Last time food critic Jay Rayner visited Erst in Manchester he hailed it “one of the best meals of the year” in his weekly column for The Observer. Just over a year later, as he tears into a beef fat flatbread, does this still stand?
“This is outrageous, but in a good way,” he says, as the kitchen staff breathe a collective sigh of relief. As many restaurateurs will know, a glowing review from Rayner can make all the difference.
Just last month, a restaurant in Cardiff received thousands of bookings following the critic's write-up, in which he described the ramen shop as “inventive, geeky and superb”. A similar effect has been felt in Manchester, where he’s dished out plenty of compliments over the years - most recently for The Alan, Climat and The Black Friar.
