Manchester Evening News, December 1, 2000
By Ray King

Biting the doughnut

Finding a good place to eat in that area between booming city centre and affluent suburbs isn’t easy.
Its possible to count the number of inner city restaurants on the fingers of one hand. Or maybe even half a hand. Out there in Manchester’s “doughnut”, between booming centre and prosperous outer suburbs, there’s little fertile inner city ground on which to appeal to people’s tastes and style.
Exceptions to the rule have been Levenshulme’s That Café and the similarly-styled Drawing Room in Moston, beacons in an ocean of not very much and even less demand.
Enter Palmiro, a much-talked about venue on the border between Whalley Range and Chorlton, which impressed some critics so much that it was named Newcomer of the Year at the Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards in October ahead of Sir Terence Conran’s Zinc Bar and Grill.
A pretty remarkable debut in the circumstances.
Mention of Britain’s leading style guru these last 40-odd years is appropriate in the circumstances.
Our first attempt at visiting Palmiro, which occupies what was probably a substantial corner shop, was met with closed steel shutters, so there was no chance to check out the menu or have a peek at the interior design.
When we did finally enter a couple of weeks later, we were still not sure about the décor.
It looked as if the walls had been re-plastered and were awaiting paint or wallpaper. Spotlights cast patterns…but was it finished?
By the time you read this, the place may look entirely different.
Red plush assembly-hall chairs provided the seating at tables with paper tablecloths, exotic blooms were contained in a stainless steel bucket standing on the bar and activity in the kitchen was on view. Plenty there to appeal to the Bohemians in local bed-sit land.
Palmiro’s cooking is probably best described as modern Italian, braver these days than the over-worked term Mediterranean (where is Italy anyway?) and the menu eschews many of the well-worn clichés of the trattoria.
Starters included bruschetta putanesca, field mushrooms with ricotta and walnuts and one pasta dish.
I opted for carpaccio with potato and white truffle mayo (£4.50), a decent portion of wafer-thin beef enlivened by a hint, but only a hint, of that to-die-for truffle flavour.
Mrs K had slow-cooked squid with artichoke (£4.50), which was quite brave really, but the squid was lovely and slimy like fishy tripe and it slipped down a treat.
My natural curiosity got the better of me with the main course. I had no idea what brasato al merlot (£10.25) might be, other than something or other in red wine, so I ordered it, or course.
Brasato turned out to be more beef- a couple of thick slices of silverside this time – braised in the merlot. Sadly it tasted like the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come; a million festive plates will deliver as little flavour all over Britain in the weeks ahead. I should have chosen the pork fillet and hoped for something like porchetta, or the whole char-grilled sea bream.
The signora did well. She chose honey and almond guinea fowl (£12.50), a sliced breast and a leg of a “difficult” bird (it, not her), served with as much radicchio as the human frame could stand. The guinea fowl, which so often arrives dried out and stringy, was moist and offered a deliciously subtle gamey flavour.
The side order of roast lardo potatoes – a rather pricey £2.80 – was done to a tee; fluffy on the inside with a crunchy coating.
We finished off by sharing (oops, we did it again) polentina with chestnut and brandy cream (£3.95) which sounds flashier than the dome of semolina scattered with crushed chestnuts, lick of cream and splayed vanilla pod that appeared. Decent Italian wine lists are always interesting and Palmiro has a decent Italian wine list with house choices starting at £8.75 the bottle/ £2 per glass. There’s lots of choice under £12 including our intensely fruity Puglian red for £10.25.

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