The Allotment Vegan Eatery

Five-star vegan fine dining. The seeds of Matthew Nutter’s fine dining adventure were sown when he set out to “make veg taste better than steak”. And the menu at The Allotment exceeds this ambition. True: words like ‘steak’, ‘chorizo’ and ‘scallop’ are bandied about, but the kitchen largely avoids aping meat food. Rather plants and nuts are recalibrated into the likes of chargrilled aubergine topped with rosehip ketchup, almond béchamel and basil salt for the fries, or a dessert of braised rhubarb and sweet potato custard. There’s no dairy involved, despite the meal ending with the house ‘cheeseboard’ hewn from fermented nuts, purees and fruits. Feast on homemade oatcakes and perfect fresh beetroot chutney. Generous portions mean no going home hungry – or thirsty, for that matter, thanks to a compact new winelist. Originally opened in Stockport, Allotment 2.0 is now located in Manchester city centre.