Farewell to the Bull and Bear, and hello to the Stock Market Grill. The Stock Exchange Hotel’s long-awaited new brasserie opens next week, and the Manchester Evening News got in for a first look.
Formerly celebrity TV chef Tom Kerridge’s domain, the restaurant is now being run by the Schofield brothers, who already run the hotel’s cocktail bar Sterling in the basement, as well as Schofield’s Bar - recently voted the fourth best bar in the UK - and Atomeca at Deansgate Square.
Though this is their first restaurant project, the pair are confident that they can pull it off, with a brand new menu, a revamped dining room (the divisive TV screens showing rolling sports that held court previously are gone), a great chef at the helm and a new partner in wine expert James Brandwood.
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"I feel incredibly excited about the opening, we've got a great time lined up and I'm feeling very relaxed, which is a bit unheard of in the world of food and drink,” Joe Schofield told the M.E.N. The Schofields had landed on hotel owner and former United legend Gary Neville’s radar through their much-loved bar on Little Quay Street, of which he's said to be a big fan.
They then opened Sterling in the old bank vault beneath the hotel, and were the first choice when the dining space was ready for a change.
"When the news broke about Tom Kerridge and his team leaving Manchester, we had a conversation with the hotel who we have a great relationship with and said we would be interested in opening a restaurant together,” Joe said. “This will be our first restaurant venture but we do have 20 years experience in world class restaurants during that time.”
The pair, originally from Rossendale, have worked all around the world, from the likes of The Savoy in London to Little Red Door in Paris, named as one of the best cocktail bars in the world.
Joshua Reed-Cooper will be at the pass, a chef with a solid CV behind him. “[Joshua] was already working for us at Sterling and he comes from an incredible pedigree, he used to work with Simon Rogan at The French, Samuel Buckley at Where The Light Gets In and he was working in the kitchens at Mana when they received the Michelin star,” Joe added.
Thurday night’s opening night menu featured starters (ranging from £12 to £16) including a steak tartare with a beef fat egg yolk, a bitter chicory salad with sharp Berkswell cheese, and an ex-dairy cow rib eye steak (a robust £55), langoustines with brown butter (£22), and the wild pressed chips in dripping. At £7, they're not a budget option, but the process that has gone into them - each a solid, crisped rectangle of joy - is something else.
Other mains will include a confit rabbit suet pudding (£24), lamb chops with caper sauce (£29), a wild mushroom tart (£21) and Cornish cod with roast hispi cabbage (£24). For pudding, a whisky ba-ba, soaked with Macallan scotch, and a chocolate soufflé with hazelnut ice cream were first rate.
Joe went on: “In a nutshell our concept is a British brasserie, championing dishes we love and elevate and refining them with great produce and working with the seasons. To be honest we're just really excited about continuing the legacy of Tom and his team. They did a great job and we absolutely love this space and so we're just looking forward to carrying things on."
The Stock Market Grill is open from March 1.
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