Waving the Flag for Fine Dining in Stoke
Cris Cohen's latest venture, H I D D E N, takes diners on a cool culinary adventure, with a different theme each season - and the chance to meet new friends as you dine…
I’ll admit that I was little apprehensive about dining at H I D D E N. Not because I doubted the food would be brilliant – I’d heard great things about Cris’s former restaurant, Feasted, I’d heard great things about it – but because guests dine in groups of 10 or 12 and, gulp, are encouraged to mingle with strangers. I needn’t have worried. Our table of 10 was gracious and welcoming, and our neighbours quickly became great company as we oohed and aahed our way through the five-course menu as we oohed and aahhed our way through the five-course menu, which was bookended by a trio of snacks, including a delicious Jerusalem artichoke croquette topped with plum porter ketchup and thyme, and an indulgent ‘after hours’ treat: a rhubarb and custard doughnut. Perched on plush high-backed stools round a long, sturdy wooden table, the kitchen directly adjacent to the dining area, Cris narrated each dish with ease and enthusiasm as a succession of inventive, beautifully presented plates arrived.
The menu, themed around the challenges facing modern kitchens, was as thought-provoking as it was delicious. ‘Skills Crisis’, a bay and wild garlic pana cotta served on a black garlic cracker that resembled an Oreo – nods to the impact of fast food culture on chef development. The experience was soundtracked by alternative rock, including Nirvana, the Cure and Jesus & Mary Chain along with some contemporary selections like the Killers and Arctic Monkeys.
‘Boiling Point dish, he tells us (celeraic veloute, apple, hazelnut) is a “highly seasonal version of a cappucino” inspired by sweary chef Gordon Ramsay, while VAT – (barley, chicken stock, oats, swede and potato) is akin to haggis, but cooked in miso and finished with whisky gel. It covers 20 per cent of the plate to make a point, with Cris pointing out that VAT on food is 8-12 per cent across most of Europe.
EXPANDING THE BRAND
A couple of weeks later, I’m back to meet Cris at his kitchen for a proper chat where he wasn’t whipping cream, titivating plates or taking guests’ drink orders. Even without the low lighting and buzz of diners, it’s clear that he’s created something special inside Spode Works.
Open since last November as H I D D E N, Cris been cooking inside Spode Works since 2021. What’s it like being here? “There’s a lot of potential and that can feel quite exciting. We’ve fed thousands of people around this table – something like 6,000 – and we’d love to feed more.” The chef is currently looking for a bigger place but wants to ensure that the space is still intimate, with space for around 20 (his current place can host 12). I’m really proud of what this still is and what it has been. It’s exceeded all my expectations. People said something like this in Stoke wouldn’t work, but there’s only ever been one person who said they didn’t enjoy it.”
Of the thousands who’ve dined with Cris, some have become members – it grew over 300% around January and February, he says. Join and you and all your guests to a free cocktail every time you dine, a preference on booking, and an invite to four events a year, with the next one set for April/May. “It’s a foraging walk, with the chance to eat some of those ingredients afterwards; it’s all about creating a community. I love the fact that people want to come and dine with us, so let’s give them the opportunity to dine with us in different settings,” he adds.
TAKING PRIDE IN STOKE
Originally from the Peak District, Cris is passionate about challenging perceptions of Stoke-on-Trent. “A lot of people are very critical of Stoke down for its ambition, or lack of,” says Cris, who is and went to school in Buxton. When he prepared a menu for the British Ceramics Biennial, he said the Stokie diners couldn’t believe it that people had come from as far afield as Canada and Australia to the event, and that Stoke is still ‘a big deal’ to some due to our storied ceramics history.
While he acknowledges the city’s dining scene is still developing – his previous venture, Stock, closed down last year, he remains committed to contributing in his own way. “We set about training young people, I was super ambitious in growing that idea that Stoke could be somewhere great to dine, but it’s not a battle I want to fight any more. Do I want to contribute to it? Of course I do. But this is my focus now.”
“People said something like this wouldn’t work in Stoke, but I’ve only ever had one complaint after serving more than 6,000 diners“
EVOLUTION AND TRAINING
Looking ahead, Cris hints that H I D D E N may evolve further – even changing its name if it moves premises. “I think dining in the same space for 20, 30 years, maybe that doesn’t matter so much any more. What I’m really passionate about is helping people, training people, enabling people, and kitchens are a great place to do that.”
He’s currently exploring conversations around hospitality training and apprenticeships, including discussions with his local MP Adam Jogee. “We could do a lot better in how we train people in hospitality. We’d like to be able to train more people, because we’re very good at it. A lad turned up to one of the training programmes we did a few years ago and he literally pointed at me and said, ‘I have no problem with telling you what I think of you if you’re horrible to me.’ But I like my kitchen to be calm… there’s no shouting and swearing. The way we approach training is nurturing, considered, and allows people to believe that they can do it.”
INTERACTIVE DINING
The Jan-Feb season was, in Cris’s words, “mega”. What’s surprised him most is how diners have embraced the storytelling behind each dish. “To do a dish about VAT might be a bit crazy, stupid even, to just talk about such a negative thing, but I wanted to have a bit of fun with it, and I don’t shy away from a bit of comfort at the dining table. I’m not here to alienate customers but I think also that part of being human is accepting the discomfort in a moment.”
The current season, which runs from 12/03 to 11/04, leans even more to the absurd, he says, with a theme of chef faux pas, nine courses inspired by errors of judgement, bad ideas and cultural misunderstandings. “I think the first season, back in November, was about getting customers back into the space, and although the menu was really delicious and I was really proud of it, it was much simpler.” He’s already excited about the next menu, particularly a dish that he will be asking guests to plate, with diners receiving piping bags to put their skills to the test. “It’s called ‘rate my plate’ after the Facebook page, and I just love the idea of more interactivity.”
As I wrap up the interview, I take a few photos of Cris for the article before my eye is drawn to a corner of H I D D E N that’s decorated with framed illustrations and artworks. He points to one illustration by local creative Kate Windsor as being particularly inspirational, featuring the words, ‘fail we may, sail we must’, a beloved fan mantra and song by the late DJ Andrew Weatherall. After all this chef’s ups and downs, and his steely, good-natured determination to keep presenting fine plates of food to the people of Stoke, the words seem particularly apt.
You can still book lunch at H I D D E N on Saturday 11 April for lunch but all other seats are sold out; to join the waitlist, email hello@feasted.co.uk. The next season is June-July 2026 – check the website for updates
Cris will also be hosting a pop up restaurant at the Stone food festival on 08-10/05 at Westbridge Park, with a five-course menu bookable here