The City at Your Feet
There is something particular about discovering Climat for the first time. You enter through a discreet lobby in Blackfriars House, take a private lift to the eighth floor, and emerge into a penthouse dining room that feels completely disconnected from the city below — until you reach the windows and find it all laid out in front of you, the Spinningfields towers, the cathedral, the receding grid of rooftops stretching north toward Ancoats. The effect is quietly spectacular.
Luke Richardson describes his cooking as "Parisian ex-pat food" — a phrase that captures something real about the menu's sensibility. There is French technique and French comfort, seasonal British produce coaxed toward Gallic purposes. The menu changes daily, which means a return visit is never repetitive; it also means a genuine dependence on what is best and freshest that morning. Expect dishes like beef tartare in a vol-au-vent, truffle-laden ricotta, and slow-cooked lamb shoulder prepared for sharing. The kitchen leans into big flavours without losing precision.
The wine list is the room's other serious claim to attention. Over 400 bottles, with a pronounced lean toward Burgundy — a focus that reflects obsession rather than fashion. The team behind Climat came from Covino in Chester, where they built a national reputation for wine-led dining; that expertise is fully evident here. Bottles begin in the accessible range and ascend to the serious collector tier; the sommelier navigates the list with genuine knowledge and no condescension.
Climat is open for lunch and dinner Wednesday to Saturday. Booking is relatively straightforward compared to Mana and Skof — usually 1–2 weeks ahead suffices, though weekend evenings in summer fill quickly. The eight-floor vantage point makes Climat the city's definitive sunset dining room between April and September.
Best Occasion: First Date
Climat is built for the first date in ways that no interior designer could entirely manufacture. The room does the work: the views create immediate wonder, the wine list gives the evening a shared project, and Richardson's daily-changing menu provides endless conversation. It is impressive without the formality that can make a first date feel like a job interview. The mood is right; the rest is up to you.
The same qualities make it equally compelling for a proposal — the private-feeling room, the panoramic city backdrop at dusk, the sense that the evening has been arranged for exactly this purpose. And for the kind of business dinner where you want the conversation to feel like a privilege rather than an obligation.