Simon Shaw

The Climb

In the early part of the career, the discipline came through service at Harvey Nichols in Leeds and London, where Simon Shaw worked as Head Chef. That kind of environment tends to demand control, pace and consistency; those are the habits that carry when a chef moves on to build a name of their own. At El Gato Negro in Ripponden, Yorkshire (2005–2016), the work became more closely tied to authorship. As chef-proprietor, Simon Shaw built his reputation through precision, flair and a style that held itself together without becoming stiff. The restaurant established the framework that would later travel with him. By 2016, that framework had been carried into Manchester, where Simon Shaw became Chef Patron and Creative Director at El Gato Negro. The move kept the name intact but shifted the scale, giving the same idea a larger stage and a new city to answer to.

Today

Since 2016, the Manchester kitchen has been led under Simon Shaw’s Chef Patron and Creative Director title, with Spanish cooking as the working language. Fire, rice and regional reference points provide the structure; the menu reads as considered rather than fixed, with dishes set inside a wider pattern instead of reduced to a single formula.

Signature

Simon Shaw's signature dishes include morcilla scotch egg with apple purée and aïoli. The plate shows the range of his approach in one place: recognisable elements arranged with enough control to keep richness, acidity and creaminess in balance.

In Their Words “Those influences are woven throughout El Gato Negro’s menus and will be showcased in a special 10-course tasting menu created to celebrate the restaurant’s milestone birthday.” “Given everything going on out there right now, and still to be so busy, it feels like the tenth anniversary is a big thing to celebrate.”

Recognition

The tenth anniversary reads, in Shaw’s own terms, as a measure of consistency. "Given everything going on out there right now, and still to be so busy, it feels like the tenth anniversary is a big thing to celebrate," he said, placing the milestone in present-day trade reality rather than retrospective flourish. He has also framed the menus themselves as the record of that work: "Those influences are woven throughout El Gato Negro’s menus and will be showcased in a special 10-course tasting menu created to celebrate the restaurant’s milestone birthday." His clearest summary remains the simplest: "For me, that's down to consistency."