2014 in pictures – a review of the year

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[slide title=”January”]
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We saw in the new year with our spectacular gold-themed party…
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[slide title=”January”]
NYE 2013-14
… with a rather special gourmet menu, and a chance to enjoy of some of the best wines from Simon’s personal collection
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[slide title=”February”]
egn_valentines_2014-2 Valentine’s night
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[slide title=”February”]
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We helped beat the winter blues with our Paella Wednesday
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[slide title=”March”]
egn_flower_mothersday-image Mother’s Day
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[slide title=”March”]
egn_function_room_dining We updated our function room too
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[slide title=”April”]
New spring menu… Baby gem salad with Cantabrian anchovies, smoked pancetta & shallot dressing
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[slide title=”April”]

New spring menu… Navarrico chickpeas with chilli, garlic and caramelised cauliflower florets
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[slide title=”April”]
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New spring menu… Roast rump of lamb, rosemary & garlic alubia blanca beans
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[slide title=”May”]
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Our evening of Galician flavours: starting with Galician charcuterie, pimientos de Padrón, and our own house pickles
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[slide title=”May”]
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An evening of Galician flavours: Chargrilled Galician-style octopus
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[slide title=”May”]
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An evening of Galician flavours: Torta de Santiago with vanilla ice cream
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[slide title=”May”]
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An evening of Galician flavours: John, Simon and Jaime
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[slide title=”June”]
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We hit the road for the first time this summer, at Todmorden show
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[slide title=”June”]
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There’s a visit from Calder Valley Search and Rescue Team as we start our campaign to support them in 2014
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[slide title=”June”]
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And summer came early as we embraced International Sherry Week!
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[slide title=”July”]
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We started July with our Catalan gourmet evening… a resounding success!
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[slide title=”July”]
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Meanwhile excitement built as Ripponden prepared to welcome Le Grand Départ to Yorkshire. We did our bit to help turn the village yellow!
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[slide title=”July”]
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The team was primed for a busy day, as we offered an array of different gourmet options as part of the holiday atmosphere
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[slide title=”July”]
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After the roadshow the Tour de France peloton flew past in seconds (relive in it 360° here)
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[slide title=”August”]
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August saw us hit Beat Street’s UpInYourGrill pop-up events and bring our tapas to Manchester
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[slide title=”August”]
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And we introduced our new dessert menu, which proved an immediate hit
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[slide title=”September”]
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We were delighted to be awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand again, and featured once more in the Waitrose Good Food Guide
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[slide title=”September”]
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And we launched our expanded and much-vaunted new wine list, focusing on an almost-all Spanish selection from artisan producers
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[slide title=”October”]
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October gave us the chance to showcase some of these wines, along with some stunning new dishes from our autumn/winter menu
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[slide title=”October”]
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Grilled caribinero shrimp with shellfish rice from our Autumn gourmet evening
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[slide title=”October”]
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Salted caramel cheesecake from our Autumn gourmet evening
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[slide title=”November”]
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A mix of emotions as we announced we’d be leaving Ripponden after almost 10 years, to relocate to new premises in Manchester in 2015. However the reaction was overwhelmingly positive… thank you!
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[slide title=”November”]
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Our final gourmet event was the Basque evening with Javier from Grey’s Fine Foods
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[slide title=”November”]
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Basque pintxos: Octopus brochette with potato and smoked paprika, Guildas, Croquetas de Bacalao
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[slide title=”November”]
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Forget Kim Kardashian… the internet nearly broke when we showed off these Ibérico fat chips with Txuletón Rib of Basque Beef
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[slide title=”November”]
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We were delighted to present a cheque for £500 to CVSRT
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[slide title=”December”]
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December saw us block-booked for most of the month, as customers rushed to enjoy final dining in Ripponden, and some special dishes
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[slide title=”December”]
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While Christmas beckoned and the festive season got into full swing!
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[slide title=”December”]
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Our very final evening in Ripponden is New Year’s Eve… and what better way is there to see in 2015 than with friends and customers?
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[slide title=”2015″]
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And of course we look forward to revealing much more about our Manchester plans soon… sign up to our newsletter or follow us on Facebook or Twitter for more information!
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[/slideshow]

Opening (and closing) in December 2014

egn_xmas_tree_revised_header Season’s Greetings from El Gato Negro Tapas!

We can hardly believe it’s been a month since we announced our big news about relocating to Manchester; since then we’ve been busier than ever, and moved by the level of support and interest from you all. We are now into our last two weeks of service here – with our winter opening hours Wednesday-Saturday – and we only have a handful of covers left between now and our final day on Saturday 20th… so if you’d like to enjoy another award-winning dining experience before we close, we’d suggest calling us on 01422 823070 as soon as possible to book your table.

