One of the best restaurants in Greater Manchester doesn’t even exist
manchestereveningnews.co.ukHattersley-born chef Iain Thomas is a pretty big deal. You might well have tried his food - either at Ancoats’ gastro-pub, Edinburgh Castle, or back in the day at Establishment on King Street - the building that is now home to Italian restaurant Rosso.
It was here that he met chef David Aspin - who had trained alongside Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsay - and the pair ended up working together at a string of acclaimed Scottish restaurants, including Paul Kitching’s 21212 in Edinburgh.
His name might also ring a bell if you’ve dined at The Alan, a boutique hotel on the edge of Manchester’s Chinatown. Last year, Iain’s food won over acclaimed food critic Jay Rayner, who described the chef’s cooking as “truly delightful”, and his menu of “diverting dishes” as ” “admirably tight”.
Read more: We took Jay Rayner for lunch at one his favourite Manchester restaurants - here’s what he had to say about the city’s food But, following the glowing review, and despite being at the peak of his career, the chef, who has been working in kitchens since he was 16, decided to step back.
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