WOOD restaurant Manchester ditches tasting menus for freestyle dining
The First Street venue marks its sixth year with a strong selection of new dishes and a huge amount of skill
A selection of small and large plates from the new menu at Wood Restaurant Manchester. Image credit - Deanna Thomas, August 2023
WOOD restaurant Manchester is celebrating its sixth year in business. In the unforgiving world of hospitality that’s already an achievement, but this half dozen journeys around the sun have encompassed a global pandemic, the total/partial shutdown of the hospitality industry, a rise in the cost of living, a shortage of skilled staff, and an unprecedented boom of local restaurant openings adding to the competition.
But chef patron Simon Wood knows what it’s like to think on his feet. As a former data analyst, he recognises what works and what doesn’t and will make changes where needed.
WOOD survived lockdown by developing dine at home boxes and pivoting to a taco and tequila concept on the outside terrace. These weren’t simply ideas, they were fully blown concepts involving recipe development, detailed costings, packaging and presentation.
Home cured Chianti bresaola from WOOD. Image credit - Deanna Thomas
Simon Wood’s victory in the BBC Masterchef series of 2015 proved he can cook under scrutiny. But, as tough as it was, Simon always saw his Masterchef win as simply the beginning of his story. Running a restaurant was always going to be the hard bit.
When restaurants were allowed to re-open in early 2022, Simon returned all guns blazing and decided that tasting menus were the way forward. He was going to showcase what he could really do. His cooking was excellent and his presentation beautiful. When I tried it, I truly believed that WOOD was one of the top five dining experiences in Manchester. But why wasn’t this being amplified by guides and awards?
Milk Bread and ‘The Good Butter’ at Wood Restaurant, Manchester. Image credit - Deanna Thomas
WOOD’s schtick has always been informality. Fine dining for all. Top end dishes without pretention, but how many times a year do even the most devoted diners treat themselves to a seven-course tasting menu at £75 a pop? Simon wants WOOD to be a regular haunt for people, so he reluctantly decided to ditch the tasting menu format.
He tells me it wasn’t an easy decision. He was proud of his dishes and the restaurant experience, but realised that offering small and large plates gives the diner more options and is likely to make them want to visit more often. The point is, he hasn’t compromised on his fine dining standards or the quality of his ingredients.
Now guests can build their own selection of dishes or graze on a few small plates with a glass of wine or a cocktail. Feel free to order as much or as little as you like, it’s your call. This means WOOD is still ideal for a full-on family celebration, but it’s now equally suited to a working lunch, a pre-theatre treat or a catch up with friends. You could even sit at the chefs table for a ringside seat of the chefs at work and a touch of heat from the hardworking Josper Charcoal grill.
Cornish Mackerel with chilli crack at Wood Restaurant Manchester. Image credit - Deanna Thomas
What WOOD don’t source from local suppliers they make themselves, from pickles and ferments to the ridiculously soft milk bread, and they even cure their own bresaola (pictured above).
Small plates range between £10-£15 and include a few favourites from the tasting menu including Simon’s fancy take on ‘ham, egg and chips.’ Other small plates include lightly cured and flame torched Cornish mackerel served with chilli crackand triple cooked pork fat Parisienne potatoes with pork burnt ends, truffle, and apple cider vinegar. That Chianti-curedbresaola is served with whey soured onion and onion embers (the whey gets delivered from Mrs Kirkham’s as this bi-product from the cheese-making process gets put to good use.)
Pommes Anna, Parisienne Potatoes and milk bread, Wood Restaurant Manchester. Image credit - Deanna Thomas
The new menu also features a whole sub-section on vegetables (plant-based sections are the future) and vegans and vegetarians have plenty of options to choose from. In fact, BBQ Hen of the Woods glazed with 20-year-old aged mirin was one of the highlights of our visit and a friend loved the hay baked celeriac shawarma with koji caramel on hers.
However, Simon admits that the meat dishes are still the most popular menu items with the likes of sticky glazed belted Galway short rib with that aged mirin and soy, a 40 day aged BBQ Bone in rib of beef, and a handmade lamb shoulder sausage ring, with lamb breast bacon and lamb sauce coming out top of the orders.
BBQ Hen of the Woods and wine flight at Wood Manchester. Image credit - Deanna Thomas
Simon insisted we try the golden and multi-layered, deep-fried pommes Anna with aioli - although we had already enjoyed a potato dish. They are to chips what Bentley is to cars and I’d recommend just popping in for both hot spud dishes and a cool bottle of wine.
But that’s the point, Simon tells us. Now customers have the freedom to create their own mix and match experience. Like fish & chips? Great, then treat yourself to an elevated experience with the Pommes Anna, plaice fillets with a white wine cream sauce with keta and caviar, and a side dish of peas, lettuce and sea veg with smoked lemon verbena butter.
Plaice fillets with a white wine cream sauce with keta and caviar. Image credit - Patrick Thomas
The list of sweet desserts is modest – probably because WOOD is the only Manchester restaurant with a dedicated cheese room (visit Homage) - but they do have their own soft-serve ice cream machine and the pastry chef has created a special box of ‘Woody’s Goodies’ where you can choose home-made toppings from black pepper fudge to jellies, honeycomb and strawberry sauce.
Soft serve ice cream with strawberry sauce and some Woodies Goodies. Image Credit - Deanna Thomas
If you haven’t been to WOOD for ages, or you haven’t been at all? I’d highly recommend this place as one of the best dining experiences in Manchester. Especially if you get chatting to the sommelier.
Head over to my instagram feed to see a full reel of my visit. #invited
