Alasdair and I are up in Stockport for the weekend for our friends’ wedding, and I have been tasked with finding us a place to eat the night before. Straight to the Michelin guide and I’m thrilled to find that there’s a Bib Gourmand restaurant to patronise. How quaintly refreshing to find that this is a straight-down-the-middle “snacks, starters, mains, desserts” kind of place - not a tasting menu, not a small plates concept, just some good dishes enjoyed in a predictable order. You love to see it. We inevitably order some olives without hesitation, and when somehow they have run out of bread and butter on a Friday night, we are gratefully steered towards the panelle, a chickpea fritter which absolutely outstrips that description. With a smooth texture and a spice profile not dissimilar to an onion bhaji, it’s a real hit with both of us, especially with a quick squeeze of lemon. For a proper starter, I have the baccala mantecato, a lovely bit of salt cod served with polenta. The main event, though, is a fennel sasusage ragu with peccheri - good, large, thick tubes of pasta with a thrillingly rustic white ragu filling and covering it. It is hearty and filling and exactly what I need after a long day. There is a bit of a miscommunication between front and back of house that would have been well styled out if I hadn’t been able to witness the whole thing in the reflection of the window at our counter seating. Where a tiramisu for me was ordered, the vegan dessert was brought out for Alasdair instead. Once we’d pointed this out, and the aforementioned attempted styling out ploy was discussed, it was hastily explained to us that the kitchen “didn’t want [Alasdair] missing out” and that the tiramisu would be out in a moment, which would have been more believable were it not then another 10 minutes. Still, points for trying! And oh boy, when that tiramisu did finally arrive, it was worth every second. A delirious scooping of the stuff, charmingly and deliciously not fully set, so rather than a neat slab, it was practically falling over itself. As was I on eating it. A promising discovery in the Greater Manchester food scene!