 100 restaurant in the country, with good reason.”

When asked which is the best table in the restaurant, he said:

“The space is fabulous, and they’ve obviously spent serious money on it. It’s a totally state-of-the-art place, and the whole kitchen is on show no matter where you sit in the restaurant, so any table would be a good table, I think.”

When asked when’s the best time to come, he said:

“I think dinner is fabulous there and, in fact, they only do lunch on Fridays and Saturdays so it’s an evening place for sure. It was a great place to start the weekend for us.”

The dishes at Higher Ground are known to extract bold flavours from British produce.

When asked what’s the best dish to order, Stein said:

“I had the most delicious homemade pasta, a pappardelle with heart, liver and lungs of lamb made into a Ragu. You wouldn’t know it was made of heart, lungs and liver if you didn’t know; it was really, really tasty. They do organic wine, which is unusual for me, but currently trendy and apparently gives you less of a hangover.”

There you have it. Mr Rick Stein has a taste for Manchester.