With the likes of Erst and Flawd right here on our doorstep, some might wonder why they should make the half hour journey out to Hebden for more natural wine and small plates. To those people we say, you can never have too much of a good thing.
With its higgledy-piggledy stone mill houses, surrounding woodland, hidden waterfalls and treasure-trove charity shops, Hebden Bridge is a popular attraction all of its own for those wanting to venture beyond the city. Coin is simply the cherry on top.
Opened by Chloe Greenwood and Oliver Lawson at the end of 2021, it sits in the impressive shell of a former Lloyd’s bank, its interior all exposed brick and massive period windows, dark walls and chunky wooden tables.
After years at esteemed places like The Moorcock Inn at Norland, Mana and El Gato Negro, the pair made the decision to venture out on their own, inspired in part by the way things had changed during the pandemic.
Whilst Chloe had ‘the best summer ever’ driving around with deliveries and having barbecues at Norland, Oliver was ‘crazy busy’ feeding fish and chips to the masses whilst opening three new sites for a seafood restaurant group.
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As a result, a moment of Covid-induced existentialism led them to pursue a dream that had been hovering around in the background for years, where they could build something for themselves and produce something excellent without working every hour God sent.
Now, alongside Head Chef Alex Shaw (formerly of 10 Tib Lane and early small plates-adopter Volta), at Coin they offer a list of great natural wines with European-style plates that showcase quality produce first and foremost.
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Working with very limited equipment (we’re talking two induction hobs, a meat slicer and a fryer), the small plates here are ever-changing and pleasingly simple
Think freshly shucked Cumbrae oysters dressed in coriander oil, pickled jalapenos and parsley, or a richly comforting nduja and octopus stew, not a showy garnish in sight.
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But it’s Chloe and Oliver’s passion for cutting meat and cheese to order that really sits at the heart of the menu, a move Oliver says was partly inspired by his time working with El Gato and Canto chef Simon Shaw.
“Simon always used to cut, at the original site anyway, always used to do his meat plates to order, it was always done out in the dining room and that kind of thing, so I always really [liked that].”
Everything is sourced exclusively from small-scale producers. Meat is brought over by the pallet from Italy whilst a mix of cheeses, ranging from traditional french and English to the occasional Italian or Spanish specimen, are all bought locally.
“We always have a hard cheese, we always have a goats cheese, we always have a washed rind cheese, we always have a blue, so there’s always like, similar styles, there’s always five cheeses and then we kind of mess it around,” they tell us.
“The meat plate doesn’t change as much because we just, we’re reallyhappy with the products that are on there, so that’s kind of more a staple.”
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There’s generally a smoky and fatty finocchiona or salami molinari, a copa, a ‘really good’ naturally-cured speck and a rare breed mortadella, all sliced on site to order,.
They also tend to do some whipped sobrassada or nduja, served straight on the bread with just a drizzle of honey, that ‘seems to be a bit of a winner.’
Quality is key, and it shines through on the plate. The focus on sourcing things well, they say, comes largely from their time up at Norland, which changed their perception of dining with its small plates concept and emphasis on ethical sourcing, rare breeds and traditional techniques.
Drinks wise, there is a strong list of craft beers ranging from Barcelona to Belgium to Cheltenham, with a minimum of six draught taps on at once.
Cocktails come in the form of a shortlist of ice-cold batched classics: vodka martinis, negronis, sweet manhattans and a summer rum punch.
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By their own admission, though, Coin has become more of a wine bar than they had necessarily planned on it being.
Describing wine as their “shared biggest passion,” they say that they have both worked as sommeliers, Chloe most recently at lauded gastropub The Moorcock, Oliver at Mana for a brief stint when it got its Michelin star before leaving for “obvious reasons”.
Still, whilst they share a deep understanding of wine, Oliver, who has generally held more management and operational roles, says Chloe “definitely has a better understanding of natural wine than I do so that’s definitely her department, 100%”.
She tells us she has handpicked the entire list and that there isn’t a bottle on it she hasn’t tried.
“I won’t list a wine that I’ve not tasted, just to make sure that I’m not buying a case of wine that I actually hate and then passing that on to a customer..
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She’s also says she’s not really a fan of the “natty, funky, hazy wild, you know, really acidic, really crazy wines”, so if that’s what you’re looking for you probably won’t find it on her list.
“Because of where we are, it’s not very often that people are coming in looking for that kind of thing so we’re easing them in with like things that maybe taste a little bit more conventional but have a natural ethos.
“My list is obviously my taste but I try to make it as varied as possible, my tastes are quite varied so I don’t think that it’s a problem.”
“When you encounter a new wine list and like producers that you’ve never heard of before, you still learn a lot because it’s not like regular wine where you can be like ‘it’s this grape, this region, so it’s going to be ilke this’.
