Cheshire

International Women&#8217;s Day falls on Sat 8 March and who better to shine a light on this week than the ingenious <a href="https://www.mary-ellenmctague.co.uk">Mary-Ellen McTague</a>. A former chef at The Fat Duck and the culinary brains behind the acclaimed Manchester restaurants Aumbry, 4244 and the Creameries, the Bury-born chef also founded social enterprise, <a href="https://www.eatwellmcr.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Eat Well MCR</a>, during the pandemic. Her mission? To  provide meals to thousands of vulnerable people across Manchester – and so far, she’s nailed it. And she&#8217;s continuing to nail it and roll out the stellar work of the enterprise by raising vital funds with a series of events, supperclubs and workshops. All whilst launching the new restaurant <a href="https://www.treehousehotels.com/manchester/eat-drink/pip">Pip</a> at <a href="https://www.treehousehotels.com/manchester/">Treehouse Hotel</a>, set to open on Wed 19 March, championing low-waste cooking with a focus on locally-sourced, seasonal ingredients. Here, the game changer that is Mary-Ellen reveals all about Pip, the advice she&#8217;d give to young female cooks, and how she messed up lunch service whilst working under Heston Blumenthal&#8230;


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Treehouse_2022_JodyHartley_HiRes-43-2-1024x683.jpg" alt="Mary-Ellen McTague" class="wp-image-2458" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Treehouse_2022_JodyHartley_HiRes-43-2-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Treehouse_2022_JodyHartley_HiRes-43-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Treehouse_2022_JodyHartley_HiRes-43-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Treehouse_2022_JodyHartley_HiRes-43-2-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Treehouse_2022_JodyHartley_HiRes-43-2-2048x1366.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Mary-Ellen McTague © Jody Hartley</figcaption></figure></div>


What was your first ever kitchen job?



Many years ago, I used to cater for touring bands at The Roadhouse, a gig venue in Manchester run by my dear friend, Kate Mountain. But my first job in a professional kitchen&nbsp;was <a href="https://www.sharrowbay.co.uk">Sharrow Bay</a> in the Lake District, which was then a Michelin-starred country house hotel with Brian Sack, the founder, still at the helm. Apparently it&#8217;s reopening soon with Richard Swales as the chef so that&#8217;s very exciting!



What&#8217;s your career highlight to date?&nbsp;



Cooking wise, <a href="https://thefatduck.co.uk">The Fat Duck</a>. It was such a brilliant, formative experience and set me on the path of exploring food history and our culinary heritage. But from a personal perspective, <a href="https://www.eatwellmcr.org">Eat Well MCR</a>. Sharing good food is obviously close to my heart, as is community, and Eat Well has both at its core.



Describe your cooking style&#8230;



Retrospective. I like food that tells a story. And I like mixing old and new, traditional and modern etc.



And what can diners expect at Pip?&nbsp;



My focus is on sourcing excellent, seasonal produce and letting that produce shine. I want to serve dishes that are comforting to eat. That offer a story if diners are interested in delving deeper, and that are designed with a sustainable approach to cooking&nbsp;in mind. The main thing is that the food is delicious and enjoyable though. That&#8217;s my primary objective. 


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="724" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Pip-Restaurant-View-04-Lower-GF-REV07_sml-003-1024x724.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-2462" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Pip-Restaurant-View-04-Lower-GF-REV07_sml-003-1024x724.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Pip-Restaurant-View-04-Lower-GF-REV07_sml-003-300x212.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Pip-Restaurant-View-04-Lower-GF-REV07_sml-003-768x543.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Pip-Restaurant-View-04-Lower-GF-REV07_sml-003-1536x1086.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Pip-Restaurant-View-04-Lower-GF-REV07_sml-003.jpg 1969w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Pip Restaurant</figcaption></figure></div>


Where do you find inspiration?&nbsp;



Firstly, in nature and the seasons. If you follow them closely, there are always good things to eat. Secondly, in female food writers through&nbsp;the ages &#8211; women who found their voice in recipe&nbsp;books at a time when women didn&#8217;t really have a voice. I admire Hannah Glass, Elizabeth Raffald, Jane Grigson and Elizabeth David, especially. Thirdly, in whomever I happen to be working with at the time. I&#8217;ve always learned so much from other chefs &#8211; whether it&#8217;s ideas, techniques or their philosophy, kitchens are absolute hotbeds of creativity.



If you could hand other female cooks any advice, what would it be?&nbsp;



Firstly, to never listen to anyone that says being&nbsp;female means you aren&#8217;t suited to the job. That&#8217;s simply not true. But equally, I think it&#8217;s really important to have your eyes open to the fact that some form of discriminatory or unsavoury&nbsp;behaviour is likely to crop up at some point. Of course that behaviour&nbsp;is completely unacceptable, and it&#8217;s a crying&nbsp;shame it&nbsp;goes on at all because it&#8217;s really&nbsp;off-putting&nbsp;to many brilliant, talented female chefs. Things have changed enormously since I started cooking, thank goodness, but it would be really naive to think that sexism is no longer an issue. The more women there are in kitchens, the better it will get though.



