Manchester

Juniper

21 The Downs, Altrincham

For a city used to having stars around every corner (see if you can trawl the bars along Deansgate at the weekend and not bump into a celeb), there’s one type of star that’s proved very elusive indeed in Manchester. In fact, you’d need to go back to the Midland Hotel’s French restaurant circa 1975 if you wanted to eat in a city centre restaurant which held the coveted Michelin star. Subsequent years have seen the stars disappear from the city altogether.

For Michelin-starred dining on your visit to Manchester you’ll need to take the tram or bus to Altrincham and find your way to 21 The Downs, where for the last 11 years professional Geordie Paul Kitching and Katie O’Brien have run Juniper. In their 34-cover space, the Juniper team have created and refined an almost uniquely inventive form of cuisine.

‘I keep waiting to get bored at work, but it just doesn’t seem to happen’, Kitching says, and given the sort of experimentation that goes on in his kitchen, it’s not surprising that his interest has held firm. The varied menus include themes around a single ingredient, such as olives, or cheese, which magically inveigle their way into every course served on that particular night. Other evenings might revolve around a concept or phrase, such as ‘It’s all white on the night’ – a celebration of just one end of the edible colour spectrum. Although the food may be outlandish, the prices are the opposite; most bills come to around £30 per person.

It appears that Manchester’s best hope of getting another Michelin star lies with Kitching opening another restaurant. However, the owners remain cautious about expansion plans. Rumours that Urbis almost became home to Juniper II indicate that if the place were to expand it would need to find a building as inventive and exciting as the food. ‘It’s either that, or we do a Juniper brasserie’, Kitching muses – an interesting proposition indeed.

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