In more than nine successful years in Ripponden we’ve made many friends here, and have delighted in serving so many customers from both near and far. We hope to welcome many of those familiar faces to our new Manchester home when we open in mid 2015. Please stay in contact with us – via our newsletter, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter – for more news on our exciting new venture in the new year! Finally, thank you all so much for your ongoing support.

From all of us here at El Gato Negro, we wish you and those closest to you a splendidly festive time! Hoping you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year: may you be happy, warm, well-fed and watered. If we’re not lucky enough to see you in the run-up to Christmas we hope we’ll see you in 2015 in Manchester.

Thanks for your generous donations to CVSRT

  egn_cvsrt_presentation We had a visit from Pete, Karen & Meg the rescue dog from Calder Valley Search and Rescue Team earlier this month. Simon was delighted to present a cheque for £500 based on the generous donations from our customers since we launched our campaign this summer. That, plus the donations from the collection box has taken this year’s contributions to over £700! Thanks everyone for supporting such a worthy local cause.
However we’re not finished yet: can you help us hit £1000 by the end of the year? Dig deep please and make a donation when you dine with us. Look out for Simon on New Year’s Eve; he’ll be shaking the collection box and persuading guests to give generously. It’s CVSRT’s busiest season so let’s do everything we can to help!

El Gato Negro is coming to Manchester in 2015

egn_blackcat_guidebooks A special message from Simon…

Today we are delighted to announce an exciting new chapter in the story of El Gato Negro: we will be bringing our award-winning food and drink to Manchester city centre in 2015.

We’ve achieved so much since we opened our doors in 2005 – awards and accolades have increased our reputation and appeal to a wider audience – with the focus first and foremost on delivering quality and showcasing the richness and variety of Spanish food and drink. I am very proud of the consistency and quality we’ve achieved, and the recognition we’ve earned. Read more

Michelin Bib Gourmand 2015

Bib Gourmand logo We’re absolutely delighted and honoured to have been awarded a prestigious Michelin Guide 2015 Bib Gourmand for the second year running: one of only four across the whole of Yorkshire!

It’s testament to the dedication, precision and focus of the whole team here at El Gato Negro, and it’s an honour to have this recognition. We strive to deliver excellent food and wines at great prices, and this award recognises this. Whether it’s our great value dining deals, the regular menu, or our gourmet events, we always try to make great food and drink as inclusive and accessible as possible while maintaining high standards.

Thanks to all our customers for their support, and to our staff for making this happen once again.

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Closed this weekend

The restaurant will be closed to the public this weekend, to facilitate our commitment to a series of private functions. We will be closed Friday 5th – Sunday 7th, and will be reopening as usual on Wednesday 10th. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause, and thanks for your understanding.

Closed door at El Gato Negro

Closed door at El Gato Negro

Re-opened for business

 

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The news you’ve been waiting for… our doors reopen at 6pm this evening, after a short and refreshing summer break in Manchester, Barcelona and beyond. The restaurant is open as usual this evening, then again on Saturday from 6pm, then we will be open through from Tuesday 6pm. It’s good to be back!

The team is ready and we’re launching with a brand-new food menu. Although we’re hoping summer’s not completely over yet, this menu sets us up perfectly to embrace the shorter days ahead, with a range of exciting new dishes. You can browse the whole menu here… as well as the desserts menu we launched last month.

We are also very excited to be launching our brand-new wine menu, which we have been trailing and testing for some time in anticipation of unveiling it. We have significantly increased the number of wines (almost all of which are Spanish), and it’s jam-packed with incredible (and sometimes exclusive) wines. As Simon says…

We’re proud to offer you a superlative selection of Iberian wines, focusing wherever possible on smaller artisanal producers and the very best examples of varietals. I hope you take pleasure in discovering some lesser-known gems which we’ve worked hard to track down.

We’ll shortly be adding a dedicated new wines page to the website; in the meantime you can view/download a PDF of the full new wine list here.

And, as we’ve hinted before we have a series of new tasting events coming up in the autumn and early winter. There’s one per month and they’re going to be rather special… so keep your eyes peeled as we’ll be announcing them next week to newsletter subscribers and our followers on social media and here on the website!

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Summer break

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It’s that time of the year when we mix R&R with R&D, so we’re closing for our summer break. Our last day of service is Thursday 7th Aug and we reopen on Friday 29th August. In between you can find us popping up in Manchester on a couple of days at #Upinyourgrill, and further afield making notes in our beloved Barcelona.

We’ll be working on our new menu and our much-vaunted wine list refresh too. It’s been hard work tracking down so many incredible Spanish wines and every time we’ve thought we’ve cracked it, we stumble on another brilliant small producer! However we’re ready to unveil some stunning new wines when we reopen.

Plus we have a couple of new tasting events coming up in the autumn too… keep your eyes peeled as we’ll be announcing them when we return from our recess!

