City Restaurant of the Year winner was El Gato Negro, Manchester. Photographed here are Richard Jones and Simon Shaw

Another week, and more great news for the team at El Gato Negro! We were delighted to be nominated in the 20th Lancashire Life Food & Drink Awards in our first year since we moved across the Pennines from Yorkshire.

It feels like longer than six months since the magazine gave a us a rave review but as Chef Patron Simon and Head Chef Richard made their way north to Dunkenhalgh Hotel in Blackburn on Monday they had time to reflect on the thrilling pace since then: hitting our stride in our new restaurant in Manchester, further honing and refining the food and drink offering, and building the team to service the unprecedented customer demand.

It was a real honour to be crowned ‘City Restaurant of the Year’ at the awards, and to be surrounded by the great and good of the Lancashire and Lakes food and drink sector. A brilliant and inspiring evening, discovering more about how dynamic and progressive the food and drink scene is in the North West right now. You can watch a video of the event here.

A handsome restaurant that serves some of the best Spanish food found in the north. You could be in downtown Madrid.

October has been incredible for El Gato Negro. This is the latest in a trio of awards this month – picking up Newcomer of the Year at the MFDF awards and receiving a Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand – and adding these in the same year we debuted in Restaurant Magazine’s National Restaurant Awards Top 100 has been amazing.

As always, we want to credit our staff for the win: this award has been earned because of the skill, dedication and hard work across our whole team. It’s because of them we’ve been able to make El Gato Negro Manchester what it is today… and we’re aiming to continue to grow and improve as we move forwards. Thanks too to our customers for all your support and enthusiasm!