“Because we work with natural wine, it’s always a learning situation I think for anyone, even for people who know a lot about natural wine.”
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Opening up in Hebden Bridge was not their first choice, but they say it has actually worked out for the best.
With neighbourhood eateries on the rise, and a mix of locals and tourists with money to spend, they aren’t short of bookings.
Chloe’s dad also grew up in the town, so holds a sentimental connection to the place too.
“I love Hebden Bridge, my dad’s from Hebden Bridge,” she tells us.
“I grew up in Greetland, just a little bit away, but we used to come here, my dad’s from here so he used to take us on walks around the town and tell us all the stuff he got up to when he was a kid and stuff.
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“It’s nice to be here because it feels like we actually have a bit of a connection to it.”
Originally they had looked at a space opposite one of Oliver’s work’s restaurants in the suburb of Headingley, but lost out on it to established operator Fika North, who would go on to open Bottle Chock – a natural wine shop, bar and deli where you can refill your bottles on tap.
“We were going to do a very similar concept to what they did there,” they tell us, “kind of like this but with a bit less food.”
“We ended up doing more than we thought we would originally, we’re happy with it now, it works, so [we’ve] kind of settled into it.”
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“i think it worked out for the best.”
To find out more about Coin and book a table, visit its social media pages here,,The restaurant also has an upcoming supper club with Manchester brewery Track, date pending.
Albert’s Schloss – Manchester’s busiest nightlife hotspot is also serving some of the city’s best roasts
Daisy Jackson
If someone were to ask me the root cause of most of my adult hangovers, I would turn and point at Albert’s Schloss quicker than you could say ‘stiegl’.
I’m not the only one either – this nightlife hotspot on Peter Street is busy all. the. time.
Whether it’s a few happy hour drinks straight after work or dancing on the benches into the early hours, there is always something going on in this Bavarian beer hall.
With a ‘Showtime’ programme of events that includes some sort of live entertainment every night of the week, it’s easy to see why most of us start and end our nights out here.
It all started back in 2015 and quickly grew, becoming one of the country’s most voracious venues with a footprint in multiple cities almost a decade later.
But despite us all knowing Albert’s Schloss so well, do we really know and appreciate everything it’s got going on beyond the party atmosphere?
Because I’ll bet a load of you didn’t know that Albert’s Schloss is also whipping up one of Manchester’s very best Sunday roasts.
And that’s along with a pretty impressive, Bavarian-inspired food menu that’s always ticking away in the background.
I already proved that the city is slightly oblivious to the venue’s culinary prowess when The Manc Eats posted these pictures of the pastries made fresh here, and our audience were flabbergasted to learn that Schloss can be as much about viennoiserie as it is about Viennese beers.
So, back to those Albert’s Schloss roasts.
The huge venue hosts Sunday Service every week, where the house band serves up grooves to go with the gravy.
Alpine croquettesHummus and pickles
As you’re serenaded by goosebump-worthy harmonies, you can tuck into gigantic roasts and other comforting plates, like sides of fondue cauliflower and schweins in blankets.
The roasts themselves centre (obviously) around meat, with dry-aged beef, roast chicken, and a no-nut roast on offer, but the star of the show has and always will be the schweinshaxe, an enormous pork knuckle roasted to perfection and served with apple sauce.
If you’re not fancying a roast (who are you), there are other mains like a humble kroissant pie, pan-roasted salmon, and the venue’s signature cheeseburger.
Push for gravy buttons as the Albert’s Schloss Sunday roast
Groups should come ready to banquet. There’s a Bavarian Feast for sharing, which comes with – brace yourselves – roast pork knuckle, chicken schnitzel, bratwurst, kaiserwurst, chilliwurst, pork belly, sformoto, braised red cabbage, seasonal greens, bier jus, kraut, and pickles.
Oh and please, please, if you have even a hint of a sweet tooth, don’t leave without trying the black forest brownie, liberally flavoured with Amarena cherries.
There are also pretzel doughnuts ripe for dipping in a pot of melted chocolate, and classic apple strudel with vanilla sauce.
And all of it’s available for £29 for three courses.
So now with evening beers, late-night dancing, pastries, lunches AND Sunday roasts covered, Albert’s Schloss is bringing back the old 24 Hour Party People mantra.
Desserts included in Albert’s Schloss Sunday roasts menu
Moor Hall – What it’s like to eat at officially the best restaurant in England
Daisy Jackson
There are a lot of good places to eat around the north west. Some are even great. But very few are exceptional – and only one can claim to be the best not just in our region, but in the entire country.
The restaurant in question is Moor Hall.
This two Michelin-star spot, just outside Greater Manchester in Lancashire, opened back in 2017. It achieved its first Michelin star at break-neck speed, proudly mounting a red plaque within six months of opening. A year later, it got its second. It’s been named the Best Restaurant in England two years in a row at the Estrella Damm National Restaurant Awards. And that’s just the tip of the glittering iceberg.
