Luke French and Stacey Sherwood-French, owners of celebrated Sheffield restaurant Jöro, have announced plans to open an impressive retail and hospitality business as part of the redevelopment of the city’s renowned Oughtibridge Paper Mill.
Described as a 'grocerant', a hybrid of grocery store and restaurant, the business will house several food vendors, curated by Luke and Stacey, and will sell high-quality food, drink and retail products. The project is due to launch in spring 2023 following the transformation of the 150-year-old mill.
The Sheffield-based husband-and-wife team who, as well as critically celebrated Restaurant Jöro, also operate Asian robata-style concept Konjö and four-bedroom property House of Jöro within the city.
Shöp will sell a selection of the quality Yorkshire produce, natural wines, charcuterie, cheeses and much more – produce and products typically used by the couple in their restaurants, rooms and at home.
By night, Shöp will sell wines by the glass and simple snacks, and will host flower-arranging classes, knife-sharpening workshops, and events for the local community such as meet the chef or producer. This will be Luke and Stacey’s second Shöp, the first much smaller iteration of the concept launched in July in the city’s Cutlery Works in Neepsend Lane.
Among the items likely to be sold in Shöp will be fresh organic fruit and vegetables, Yorkshire wagyu, Sheffield honey, and crockery made by a local ceramicist, craft beers, kombucha, Caravan coffee, cookbooks by Luke as well as books from the Phaidon stable, prints and stationery from local artists, skincare products from Pelegrims, and Jöro brands such as chef toolkits, gin and candles.
The former mill, which has received planning consent to become a mixed-use food hall and community hub, will also offer a co-working space. All outlets will look onto Oughtibridge Valley, one of Sheffield’s most beautiful, natural settings.
The grocerant concept – popular across Europe and the US – blurs the lines between traditional restaurant eating and grocery buying by offering a full range of freshly prepared foods to eat in the food hall itself or take away to cook at home or at work.
Luke said, “We are so excited to be involved with the repurposing on this incredible site and we cannot wait to open the doors of our new concept. We are passionate about the region and are proud to showcase a lot of food and drink from Sheffield as well as the county of Yorkshire.
'In addition, though, we will be offering quality items from further afield, such as wines from Sagar + Wilde, Wildfarmed flour, single species charcoal from Oxfordshire, hand-made skincare products, Neal’s Yard Cheeses, and much more.”?
Stacey added, “Extending our group of hospitality businesses into retail feels like a natural step for us, particularly after we started selling products online during lockdown.
'Our customers are frequently asking us where we buy our produce and products from – supplies that the public can’t easily access or might not be familiar with - and so it seemed like a logical move to grow our collection of businesses in this direction.
'We are proud of our own-brand gin and wine, along with our chef tool kits that we believe will appeal to consumers. We also plan to host events at night, which will include wine and cheese evenings too.”