What&#8217;s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made in the kitchen?&nbsp;



I ran out of a starter that lots of people had already ordered one day at The Fat Duck. I thought I had a full terrine of duck liver parfait at the back of my fridge, but it turned out to be a clean, empty terrine dish. My stomach fell through the floor when I discovered it, and I was convinced I was going to be sacked. To&nbsp;make things worse, Heston tried to remedy the situation by quickly requisitioning some parfait from his other restaurant but when it arrived, it was overcooked and he was furious with them. So not only did I ruin lunch service at a then-two-Michelin-star restaurant, I got a whole other team of chefs in hot water. It was a very bad day. All was forgiven somehow, and I stayed at The Fat Duck for another 3 and a half years after that. But that feeling of horror as I realised my mistake has stayed with me!


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Copy-of-Treehouse_PlattFieldsEvent__highres_052224_468-2-1-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-2466" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Copy-of-Treehouse_PlattFieldsEvent__highres_052224_468-2-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Copy-of-Treehouse_PlattFieldsEvent__highres_052224_468-2-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Copy-of-Treehouse_PlattFieldsEvent__highres_052224_468-2-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Copy-of-Treehouse_PlattFieldsEvent__highres_052224_468-2-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Copy-of-Treehouse_PlattFieldsEvent__highres_052224_468-2-1-2048x1366.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Mary-Ellen McTague</figcaption></figure></div>


Which dish you are most proud of creating?&nbsp;



I really&nbsp;enjoyed making my bath tub of baked beans dish for The Great British Menu. The theme that year was Comic Relief. It was a dressed crab dish in disguise&nbsp;and I even made a crab bisque rubber ducky and microwave bread that&nbsp;looked like a bath sponge. It was a lot of fun.&nbsp;



You’re tired and hungry &#8211; what’s your go-to for an easy dinner?&nbsp;



Probably baked rice. It&#8217;s really easy and adaptable, and is a one pot job. I start by sweating onions and garlic, and diced chicken if I&#8217;m using meat, then add the rice, herbs and spices, and twice the weight of rice in water or stock,&nbsp;plus a good squeeze of lemon juice. I cook it in the oven at 190C for 30 mins with the lid on, and 30 mins with the lid off, and it&#8217;s done. If we&#8217;re having green veg, I stir it in 5 mins before the end of cooking time so it cooks through, or it can be served with dressed salad leaves. If I&#8217;m using feta or halloumi, that goes in with the green veg,&nbsp;just before the end of cooking. And if there&#8217;s no protein in the baked rice, I serve it with a fried egg on top! And hot sauce. Always hot sauce. It&#8217;s a really good mid-week dinner, and one of the first I taught my kids to make.



You&#8217;re out and about in Manchester, where are your fave spots to eat?&nbsp;



<a href="https://www.10tiblane.com">10 Tib Lane</a>, <a href="https://www.erst-mcr.co.uk">Erst</a>, <a href="https://flawdwine.co">Flawd</a>, <a href="https://highergroundmcr.co.uk">Higher Ground</a> all reliably provide excellent food, drinks, service and vibes. Honorable mention also for chips with anchovy hollandaise, and a very dry, very dirty martini in <a href="https://thehawksmoor.com/locations/manchester/">Hawksmoor</a> bar.



Fave kitchen gadget?&nbsp;



At work, a very sharp chef&#8217;s knife &#8211; it&#8217;s essential kit. At home, a le Creuset pan &#8211; they are so good for braising,&nbsp;bread&nbsp;baking, frying, everything really. And they last forever.



Guilty food pleasure?&nbsp;



I don&#8217;t feel guilty at all about this but I&#8217;m a huge fan of chips with cheese and gravy. Whether it&#8217;s a top notch restaurant poutine, or oven chips, cheap cheddar and bisto, it is a ridiculously calorific, messy treat.&nbsp;&nbsp;



What does the future hold for Eat Well MCR?&nbsp;



Many more meals made by wonderful&nbsp;chefs from the Manchester hospitality community! And hopefully, a home of our own where we can produce meals for the community, host workshops and fundraising events, perhaps grow some produce, and generally create a hub for the making and sharing of excellent food.



 Tell us your best-ever cooking tip?&nbsp;



Caramelise onions with star anise. Add these onions to&nbsp;stocks, soups, sauces, boiled rice, frittatas and they will make it extra delicious. Once caramelised with the star anise, the onions act as a flavour enhancer for whatever&nbsp;you happen to be cooking and elevate pretty much any savoury dish.


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="819" height="1024" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Treehouse-Hotel-Manchester-41-Credit_-Brad-Matthews-819x1024.png" alt="" class="wp-image-2468" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Treehouse-Hotel-Manchester-41-Credit_-Brad-Matthews-819x1024.png 819w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Treehouse-Hotel-Manchester-41-Credit_-Brad-Matthews-240x300.png 240w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Treehouse-Hotel-Manchester-41-Credit_-Brad-Matthews-768x960.png 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cheshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2025/03/Treehouse-Hotel-Manchester-41-Credit_-Brad-Matthews.png 1080w" sizes="(max-width: 819px) 100vw, 819px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Treehouse Hotel Manchester</figcaption></figure></div>

What’s cooking? Mary-Ellen McTague of Pip, Manchester

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