What: A neo bistro located in Manchester’s Chinatown enclave that is a permanent version of a pop-up of the same name that ran at The Bungalow at Kampus for four weeks in early 2020 before Covid reared its ugly head.
Who: Joseph Otway, Richard Cossins and Daniel Craig Martin are the trio behind the new project having met at Dan Barber’s renowned New York restaurant Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Between them they have formidable experience in kitchens and restaurants across the world, with Otway previously having led the kitchen at Stockport restaurant Where The Light Gets In and cooked at Copenhagen’s Relæ. Craig Martin's CV, meanwhile, includes Noma, while Cossins’ experience includes time as restaurant manager at Roganic and later at Fera at Claridge’s. Despite having no real connection to Manchester, the trio settled on the city because of the opportunities it offered and the proximity to producers and farmland. “One thing we knew what that we didn’t want to open in London,” says Otway. “It felt saturated - the hectic lifestyle, the cost of rent, the cost of space. I don’t think you could set this formula up in London because of the amount of space we’ve got for the model we’ve created.” Working alongside the trio is Ana Cândida Ferraz, Higher Ground's Brazil-born service manager, who has also worked at Blue Hill at Stone Barns.
The food: The approach at Higher Ground shares much of the same ethos as Barber’s New York restaurant with a focus on regenerative farming and local produce, of which around 90% is sourced from Cinderwood, the trio’s partner farm in nearby Nantwich. All ingredients are organic, from the grains and flours to the meat and vegetables, with the kitchen buying in whole carcasses to use all parts of the animal. Otway’s cooking is thoughtful and experimental with dishes that include acorn-fed pig cooked in milk; pea fritters with Quicke’s cheddar; a superbly tart dish of thinly sliced celeriac with salted blackcurrants and bay leaf; house-smoked beetroot with brill roe; and fried pig’s head with lovage mayo. The restaurant also serves bycatch fish served whole, including sea bream with a sweet and sour crust of burnt leek. The only ingredients used that aren’t local are lemons from Spain and an olive oil sourced from Greece. “Those are the two things I make exception with,” says Otway. “I love lemons and I love olive oil.” Dishes can be ordered from the a la carte menu with smaller plates around the £5 to £6 mark and larger dishes from £24 to £38 or from a surprise sharing menu priced at £35 per person.
To drink: The wine list is made up of small-scale, low-intervention European wines with a strong selection of grower champagnes as well as pet nat and crémant and a large range of skin contact varieties. It’s a solid selection with many priced at around £50-£80. More surprising is the beer selection, which at first glance looks as if the team has failed to put in the decimal points. Here beers from Manchester, Hertfordshire, Gloucester and East Sussex as well as Belgium and Slovakia start at £28 and top out at a whopping £79 (a sherry barrel aged 8.5% lambic beer).
The vibe: Higher Ground’s smart, modern interior and exterior (including an automatic sliding glass door) is the perfect choice for the team’s modern bistro approach. The flow of the restaurant has been well thought through with a long island that runs along one side of the room that serves as an open kitchen, pass and bar, as well as a counter where people can sit and eat and drink. “We’ve travelled a lot, we’ve worked in different cities, and a big influence was our time in Copenhagen, where there is a real push with this blurring of lines between front of house and kitchen,” says Craig Martin. “For us, it’s trying to incorporate that idea from the service side and push it into the centre of the restaurant, so it is not just in the team where the lines are blurred but in the actual space itself where front of house and kitchen mould into one.” The styling is minimalistic without being austere, with a light grey floor and darker grey accent walls, orange leather high seating and black leather seating at the wooden tables. The overall effect is a dynamic and informal space that lends itself to the clatter environment of a busy bistro, one that feels bang up to date without appearing to try too hard.
And another thing: The trio are also behind natural wine bar Flawd, located by the water at Keepers Quay in the Ancoats area of the city, which launched during the pandemic.
Faulkner House, New York Street, Manchester, M1 4DY
https://www.highergroundmcr.co.uk/