NOW that the dust has settled on another typically underwhelming Michelin week (in which all new stars were awarded to restaurants in either Chelsea or somewhere in The Lakes riddled with ivy and arthritic wincing), it’s time for us to return to restaurant news of actual interest and relevance, the best kind in fact; a good, local chef, opening a new, self-funded restaurant somewhere untrendy that will not only feed you well but feed you affordably.

Whitefield is beginning to feel the hint of a resurgence teetering over from Prestwich

David Gale, the Wythenshawe-born chef who forged a local reputation with stints at Abode, Hilton and Lawn Club, and a global one launching hotels in London, New York and Las Vegas, dropped into the office last week.

“Fancy lunch?” he said, rattling his keys. “I’ve got something to show you.”

Oo-er.

So off we rattled in Dave’s 4x4, past Spinningfields (where Gale’s first solo project, Louie, fizzled out before it started late last year), past the gloomy towers of Strangeways and the long, litter-strewn row of sketchy phone shops and fashion wholesalers on Bury New Road, up through the council flats of Lower Broughton and leafy lanes of ‘posh Salford’ (Prestwich), with its curious mix of coffee culture, scallywags and Charedi.

Over the roar of the M60 roundabout up past Besses o' th' Barn and we’re into Whitefield, a culinary backwater on the outskirts of Bury sustained until now by local favourites such as Roma Deli, China Lounge and local curry house, Sindhoor.

But there are whispers, if only locally, of change.

"Whitefield is beginning to feel the hint of a resurgence teetering over from Prestwich," says Gale. "You've got a new trendy cocktail bar, Alt.house, a restaurant taking over the old NatWest bank and Porada doing some serious numbers and the best spezzatino di cervo I've had outside Italy."   

It is here that Gale will soon (‘quietly’) launch 188 Kitchen - a new two-level, 80-cover neighbourhood restaurant opposite imposing local cakery, Slattery’s.

"Here we're going to cook my food," says Gale, firmly, "using great ingredients cooked technically and to perfection on a plate... no bells, no whistles, no slate."

.Chef David Gale (left) and Gordo outside the new-build site at 188 Bury New Road

Gale hasn't yet got round to designing the menu (he's too busy shouting at builders), though memories of his steamed halibut served with clam sauce and oyster fritter, and an assiette of duck with home-smoked duck breast, a duck leg rillette and a couple of diddy duck leg spring rolls with pickled blackberries, still linger long.

"We are taking a risk here, six miles from the city" says Gale, "but the truth is our rent here in Whitefield is seventy grand cheaper than the restaurant we nearly opened in Spinningfields – which also means we can serve great food at a fair price.

"And this time it's all self-funded, just me and a friend (business partner Lee Richardson), which means I don’t have to pander to anyone and can put all I have into the cooking."

Luckily for Mr Gale, with restaurants such as Sugo in Altrincham, Brassica in Heaton Moor and Levanter in Ramsbottom proving that hungry Mancs are more than willing to flee the current city centre scrummage for a good, affordable, suburban feed, his risk appears one worth taking.

188 Kitchen will open next month at 188 Bury New Road, Whitefield, M45 6QF.

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