Meet Manchester's chef of the year - with a six-month waiting list at his ‘underground’ restaurant

Manchester’s newly crowned Chef of the Year has a six-month waiting list for those keen to sample his delicious food - but his ‘underground’ restaurant is actually inside his Whalley Range home.

Eddie Shepherd beat competition from a range of well-known chefs based at Manchester’s best restaurants to take home the coveted Chef of the Year title at the annual Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards on Monday night. Currently, there’s a six-month waiting list to nab a table at The Walled Garden - located on the ground floor of his own home in Whalley Range.

Serving up incredible vegan and vegetarian food, the intimate restaurant space seats just eight diners at a time, and is so popular that it's booked out until February 2023. Fortunately, the next tranche of bookings go live this Saturday (October, 1), for February onwards - but as has been the case for the last few years, tickets are expected to fly, especially now the Stockport-born chef has received the nod at the awards.

Read more: The best restaurants and bars in Manchester revealed at the Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards 2022

Presenting the chef with his award on Monday night, awards host Matty White said: "He's chef of the year but he doesn't even have a restaurant! He cooks from his house, serves people in his house, and I have to say it's some of the best food I've ever eaten."

Taking to the stage to accept the accolade, Eddie looked stunned as he thanked everyone for their support. “I really wasn't expecting this.

“It's a real honour to be listed alongside people I really respect, and some incredible restaurants. I'm really proud to be from and working in Manchester in this really dynamic food scene and I'm just super happy to move on."

Speaking