All this might seem quick, but I doubt anyone has walked through these doors without emphatically agreeing that Moor Hall deserves every accolade on its shelves. If I had the power, I’d give it another star on the spot.
The experience begins before you’ve even got through the door.
You’ll drive through the stone gates and down the winding driveway, passing a lake, a group of geese pottering about on the lawn, and around the back of the beautiful former mansion house.
You could have arrived on the set of Bridgerton (if the Bridgertons happened to have a wine list so comprehensive that the table shakes under the weight of the menu).
As each guest is given a staggered arrival time, they know who you are the second you walk through the door. Being greeted by name takes us both aback – is this how the Beckhams feel all the time? Fetch me my Birkin! Where’s my security?!
Anyway. The initial grandeur of Moor Hall carries through for the first part of your meal – drinks and snacks in the bar area, where the walls are covered in dark wood and cosy bay windows look out onto the lake.
The main dining room at Moor HallMoor Hall’s Provenance menu The experience includes a walk through the kitchens
Here, you begin to see the many, many cogs that go into making a restaurant like this function. Someone is in charge of water. Someone else is carefully slicing charcuterie into slices so thin it dissolves on your tongue like butter.
Tiny black pudding bites pack a rich, meaty punch that immediately makes me wish we were staying overnight and could eat breakfast here too (there are 14 guest bedrooms at Moor Hall plus new garden rooms being constructed in the grounds).
The next miniature mouthful bursts open with flavours of barbecued asparagus and smoky chorizo, then a dinky English muffin topped with buttered lobster turns me misty-eyed.
A pair of pretty leaf-shaped crackers, each one embossed with herbs, arrives next, alongside a tin of cod roe and caviar, like a classic pate but 1000 times richer and more interesting.
Crackers with cod roe and caviarAn English muffin with poached lobster
At this point, you’re whisked off your feet by another Moor Hall staff member, who promptly escorts you out the door. Have we done something wrong? Nope – it’s time to see the kitchen gardens.
He expertly points out all the herbs, fruits and vegetables that are grown on-site in the beautiful walled gardens, tended to by a small team of gardeners.
The tour then spits you out into the kitchen, where each of the many, many chefs whipping up your dinner will greet you with a friendly smile, and chef-patron Mark Birchall offers a warm handshake and yet another snack (this one resembles a small bird’s nest, filled with smoked eel and potato).
While the bar is dark and stately, the dining room is a modern, simple space flooded with sunlight and views of the lake.
The dishes at this stage of the Provenance menu become instantly more theatrical.
‘Royal Oak Rainbow’ – baked carrots with doddington cheese ‘snow’Rudy red Devon beef with beetroot and mustardGuinea hen with morel mushoomsGrilled cornish turbot with mussel and roe sauce
Suddenly we have people spooning brilliant white crumbles onto plates of carrots, herb-infused stocks being poured onto plates, quenelles of butter being rolled out of wooden dishes.
Some dishes are simpler, like a loaf of the best sourdough we’ve ever had, but most are unimaginably intricate, like 80-day aged beef served with beetroot and mustard, and rich guinea hen complimented by even richer morel mushrooms.
Whatever the dish (and we get through a LOT), it’s the sort of food that makes you stop in your tracks. It triggers involuntary reactions – I keep catching us smiling, or closing our eyes, or gleefully pointing out goosebumps on our arms. I actually well up at one point. I didn’t know ice cream could move me to tears, but laced with spicy stem ginger – a staple on Moor Hall’s menu from day one – apparently it can.
And throughout, Moor Hall will go to great lengths to show you where each dish has come from (because let’s be honest, fine dining sometimes gets so complicated it stops resembling food at all), whether that’s showing the huge joint of meat your dish has been carved from or handing you a tiny card telling the story of Ormskirk gingerbread.
Three of four sweet courses on Moor Hall’s Provenance menu
If you add a cheese course, you’re even escorted into the cheese room (is this… heaven?) to build your own cheese board from the huge selection of British creations inside.
There’s a refreshing level of transparency throughout and although we’re surprised plenty of times, it doesn’t feel like trickery.
It’s hard not to appreciate the meal you’re eating because you’ve seen every painstaking step and every ingredient being used before you’ve even sat down, from the gardner pruning the rosemary shrub to the sous chef placing micro herbs on bright green butter with a pair of tweezers.
It’s elaborate but intimate, complex but never intimidating.
The cheese room, where you can build your own cheese course
You might wonder how a £235 tasting menu could ever NOT be intimidating to the average person, and that really comes down to the team who work at Moor Hall.
They’re so warm and inviting, it’s like dining with friends. They could switch it up from explaining one of the most intricate menus in the world to joining in with our debate about whether it’s weird for adults to have a favourite colour.