Menuwatch: Osma, Prestwich

Its popularity has grown further following Heron's stint representing the North West on the BBC's Great British Menu this year, and Osma's success is not surprising given Heron's impressive career history. Having studied cookery at Manchester College, she got her first job aged 19 at Michelin-starred L'Enclume in the Lake District before moving to Oslo restaurant Maaemo, holder of three Michelin stars.

"We wanted to do our own thing, but obviously the prices in Oslo are astronomical," says Heron about the move back to Manchester with Stoermann-Naess. "But we saw this space and we didn't want anywhere else."

Osma's seasonal menu changes weekly, but always includes oysters with various dressings, a selection of hot and cold snacks and small plates, such as an appetiser of light brioche toasts topped with sea bream tartare. "We do a lot of raw and cured fish dishes," says Heron. "Masa Bakery in Prestwich makes our brioche. We toast it off in butter and it's topped with sea bream tartare mixed with avruga caviar, red onion and dill mayonnaise."

Another fish dish consists of hamachi tartare that has been "cured very lightly for 30 minutes then diced," served with a kombu ponzu dressing and an egg yolk. "We sous vide the eggs whole at 62°C for 45 minutes, then remove the white," says Heron. "We make the kombu stock using sundried kelp and seaweed and infuse it with soy sauce, rice vinegar and some whole shisho leaves and pass it off. It's mixed with nori powder, toasted sesame seeds and topped with radish and shisho."

Hot plates are also hyper-seasonal, such as a delicate fillet of turbot ("we cure the turbot for just half an hour to retain some of the juice"), served with pea purée, fresh peas, broad beans and Wye Valley asparagus "blanched very fast in a butter emulsion". From the trim of the turbot, Heron makes a sauce with white asparagus and prosecco, "split with a bit of lovage oil, which pairs well with the other flavours".

Instagram-friendly crispy potatoes have become a signature dish. "I tried to take the potatoes off the menu and everybody went crazy," laughs Heron. The new potatoes are steamed at 100ºC for 45 minutes and then chilled, "then we crush them and fry them at 180ºC until they're golden", she explains. "Then they are smothered in a brown butter hollandaise and topped with chives." And it's not just customers who are fans. "We eat them for staff meals, too; if someone is a bit hungry, I'm like, ‘potatoes!'"

Heron's pre-dessert from the Great British Menu makes for a refreshing sweet option. For the whipped goats' yogurt mousse, "you have to whip a solution of goats' yogurt, egg yolk and sugar over a bain-marie for about half an hour, and then fold fresh yogurt through it until it sets." A crisp goats' milk cracker "is essentially a goats' milk meringue, then we dry it overnight so you get a sugary caramel flavour from it", and it's topped with cucumber which has been compressed in a light sugar syrup, and a cucumber and mint granita over the top.

"On Great British Menu, you only get 45 minutes, and most of my time was spent whipping that mousse, so I had to freeze the snow with liquid nitrogen on the day," says Heron. "I'd been watching The BFG with my little nephew, and Sophie's snozzcumber stew was the inspiration".

Osma's version is certainly more appetising that Roald Dahl's. It's no wonder the regulars keep coming back.

From the menu

Small sharing plates

• Oyster with verjus and magnolia ponzu £3.5
• Brioche toast topped with sea bream tartare and dill (two per portion) £9
• Pastry tart filled with venison, mustard and blue cheese (two per portion) £9
• Salt-baked kohlrabi with miso, roasted onion, shiso and shallot £14
• Hamachi tartare with 62°C egg yolk, kombu ponzu, radish and nori £14
• Turbot with asparagus, fresh peas and crement sauce £18
• Lamb saddle with turnip, Jerusalem artichoke, yoghurt and mint £20

Sweet treats

• Chocolate nemesis with cherry jam, almonds and whipped cream £8
• Goats' yoghurt mousse with cucumber and mint £8
• Salted chocolate truffle with rose sugar £3

Osma, 132 Bury New Road, Prestwich M25 0AA

www.osmakitchenbar.com