The North West is suffering from a gastronomic drought, with high-end establishments in the cities of Manchester and Liverpool failing to whet the appetites of residents and guests alike. But does it matter? Glynn Davies investigates
It is more than 30 long and painful years since Manchester city centre lost its Michelin-star at the French at The Midland Hotel and, with the recent closure of both Le Mont in the Urbis building and Establishment, the city looks set to remain a fine dining-free zone.
It is not alone in lacking an upmarket temple to food because Liverpool city centre is also suffering from a gastronomic drought. Without a Michelin outpost between them, a question mark must be placed over the credibility of the North West's major conurbations as world-class locations for commerce and tourism.
Richard Harden, editor of Harden's Restaurant Guide, believes this is definitely the case with Manchester. "To make it an all-round destination it needs headline restaurants. You could do a week there as the city is doing well in the mid-market, £330 to £340 level, but then you'd want to get back on a train to London," he says.
Harden is critical of its two most recent pretenders to Michelin's stars, suggesting Le Mont was "poncey" and Establishment looked more like a cheap bar from the outside with its "tacky" signage.
He is not alone in denouncing their offerings. The consensus is that the quality of the food deteriorated at both restaurants and that the stuffy approach to service was a difficult one for the people of Manchester to swallow. There was also universal criticism of Le Mont for ludicrously installing frosted windows that made it difficult to enjoy the views over Manchester.
Take Jonathan Boyers, corporate finance partner at KPMG and a regular business diner in Manchester. A likely target for fine dining, he found the portions getting "smaller and smaller" at Le Mont. But he thinks its departure will still hurt the city.
"It's dreadful that the city does not have any quality restaurants - there are just lots of average places. For a city that sees itself as the second city you would expect at least two Michelin-star restaurants," he says.
But what both cities do manage to deliver in numbers are mid-market casual dining restaurants that provide a bar-style experience rather than an upmarket food offer. And, like many business people, Boyers finds he's a regular visitor to these outlets, which include Restaurant Bar & Grill and Piccolino's - both from the Individual Restaurant Company (IRC).
The people at IRC know exactly where these mainstays of the Liverpool and Manchester dining scene are pitched and it's not with aspirations for Michelin stars. Steven Walker, chief executive of IRC, says: "Our restaurants offer great fresh food and service, in bustling, stylish surroundings. We offer great, affordable, all-day, everyday dining."
What these outlets manage to achieve is repeat visits on a frequent basis. Another similarly pitched restaurant is the Grill on the Alley in Manchester, which follows the recent openings of the Backhouse Grill in Chester and the Hale Grill in Hale.
These all emanate from holding company Living Ventures - creator of the phenomenally successful Living Room chain, which probably set the mould for the relaxed mid-market style of dining that has proved so popular in the North West.
Tim Bacon, managing director of Living Ventures, believes part of the appeal of these outlets is their inclusiveness. "We've always tried to do upper mid-market that crosses zones. At the Grill you can spend as much as at Establishment, but also have a £310 lunch. You don't always want to spend £3100. Outside London you need to broaden the offer," he says.
He does not believe that the failure of upmarket restaurants in Manchester and Liverpool is down to price. "It's about the numbers of customers, the delivery and the commercial desire of restaurateurs to do it - but the problem (with the latter) is that they all tend to want to live in London," he says.
What he says you need - regardless of where you are located - is deep pockets to go for Michelin stars. "As soon as people open the doors of a restaurant they think they've done it, but you need to give it two years and it's a daily grind."
For this reason Bacon says only those operators with a strong base to build from should consider entering the upmarket arena and aiming for the stars - something that Le Mont and Establishment did not seem to fully factor into their projections.
Thom Hetherington, restaurant consultant and organiser of the Northern Restaurant & Bar show, reckons the problem has been compounded by the fact that the top-end restaurants in Liverpool and Manchester have to date simply been the wrong ventures.
"People have been building the wrong stuff," he says and points to Le Mont as being a difficult and "sterile" room (with inconsistent food to boot). In contrast he cites Anthony's in Leeds, a simple and small chef-patron establishment in a basement that has proved a great success and could certainly be replicated in Manchester or Liverpool.
With the reputation of Manchester as a good-time, party town, Hetherington says the need for the correct business model is paramount. To make the numbers stack up any restaurant would have to attract sufficient numbers of business people. Recent research by Manchester accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young, reveals that restaurants and bars are three times more likely to go bust than other businesses.
Because the size of the business community is significantly smaller in Liverpool he believes it would be a much harder task for the city to achieve a Michelin star than Manchester.
