Stockport is perhaps not the most obvious place to head to for a good meal. It's one of the large towns orbiting Manchester, often overshadowed by the city's own food scene. But while Manchester's Northern Quarter and centre offer a plethora of bars and restaurants to visit, Stockport's Old Town is home to one of the most exciting culinary treasures in the UK.

Where The Light Gets In is chef Sam Buckley's sustainable, forward-thinking and ethically conscious restaurant, serving hyper-seasonal British ingredients with plenty of worldly influences. It's a restaurant that could be described as both modern British and 'New Nordic', but neither of those terms really do it justice. Where The Light Gets In is as much an expression of Sam's approach to food, supply chains, art and storytelling as it is a restaurant.

Sam fell into cooking whilst studying art at college, starting as a waiter before moving into the kitchen. 'All I can remember doing at college was either drawing or making shoes,' he laughs. 'The kitchen was so much more dynamic and engaging.'

He left college to work at one of Gary Rhodes' bistros, where his hard work eventually led him towards Michelin-starred cooking. Over the next fifteen years, Sam divided his time between cooking, touring with bands and, after completing a journalism degree, writing.

In the kitchen, he worked under the likes of Paul Kitching and Simon Rogan, two trailblazing chefs who, alongside Gary Rhodes, helped shape his approach.

'Gary Rhodes was incredible – he showed me that you could actually go places with food and say something with what's on the plate,' he says. 'Paul was fearlessly creative – he didn't give a shit about rules or boundaries.'

At L'Enclume, however, Sam discovered the importance of restraint. 'L'Enclume was where I really learned to appreciate simplicity and to give the ingredient space on the plate,' he explains. 'If it's good enough, then the recipe can be super, super simple. That's still what I try to do today – let the produce speak for itself.'

By the time he was thirty, Sam had settled on the idea of opening his own restaurant, although doing so in his hometown of Stockport wasn't originally on the agenda. That changed when a friend pointed out an abandoned coffee warehouse in the Old Town after a night out.

'At first I wasn't really interested – I wanted to open somewhere in London or something,' he says. 'But the next morning I woke up with this idea of a big, cavernous restaurant over three floors, perhaps with a wine bar and a bakery. That coffee warehouse fit the bill perfectly.'

Sam took on the building and spent months gutting it and transforming it into a restaurant, relying on friends and his own determination rather than outside investment.

'I so wasn't ready – I had no investors or real financial support and was getting my mates to help fill up my old Peugeot 207 with rubbish to take to the tip so I didn't have to pay for a skip,' he recalls.

Where The Light Gets In opened in the autumn of 2016, initially conceived as something of a pop-up, with Sam cooking whatever he felt like each day. His time at L'Enclume attracted early attention, but it was Marina O'Loughlin's glowing review that transformed the restaurant's fortunes.

'We got around 1,500 bookings in three days – everything just exploded,' he says. 'There were only two of us in the kitchen, but then we were able to grow.'

The restaurant has since become a destination in its own right, celebrated for its open kitchen, close relationships with producers, and an approach to dining that encourages conversation between chefs and guests.

What makes Where The Light Gets In particularly special is the ethos behind its food. Fresh British ingredients are used at the peak of their season, sourced from farmers and producers who actively contribute to the sustainability of food production.

What the team cannot source, they often grow themselves at The Landing, a kitchen garden established in 2020 on the roof of a Stockport town centre car park. Originally created to supply the restaurant, it has evolved into a community growing space, hosting workshops, educational programmes and gardening activities.

Preserving is another cornerstone of Sam's cooking, with an extraordinary collection of pickles, ferments, dried ingredients and country wines lining the restaurant's shelves. The likes of celeriac kefir, sourdough bread, soy sauce, pear wine and seaweed doubanjiang can take months, sometimes years, to develop, transforming dishes with a single splash or spoonful.

This way of working means the menu is rarely the same on a return visit. 'Summer is hectic – things come in and out of season so fast,' says Sam. 'We've got dishes that are on for just one day, and then that's it.'

In winter, the restaurant relies more heavily on preserved ingredients, allowing Sam and his team to find new ways of bringing flavour and complexity to Britain's quieter growing months.

In 2021, Where The Light Gets In was among the first restaurants in the UK to receive a Michelin Green Star, recognising its commitment to sustainable gastronomy. It has continued to retain the distinction and received the Sustainability Award at the National Restaurant Awards in 2022.

Sam's interest in creativity and community extends beyond Where The Light Gets In. In 2021, he joined forces with baker Rosie Wilkes and potter Joe Hartley to open Yellowhammer, a bakery, pottery studio and neighbourhood gathering space in Stockport's Old Town.

Combining sourdough made with British-grown grains, ceramics, workshops and an evening food and wine offering, Yellowhammer brings together the different creative disciplines that have shaped Sam's career.

Where The Light Gets In itself has continued to evolve. Following a period of refurbishment and a temporary Manchester residency in 2025, the restaurant introduced a more accessible five-course sharing menu, while retaining its commitment to seasonal produce and sustainable sourcing.

In 2026, Sam and his team have been celebrating a decade of Where The Light Gets In, reflecting on the restaurant's influence on Stockport and the wider British food scene. Looking ahead, Sam is developing Hypermarché, a supermarket and interactive educational space planned for the floor beneath the restaurant.

From his experimental ferments to his work with local growers and community organisations, Sam continues to see cooking as something much bigger than turning ingredients into a plate of food. His approach is rooted in the belief that restaurants can shape how people eat, think about food and connect with the places around them.