Simon Wood’s restaurant in Manchester came about in 2017 after he won Masterchef in 2015. It’s no easy thing to pull off a restaurant opening with little experience but Wood Restaurant has gone from strength to strength. The idea was to create a unique style of non-intimidating high end dining. His style is bold as this mallard dish describes: Spiced Mallard | Tangerine Root | Vichy Grilled Carrot | Plum. Manchester chefs don’t seem to feel the pressure of their London cousins and consequently the whole dining scene in the capital of the North is free and unencumbered.