A handsome bar area greets you on entry, with the dining space hidden around the back.  It would be easy to wander in and not even realise that there's a dining room in there at all to be honest.  I liked it.  It reminded me of an NYC mystery kitchen;  the kind of place where a greasy burger joint is hidden in the foyer of a contradictorily posh hotel. 

Once in the dining room that fire driven open kitchen rightly dominates the ambiance, bringing some theatre to the party.  And anywhere with a Chef's table has my heart.  Stow's is excellent, and you're right in the middle of the action.  After only a few months, pots and pans are already stained with carbon deposits from those flames, adding character and personality to the kitchen.  There's no doubting that it's a handsome space throughout. 

It's cosy and not the biggest space, plus there was a bit of a draught from the left-ended kitchen table seats.

We said farewell to exactly £200 for a nice bottle of Chablis, enough food to feed more than the 2 of us, and the tip.  The entry level bottle of wine is a very acceptable £30.  It's really all totally normal these days, and perfectly in line with expectations.

And as you know, we like to be transparent and all full reviews are paid for as to remain impartial, but sometimes venues recognise you and gift the odd freebie.  That happened here, and we weren’t charged for one of our puddings, or two glasses of wine to accompany the puds.  Thank you!  Our tip returned the favour, as service wasn’t pre-added either.  Also, house-bottled sparkling water was also free rather than the usual £6.  Bargain.

Draught pints use the age-old London tactic of being served by the 2/3 pint, to make the fiver charged feel like a mental bargain, in comparison to £7.50 a pint which is the reality.  Not much else really.

We started with a shot of 'Americano'; the boozy version, not the coffee type.  It was a nice aperitivo to get the taste buds rocking.  I felt like a dummy for not photographing this, amidst getting caught up in the excitement of arrival.

Cooking happens exclusively over open fire plus a Gozney wood oven, and little induction hob which we will gloss over for argument's sake.  Cooking over open fire is in my view the single best way of cooking most things, and is something that we need to see more of. 

The first course was warm Milk Bread with Burnt Onion Butter (£5), and it was a strong start.  The Gozney provides the baking and its wares are browned to a point which sits well beyond what you'd expect of a bread loaf, being reminiscent of a well-done Lancashire Oven Bottom in colour, aka, jet black.  However, the crust is only a small part of the loaf, and the intense smokiness which it brought to the internal pillowiness was a stellar combo.  And the butter, a burnt onion compound, was also excellent.  It had notes of pickle/acid, which worked wonderfully too. 

Overnight-coal Beets, Ricotta, Smoked Honey (£9) had been 86'ed at the press launch, so I was excited to see them back on the menu and they delighted.  A classic and reliable flavour pairing, with the soft, smoky beets singing loudly. 

Celeriac Pappardelle, Anchovy Butter and Black Garlic (£8), was stunner, with clever execution in creating the 'pappardelle' from root veg, using a Katsuramuki machine, with the fermented scent of that garlic elevating things to another level.  Truly delicious and a bargain price point. 

Brined Chicken with Tarragon Jus (£20) was recommended by a peer the night before our visit, so we went for it despite being mentally prepped to order the beef, which was widely enjoyed at the press launch.  Boned out chicken, brined to add bags of juiciness and flavour, cooked over the coals until the edges were charred and crispy.  It's how BBQ chicken should be done.  The tarragon sauce which it sat in was a classical pairing, which quite simply works brilliantly. 

Whole Monkfish Tail (£42 for a large portion) with Beurre Blanc, Trout Roe and Dill was a must order.  It sat in the upper half of our top 10 best dishes in Manchester last year, and it's improved further via enhanced saucing.  A heavier dose of dill really boosted things, and the protein cooked absolutely perfectly.  The dish alone warrants a visit. 

No main is complete without the sides, which in this case were Le Ratte Potatoes with Garlic, Parsley, and Microplaned Corra Linn cheese (£7).  We also ordered the Purple Sprouting Broccoli with Lardo (£7) which was simple but tasty.  Charred stems, licked by the smoke, garnished with squares of lardo. A nice little duo of sides to pair with any of the mains. 

Sorbet with Apple, Fennel and Dill (£7) acted as the perfect transition course, being a sharp balance of savoury and sweet.  It was also executed precisely with not an ice crystal in sight.  This set us up for the proper sugar-based courses. 

White Chocolate Cremeux and Pistachio (£8) was dreamy.  I felt a bit daft though, as in a review of another venue which I penned just a couple of days before attending Stow, I wrote 'It was a nice change from the usual chocolate cremeux which invariably pops up on pudding plates in such small plate style venues'.  So here I am two dates later, sat in a small place style venue, enjoying my cremeux immensely.  The added texture which came from some chopped pistachio lifted things higher than the usual/lazy olive oil drizzle. 

Smoked cream tart with forced rhubarb (£9) was a plate which I'd very much been looking forward to, as the previous iteration came with plum, which sadly I can't eat as it results in my face doubling in size.  So this seasonal variety was welcomed.  The tart itself again comes prepped via the Gozney, and is baked to Basque cheesecake-esque colour.  Seeing sweet and savoury/smoke working so well together was truly interesting. 

But the lardo on the broccoli felt as if it didn’t really add much to the mix.  A thinner piece draped over the broccoli to melt in, could have worked better.  

And bring back the skewers, even if the protein is on rotation. Any open fired kitchen needs to sport some form of skewered protein.  

From entering we felt in hands which were both hugely capable and welcoming.  We were guided to our seat and sat down with a literally warm welcome.  Service was then largely carried out by the Chefs who prepped our plates. There's something magical about seeing your food be cooked in front of you and then served by the same people. 

Wine service was also top class, with the room being read ideally re. how much advice and help we needed with the carte.  Everyone was clearly both very well trained and also genuinely lovely people.  Getting that combo together is often incredibly hard to find. 

Absolutely nothing based on the venue type.  Top-end dining touches didn’t happen, but then why would they/why would you want them to in all but a few venues in Manchester.  This is reflected in our objective/consistent scoring though.

After attending Stow's press launch towards the end of last year, you could sense that something metaphorically and literally tasty was cooking up on Bridge Street. The whole setup just had an air of quality about it, with the kind of personality which simply cannot just be cobbled together. The bar and dining room both had presence, and the menu contained genuine quality. It just felt like a venue which was going places from the off.

Our revisit for this very review, just a few months after launch, has confirmed all our initial thoughts; Stow has hit the ground jogging at pace and is already a place which any food lover in the North West needs to add to their list of must visit places.

I'll put my thoughts out there and say it from the start, as I vainly enjoy reading these things back after a couple of years to see how accurate we were; Manchester's food scene has improved no end over the last decade as far as this type of place goes, ie small plates with a wine driven backbone. We first saw Erst whose profile has now ballooned. Then it was Flawd, then Higher Ground, Another Hand, Climat, 10 Tib Lane etc. Stow for me, even at this early stage comfortably sits in that compact list of quality venues, and feels destined for praise which spans beyond Manchester's borders.

It's understandably hard to get a seat at the moment, but get yourselves booked in ASAP to experience Stow for yourself.