Gem to be new eatery
OLD JEWELLERS WITH ORNATE CLOCK ALL SET TO CHIME WITH FOODIES AS A NEW RESTAURANT RUN BY A TOP CHEF
HISTORIC Stockport jewellers Winter’s is to be brought back to life as a fine dining restaurant with an awardwinning chef at the helm.
Most recently home to Joseph Holt pub Winter’s Wine Bar, the grade II listed Little Underbank building dates from the early 1800s and is a local landmark thanks to its ornate clock and figurines. Its bells have been silent for years but could chime again when it reopens as Klok, a new restaurant from respected chef Ernst van Zyl.
The South African chef previously ran The Lord Clyde in Kerridge, just outside Macclesfield, where he achieved three AA rosettes, and the Hanging Gate Inn in Cheshire.
He told the M.E.N: “We fell in love with the building the second we walked through the door. There are only about four of those style clocks left in the whole of the UK. It’s not working at the minute but plans are in place to get it ringing again.”
He and partner Liz Kellett plan to transform the ground floor of the building into 46-cover dining room, preserving the wooden bar as an open kitchen where diners can watch chefs at work. Upstairs, overlooking the clock mechanism in its glass box, will be a bar where guests can enjoy a drink before and after their meal, as well as a private dining area.
Klok - meaning clock in Afrikaans in a nod to both the building’s and Ernst’s heritage - will serve five or nine course tasting menus as well an a la carte offering.
“The food will be similar but it’s nice to give a few options,” said Ernst.
“We want to give people the best of both worlds.”
The restaurant will initially be open for dinner from Wednesday to Saturday and for lunch.
The opening will be another boost for the Old Town’s fledgling food and drink scene, joining award-winning restaurants Where the Light Gets In and The Allotment.
“We were looking around a few of the suburbs and we put the question to Twitter, where shall we look, and a lot of the responses said Stockport,” said Ernst.
“We immediately loved it. The old town with the market and the church is beautiful and Where the Light Gets In has made many people take note.
“We love the regeneration plans that have been outlined for Stockport and we want to be part of that wave.
“It’s a beautiful space in a beautiful street in a really beautiful area.”
Ernst hopes to open the restaurant later this year or early 2019 and is crowdfunding towards its refurbishment at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/restauranturtica.
“We’re itching to get in and get going but there’s a lot of work to be done first,” he said.
He and Liz are also hosting a series of supper clubs at The Horse and Jockey in Wilmslow over the summer to give a taste of things to come.