El Gato Negro at #Upinyourgrill in Manchester

El gato Negro at Up In Your Grill 8 August

El Gato Negro is coming to Manchester! Yes, it’s been a couple of years since we last did a pop-up night in Manchester (at Electrik in Chorlton) but we’re back in the city this summer.
We’ll be appearing at the brilliant Up in Your Grill by B.EAT STREET MCR, serving up a select slice of our Spanish cuisine, alongside a bunch of other great food pop-ups.

With a great bar, and music being provided by a selection of Manchester’s finest DJs, it’s already proven the hit of the summer in the city! You can find us there on Friday, 8 August, then we’re back again on Friday 22 and Saturday 23. We’re looking forward to bringing a bit of Yorkshire, and Spain to a summery Manchester… see you in the Northern Quarter!

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The perfect gourmet base for the Tour de France during Le Grand Départ

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El Gato Negro Sur le Tour cat The Tour de France is almost upon us, and our headline offer is a real winner, with tickets on sale now. El Gato Negro is located just metres away from a dramatic stretch of Stage 2, as the peloton descends into Ripponden from Blackstone Edge. It’s the perfect base for a delightful gourmet day with breakfast and lunch included, so you can enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime experience in comfort!

This private daytime ticket is a superlative deal so you can enjoy the thrills and spills of the race in style. Just £70 per head for a guaranteed place from 9am-5pm. The price includes all of these features, making it exceptional value:

  • Private, unrestricted access to the restaurant (and our comfort facilities) between 9am-5pm. Stay inside or pop out to enjoy all the action.

  • A guaranteed table from 9am-5pm, with table service and complementary bar snacks

  • Our epic Spanish-style breakfast (see below for full details)

  • A great, late tapas lunch, after the excitement of the race passing through the village is over

  • Probably the best selection of wines and sherries in Ripponden, along with beers, coffees and soft drinks to suit every taste.

  • Live race coverage on our big screen, or the chance to step outside and enjoy it for real

Almost certainly the biggest and best breakfast in Ripponden

It’s going to be a long, thrilling day, so from 9am-11am we’re serving an epic gourmet breakfast to set you up in style. It’s our characteristically Spanish-style riff on a proper full Yorkshire breakfast. Here’s what it includes egn_june_tablelayout

  • Brindisa dry cured smoked panceta 

  • Pimentón Dulce chorizo Catalan

  • Spanish morcilla (black pudding)

  • griddled Portobello mushroom

  • a choice of either fried or scrambled eggs

  • our very own home-made alubia baked beans

  • home-made patatas haché (think hash browns, but better)

  • artisan miche sourdough toast

  • your choice of tea or coffee

Perfect for a leisurely and luxurious start to the day!

Bar and facilities

As the excitement mounts our bar will be open, with table service from our dedicated team. We’ll have our favourite champagnes, cavas, wines and sherries on hand… plus we’ll be showcasing some wonderful new Spanish wines from our forthcoming wine list too. They’ll be complementary snacks throughout the day too, to bridge the gap between breakfast and lunch. And don’t forget the relief of having access to our facilities; even if you nip outside to experience the excitement on the streets, you’ll still be able to enjoy our clean restroom facilities without fighting the crowds.

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A selection of wonderful tapas dishes by El Gato Negro (dishes shown may vary from those on the day)

A post-race lunch to savour

After the race passes through the village (approx 2.45-3pm) Simon and the team will be serving a selection of set menu with seven superb tapas classics and a bottle of wine to be shared between two.

We’ve upgraded the wines from our normal house too… you have a choice of either

  • Red – Candidato Barrica 3
  • White: Plot 22 Airen Blanco

We’ll be finishing the daytime service for 5pm, in time to ready the restaurant for the evening meal special.

Reserve your places for this fantastic day now by calling 01422 823070. See everything we’re offering for Le Tour here

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LEEDS

35 Park Row, Leeds, LS1 5JL
0113 3220763

Phone | Email | Hours | Map | Instagram

LIVERPOOL

Unit 2, Walker House, Exchange Flags, Liverpool, L2 3YL
0151 2361331

Phone | Email | Hours | Map | Instagram

MANCHESTER

52 King Street, Manchester, M2 4LY
0161 6948585

Phone | Email | Hours | Map | Instagram

El Gato Negro is a Simon Shaw restaurant. The award-winning tapas menu combines modern and traditional flavours and techniques, offering seasonally-influenced small plates using quality Spanish and locally-sourced ingredients.

Canto serves up fast-paced, exciting Mediterranean tapas – paired with great service – in a relaxed, friendly environment.

© Copyright 2012-2024 Mills Hill Developments Limited, trading as El Gato Negro Tapas. All rights reserved.
Company no. 08811180. Registered in England, registered office address 52 King Street, Manchester, M2 4LY