Simon Wood has announced that he is to close his Manchester restaurant with ‘immediate effect’.
In a post to social media, he said: “Dear Friends, Customers and Suppliers of WOOD Manchester. It is with much regret that I have to inform you that I must close the doors here at WOOD for good, with immediate effect.
“We have had 7 years as part of the Manchester City dining scene and I’m very proud of what the team and I have achieved.
“Sadly with COVID rent arrears now being demanded by our landlord and an increasingly difficult marketplace, energy increases, ingredient costs and soon to be spiralling business rates we just cannot make this work.
“I’d like to thank everyone for your support and patronage over the years.
Thank you, Simon.”
Wood has been a vocal advocate for the restaurant business for many years, appearing as a spokesperson for the industry across radio and television during some of its darkest periods, notably during and post lockdown.
He published his debut cookbook in 2016, and opened his eponymous, 80-cover fine dining spot on Jack Rosenthal Street a year later in 2017, to widespread acclaim.
It came just two years after he won the 2015 series of Masterchef, which catapulted the self-taught, Chadderton-born cook from a career in data management to his dream of working in hospitality and owning his own restaurant.
Much of the cooking at WOOD reflected this, with dishes from his childhood, including the likes of Oldham favourite rag pudding, ham, egg and chips, and even his take on ‘Pick n Mix’, appearing on his wide-ranging tasting menus.
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