After the moody, dark environs of Ancoats pub Edinburgh Castle, where Moffat made his name, Winsome is a bigger, brighter home for his produce-led Anglocentric style of cooking. Whitewashed walls, white tablecloths and the occasional use of a pig graphic (on menus and the team’s chore jackets) gives a nod to St John, while dark wood banquettes, bentwood chairs and vintage candlesticks bring a warm glow to the space.
An open galley kitchen dominates the length of the dining room, putting the brigade of chefs and their cooking at centre stage. The bar, situated in Whitworth Locke’s adjoining hotel lobby, has been taken over by Tom Fastiggi who brings experience from Schofield’s and Sterling to the drinks programme. Classic cocktails (we enjoyed a gin martini and a French 75) ride alongside interesting soft drinks including a buckwheat cream soda and a quince and fennel sour. A succinct European-leaning wine list opens with bottles from £39 with a few picks from Hampshire and Essex in the mix.
Well-sourced British meat is the focus of a menu that spans snacks, small plates, big plates and ‘sharers’. At our early preview dinner, a whole pig from Linton Hall Farm in Skipton dominated the line up with a dish of house cured ‘bacon’ (served with rhubarb ketchup), as well as Middlewhite chops with conference pear, and confit mussels and trotter on toast—both of which were highlights of our meal.
Other high points included a bowl of golden brown chips, glistening with hot fat and doused in salt and vinegar, while the beef shin and Garstang blue cheese pie to share was clearly a win with neighbouring tables. Less impressive (though likely just teething issues) was asparagus with a 'dippy egg' which arrived as an underdone dribbly egg, and a side of limply steamed greens seasoned only with vinegar. That said, salt and pepper mills are at the ready on every table, along with the idiosyncratic choice of London institution M. Manze’s branded chilli vinegar.
Desserts are served with a dose of nostalgia and we enjoyed rhubarb and custard jelly and a bread and butter pudding. There was also a set chocolate cream and British cheese.
Though it’s early doors, Winsome strikes a charming balance of being trendy yet wholesome, with an interesting menu that doesn’t push the boundaries of nose-to-tail eating too far. It's a restaurant that knows its principles and plans to stick to them. We look forward to seeing it bed in.
WHEN 14th March 2025
WHERE 74 Princess St, Manchester, M1 6JD
FOLLOW @winsome_mcr
BOOK winsomemcr.co.uk
The Good Food Guide allows three to six months before anonymously inspecting a new restaurant. Look out for a full review coming soon.
