Next week, Bury-born brothers Joe and Daniel Schofield will open their first-ever restaurant inside Gary Neville’s Manchester city centre hotel The Stock Exchange.
No strangers to the world of hospitality, the duo have vast amounts of experience working in some of the world’s best bars and have spent the past few years opening a string of award-winning drinking dens of their own.
With three Manchester cocktail bars now under their belt, including the eponymous Schofield’s Bar on Quay Street and the subterranean Stirling, which sits in an old bank vault beneath The Stock Exchange Hotel, the brothers are now making the venture into the world of full scale restaurants.
Working alongside chef Joshua Reed-Cooper (previously at The French with Simon Rogan, with Sam Buckley at Where the Light Gets In and at Michelin-starred Mana) and wine expert James Brandwood, The Stock Market Grill doesn’t officially open its doors until 1 March but it’s already the talk of the town.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Sat inside the Edwardian splendour of the Grade-II listed luxury hotel, it takes over from lauded restaurant The Bull & Bear following Tom Kerridge’s exit at the end of last year.
Gone are the giant TV screens so bemoaned by The Bull & Bear diners, and when we’re looking around Joe Schofield quips that they have eight for sale before asking if we want one.
Instead, the new focus of the dining space are two huge vases filled with dried flowers that draw your eye up to the gorgeous ornate ceiling and stained glass windows.
When the Stock Market Grill officially launches next Wednesday, it will serve an elevated all-day menu showcasing ‘British Brasserie’ classics using the highest quality local ingredients.
Diners can expect to find the likes of oysters with mignonette, rabbit suet pudding with mustard cream, wild mushrooms with confit yolk and spelt, Mangalitsa pork chop with Yorkshire rhubarb ketchup and ex dairy rib eye with brown butter jus and lemon.
Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
Speaking ahead of the new opening, Joe Schofield told The Manc: “We’re really excited to be opening our first restaurant, myself, Daniel and James are very passionate about food and visiting restaurants. We do have twenty years experience in world class restaurants, and we’ve got the opportunity to work with the hotel and put a restaurant in, we jumped at the chance.
“We already had a great chef working with us at Stirling, he was in the kitchen at Mana when they got their Michelin star. We thought it’d be a really good opportunity to showcase a restaurant and style of cuisine that we’re really passionate about.
“We’ve got a great relationship with the hotel, when we were having conversations about opening a restaurant it felt natural and it felt organic and we’ve put together a concep that we’re really excited about.
“Our hopes for the restaurant are to create an experience that guests love to come in and visit and enjoy the food. That’s what’s most important thing for us, people come and really love their experience in terms of the service, the hospitality and the food.”
Bookings are open now from 1 March and can be made now via the Stock Exchange Hotel website here.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
Eats
Bar Shrimp announces opening date as Higher Ground team gear up for new project
Daisy Jackson
Bar Shrimp, a new seafood and cocktail bar in Manchester from the team behind Higher Ground, has officially got itself an opening date.
The hotly-anticipated newcomer will be serving cocktails, beers, and British seafood and snacks from its spot on New York Street.
As well as confirming an October launch date, the team have also shared a glimpse of the menu Mancs can expect from next month.
Bar Shrimp will be offering an Oyster Happy Hour every weekday, as well as caviar with house-cut crisps, devilled eggs, and Sussex smokie fritters.
Expect shellfish over ice, Cornish crab cocktail, bar snack classics and even beef burgers.
It comes from the same team behind Higher Ground and Flawd, headed up again by hospitality dream team Joseph Otway, Daniel Craig Martin and Richard Cossins.
And they’ve partnered with Stockport-based MasterSounds, to install a state-of-the-art custom-designed sound system with music director Lukas Stankunas curating the music programming on a weekly basis.
They say the venue will be a ‘dynamic space where the music and energy evolves throughout the evening’.
The team behind award-winning Higher Ground are opening a new seafood bar, Bar Shrimp, in Manchester
Inside, it’ll be decorated with plush-red banquettes, floor-to-ceiling drapes, and table service throughout.
Matt Pazos, Bruntwood SciTech Retail Commercial Manager, said of the announcement: “Bar Shrimp promises to be another big success for the team and we can’t wait to welcome them to Faulkner House.
“This exciting new concept, bringing together the team’s exceptional knowledge and experience of food and hospitality combined with their passion for music, will further complement the thriving community in this part of Manchester city centre.”
Walk-ins will be welcomed for drinks but reservations are encouraged for dining.
Reservations for Bar Shrimp have gone live today ahead of its official launch on Wednesday 22 October – sign up HERE.
A long-standing Italian restaurant in Trafford has sadly announced its imminent closure
Danny Jones
Another day, another bit of unfortunate hospitality news, as long-standing Greater Manchester restaurant, Little Italy in Timperley, has announced it is closing permanently very soon.
The Trafford favourite, which has been serving locals for nearly 20 years, has informed regular diners that it will sadly be closing its doors for good, with Little Italy’s final service set for later this month.
Having earned plenty of praise in its time, including being one of the few spots in and around the Altrincham area to have won a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence in 2015, before the borough saw its foodie boom begin.
But fast forward a decade, and the Timperley institution is yet another culinary casualty to be confirmed of late, with Little Italy sharing a tear-jerking statement online.
Sharing the tragic news on social media this Friday (5 Sep), the restaurant wrote: “To all our lovely customers, it is with a heavy heart that we share some news with you all. After over 18 years of serving you all in Timperley, we will be closing our doors later this month.
“This has not been an easy decision. Unfortunately, rising costs and a significant increase in rental [costs] have made it impossible to continue in a sustainable way. As much as we love what we do, the reality is that it has become too difficult to maintain under these circumstances.
“Over the coming weeks, we will continue to cook with love and serve with the same passion as always. We would love to see you all and share one more meal, and raise a glass together.”
Safe to say that the post has been met with an outpouring of condolences and support from natives nearby and those who have travelled to enjoy their food.
Little Italy went on to add that they will detail more about their final week of business as soon as possible.
They can’t be accused of not keeping up with times and not trying to promote via social media either, as they small family-run team – headed up by Sam Cauchi, who bought the site back in 2008 – have always given things a go besides the day-to-day operation of the restaurant.
Being one of many saddened customers to respond underneath the announcement, we couldn’t possibly sum up things better than local Vanessa Nice, who said: “Look at all these amazing comments – you certainly made your mark as a home from home for the residents of Timperley.
“The end of an era will always be sad, but sometimes life and families have to move on.”
As for Cauchi and co., they signed off by simply adding: “From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your support, kindness and friendship over the years. Timperley has been our home, and you have all been our family.
“Love from all the team at Little Italy.”
It goes without saying that we’re gutted for the gang and our thoughts are with everyone involved at this difficult time. For now, we can only say thank you to the countless Greater Manchester locations that continue to fall foul in the face of the rising pressures industry-wide. Case and point…
Georgina Pellant -
23rd February 2023 
