TABLE-HOPPING

Our latest restaurant recommendations plus street-food spots from across the UK

Our latest restaurant and streetfood recommendations

WOLF AT THE DOOR, MANCHESTER

Bringing nature to the Northern Quarter, Wolf at the Door’s ethos is simple ingredients, communal seating and unfussy décor. Food and drink menus are seasonal, and there’s a special focus on freshness and sustainability.

Although the team behind Wolf at the Door is a roll call of talent from Manchester’s hospitality scene, it’s ex-Manchester House chef James Lord running the pass and bringing a fine-dining flourish to the menu. Here you’ll find snacks such as a treacly, double-buttered round of malted sourdough that comes with salt and a mound of sweet onion butter. Pressed potato is a retro croquette, topped with a creamy row of smoky crab meat and fresh dill. Elsewhere, there’s a star dish of roasted cauliflower steak, slathered with pumpkin seed butter and topped with toasted buckwheat – possibly one of the best dishes being served anywhere in Manchester right now. A delicate treacle tart, to finish, even won over a table of treacle tart haters.

Reinforcing the policy of simple, fuss-free dining, there’s an extensive list of natural wines and beers, some of which are unique to the venue. Get yourself some biodynamic goodness with the well-balanced Circumstance Cape Corral rosé, or a tasty smallbatch ale from Somerset’s Yonder brewery. And, up on the first floor, there’s a specialist cocktail bar with a handsome menu (literally, it’s an art catalogue) designed to be in dialogue with the nature photography of Michael Thomason. Ideal for a digestif or two. watd.com