PERFECT TEN!

DIANNE BOURNE TALKS TO EL GATO NEGRO OWNER SIMON SHAW AS THE RESTAURANT CELEBRATES A DECADE SERVING UP TOP QUALITY TAPAS ON KING STREET

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AMID so many stories of bars, restaurants and cafes closing their doors due to the economic challenges of recent times, it’s nice to have something to cheer about on Manchester's dining scene.

For acclaimed tapas restaurant El Gato Negro is celebrating its tenth anniversary on the city's King Street this month, and as chef patron Simon Shaw knows only too well, that’s quite a milestone in the hospitality industry right now.

Catching up with Simon as he heads behind the pass this month to create a new special menu to celebrate those 10 years, I ask what he believes the success of the venue has been.

Simon says: “Given everything going on out there right now, and still to be so busy, it feels like the tenth anniversary is a big thing to celebrate. For me, that’s down to consistency. I look around the kitchen here and the least anyone has been here is seven years - and I’m very proud of that.

“It is a notoriously difficult industry, where people burn out, but we take care of our staff. It’s busy all the time and we're always having a laugh, so ten years, it means a lot.”

It's also been eight years in the Michelin Guide for Simon, having just retained their Bib Gourmand status for another year - the longest-holding recipient in the city centre. Before that, he'd held the same honour for four years at the original Ripponden site of El Gato.