MasterChef: The Professionals 2019 finalist Exose Grant Lopo-Ndinga takes over the kitchen at BLVD Manchester

MasterChef: The Professionals 2019 finalist Exose Grant Lopo-Ndinga is set to embark on his first solo venture  at BLVD in Manchester, where he has taken the reins of the kitchen 

Since competing on the BBC programme three years ago, the former chef de partie at James Martin Manchester has worked at multiple venues belonging to BLVD's parent company, Tokyo Industries, helping to manage their outsourced food offering at the restaurant as well as as two of their other Manchester venues, Gorilla and Impossible.

As of the launch tomorrow, the food side of BLVD will be entirely his own, while drinks will continue to be overseen by Tokyo Industries.

He will be serving an a la carte menu of pan-Asian tapas style plates, with tasting menus served on special occasions and bottomless brunch at the weekends.

All dishes on the a la carte menu will be available in two different sizes to encourage sharing, whether in a small or larger group.

Nibbles will include lotus crisps with chilli salt and prawn crackers with sweet chilli jam and nori, with mains of tempura curried calamari coated with black sesame served with a curry mayonnaise, and sliders filled with a choice of teriyaki fillet steak, sesame chicken or crispy chilli cauliflower.

BLVD has historically been a drinks-forward business, but the chef said his soft launch showed that people are keen to come chiefly for the food, and he will be working to build on that clientele. 

"I'm looking to push the food out more - I want people to be coming in and talking about this," he said in an interview with The Staff Canteen. 

He added that was as excited as he was nervous for the launch, but that he is optimistic about starting his own business as the industry gets back on its feet.

"It's my first time doing something like this, getting my own team in - the amount of legal work and paperwork and registering everything - it's good practice for when I open my own place," he said. 

The chef has a full team in place, for which he knows to be grateful. "I didn't even need to advertise it," he said, as many chefs expressed their interest to him directly. "So I just selected a full team that I thought would work." 

Is opening a restaurant now a good idea? "After everything that's happened in the industry, people think I'm crazy," he laughed. "But it looks like all of the restrictions are lifting so hopefully we're on the right path." 

 "I just want to make good food. Manchester deserves a place where you can get good, affordable food."