Erst

Every city needs a natural wines/small plates star, and Manchester’s is Erst, in Ancoats, just northeast of the center. Cool, minimalist Erst belongs to the Trove Foods stable, a trio of bread-led cafés, so you can count on the quality of the flatbread, here slathered with beef fat and urfa chilli or whipped lardo. Some examples from the daily changing menu to whet the appetite: hogget with puntarelle and anchovies, roast pigeon and spiced farro, pannacotta and PX-plumped prunes.