Tim Bacon’s brilliant reply to AA Gill makes us proud

There is a place for the London-centric, deeply cynical food critic, and it isn’t in up and coming Manchester having fun with the rest of us. It is, as Living Venture’s Tim Bacon observes, in the sheltered confines of a ‘deeply prejudiced sofa.’

AA Gill, who has condemned Manchester for its ‘nasty and naff’ attempts to regain stature as a world-class city of food, dubiously cited Trip Advisor as a source in his Sunday Times column. Tim Bacon, whose Living Ventures runs Manchester House along with chef Aiden Byrne, has quite rightly bitten back at the priggish critic.

“The highly evolved being that is “AA” is obviously too busy to step outside the leafy suburbs of London and approach his job in a committed manner.” Tim said after Gill’s pompous appraisal, which came in the wake of BBC2’s Restaurant Wars aired on TV and not from an actual visit to one of the restaurants he slammed.

“As entertaining as Gill is, I do despair that so called national papers allow such London-centric views be aired without balance” Bacon replied, voicing the indignation of an entire city.

It has been forty years since Manchester held a Michelin Star in the Midland Hotel, and the last couple of years have seen celebrity chefs attempt to break the so-called ‘curse.’ AA Gill clearly sees this as a farce:

“Every critic has at one time or another had the misfortune of finding himself in Manchester after dark, wanting somewhere to eat and being directed to The French – and decided to go hungry” AA Gill said of an institution that is famous for turning away The Beatles for being inappropriately dressed.

It’s okay AA Gill, Manchester doesn’t like you either.