It is the numbers of people that would worry David Moore, proprietor of the two Michelin-starred Pied xe0 Terre in London, if he were considering opening up in the North West. He says it is no great surprise that the restaurants in the region to have gained Michelin stars - Juniper, Northcote Manor and, until recently, Paul Heathcote's flagship Longridge Restaurant - are located outside the two cities because they will have been built around business models that require only 2.5 to 3.5 full services per week.
In a city centre, with the attendant higher running costs, there has to be consistent business throughout the week, as happens in London. At Pied xe0 Terre most evenings are full, except for Monday, and there is a decent trade at lunchtimes.
Whether this can be replicated in Liverpool and Manchester is questionable for Moore and for Harden, who suggest that not only is there an insufficient population, but there is also an inadequate number of people that are rich enough to support high-end dining.
"There is only a small body of top executives. Yes, there are lots of people wearing suits, but it's not that high-end. Unlike London, where £3100,000 salaries are common place, they are still relatively rare in the North West cities," says Harden.
There is also the issue that the affluent consumers in the region tend to move out of the cities when they've made their money and then prefer to eat locally. "What you need for upmarket restaurants is an upmarket commercial sector or affluent residents. But all the affluent people move out to Cheshire," he adds.
Phil Jones, founder of the Manchester Food & Drink Festival, says: "In London you do see a lot of suits in the right places, but I'm not sure there are that many for fine dining. And they all go home in the evening. I'd not back a restaurant in Manchester or Liverpool."
However, he suggests that if the likes of Gordon Ramsay or Heston Blumenthal opened up with the right formula then it could be "mobbed". Hetherington does not accept the views of the mockers and scoffers and prefers to believe that "if they build it, they will come".
Bacon also has faith and can foresee the time when he extends his reach from the upper mid-market and into the top-end. But where exactly are these others, with their up-and-coming restaurants that have the potential for Michelin stars?
Bacon points to the soon-to-open Ithaca restaurant as a contender for the attention of the French guidebook's inspectors. By the time it opens in late May/early-June 2007, this five-storey venue on John Dalton Street will have eaten over £34m of investment from entrepreneur Arnie Hira and his team of big hitters, who include fashion empire boss Rajan Kumar and Paul Johnson of Lloyds Development Capital.
Although it will include a bar and private members club, Hira says the focus is firmly on the food and he is confident that it will attract sufficient ABC1 people in Manchester and the attention of Michelin.
With his credit-worthy investors and the recruitment of a former chef from London's acclaimed Japanese restaurant Nobu, Hira is pitching the business at the fine dining end of the market and cites Michelin-starred, London-based restaurant Hakkasan as inspiration for Ithaca.
This combined with impeccable service, a beautiful environment and the right ambience should suffice for a star, hopes Hira: "Michelin is rated not just on the cuisine, but the whole package, so I'd like to get one," he says. "A star would be good and could act as a catalyst for Manchester. I think it needs it as it needs to step up in terms of standards."
Although Heathcotes Restaurants is not aiming for stars at its city centre restaurants - Simply Heathcote's in Liverpool and Manchester - it is in the process of refocusing its portfolio on a more upmarket offer. Although it will continue to roll out its Mediterranean concept Olive Press, it has decided to curtail the expansion of Simply Heathcote's.
Daniel Taylor, sales and marketing manager at Heathcotes Restaurants, says: "There is too much competition in the mid-market, so growth is in something more than this."
Instead the company has created Heathcotes Collection, comprising restaurants that use individual names, which currently include London Road in Alderley Edge and the Longridge Restaurant.
Taylor says the success of London Road will determine what happens to Simply Heathcote's in Manchester because it is up for refurbishment and could be renamed and repositioned as a potential Michelin-starred joint.
However, if the latter route is ultimately taken then the group will not be shouting its mouth off about its intentions. As Taylor says, Paul Heathcote prefers to just get on with the job at hand. "We're geared towards service, people, value for money and not just a focus on awards," he says.
With all this talk of stars returning to the region, what about Michelin again furnishing the French with its plaudits? Gary Jenkins, executive chef at The Midland Hotel, reckons that although it is the only real fine dining restaurant in Manchester it is too early for the restaurant to reach this level of cuisine.
"I don't want to put too much pressure on the lads [in the kitchen] and it's up to the people at head office. We've two AA rosettes and are now looking for three, which is the next step. And then we'll take it from there," explains Jenkins.
One thing is for sure, regardless of whether it is the French or another restaurant, the fine diners of Manchester and Liverpool will be praying that they won't have to wait too much longer than the current 30-plus years before they start seeing stars again.
Also in: May 2007
-
Vegetarians at the gate?
Hysteria over high-profile buyouts isn't helping the North West's providers of private equity in a tough market. Neil Tague looks to redress the balance
-
Where dreams come true
Dreams of a reinvigorated East Lancashire are coming to life amid the peaceful Pennine slopes. Lisa Miles reports
