Where The Light Gets In
Stockport, Greater Manchester
Chef Sam Buckley realised early on that today’s forward-thinking restaurants need to be hardwired to their locality if they are to prosper. To this end, he has initiated several projects in Stockport, including the Yellowhammer Bakery & Pottery and the Landings, a ‘collaborative community growing space’ on the top deck of the nearby Merseyway Centre. Both impact on the food served in this first-floor dining room. Occupying an old coffee warehouse, WTLGI is a Spartan brick-walled space, open to the rafters and with most seating arranged to face the open kitchen. You won’t find any menus on the website, and you’ll need to pay up front in full (no refunds). In return, you'll be treated to an idiosyncratic piece of culinary theatre, a moveable feast driven by the availability of seasonal and local ingredients, with a no-choice line-up that nominally runs to 12 bijou courses. Vegetables loom large here, from kohlrabi and summer squash (marinated and barbecued with a dollop of sheep’s yoghurt) to a pair of dishes that highlight the owners' low-waste ethos. First, the outer leaves of savoy cabbage (normally consigned to the bin or compost heap) are crisped up and used for dipping into a miso-based sauce; later on, the fleshy part of the brassica arrives lightly smoked, compressed and partnered by some savoury soy-based sauce and few mashua leaves. As for fish, the kitchen respects the humane Japanese killing method of ikemeji – so expect sea bass with corn and oregano or sustainable pollock, roasted and crisp-skinned alongside a sweetcorn and tomatillo sauce. Meat plays a minor role in proceedings, but when it arrives it is triumphant: a dainty slice of Cheshire mutton with carrot purée, heritage carrot and a fabulous gravy-style sauce, say, or a sausage of Saddleback pork blitzed with doubanjiang (fermented chilli bean paste). Some of the very best things, however, sit at the sweet end of menu: fig leaf with pineapple weed or a miraculous plum tart – the thinnest and crispest pastry filled with seasonal fruit and homemade umeboshi (Japanese salted plums). To drink, low-intervention Old World wines share the billing with artisan beers and zesty cocktails.
Dining Information:
Counter seating, Family friendly, Credit card required, Deposit required, Pre-payment required
7 Rostron Brow, Stockport, Greater Manchester SK1 1JY
0161 477 5744
