BROTHERS ALL READY TO SCHO...
AWARD-WINNING BARTENDERS BRING THEIR VISION TO LIFE AFTER DECADE IN THE MAKING
ONE of Manchester’s most hotly-tipped new hospitality openings is preparing to welcome customers for the first time next week. Schofield’s Bar has taken shape in the footprint of the popular long-lost pub The Old Grapes.
The new cocktail bar comes from two award-winning, Bury-born bartender brothers, who have transformed a corner of the Grade II-listed Sunlight House.
Joe and Daniel Schofield have been working on the venue throughout lockdown and have been open for takeaway coffees and bottled cocktails for a few weeks.
In line with the government roadmap, Schofield’s will initially open as an outdoor cocktail terrace, before throwing open the doors to its smart new bar space in mid-May.
The Little Quay Street bar has been decorated with classic dark wood and navy leather furniture.
Guests at the atmospheric venue will be greeted by the long bar, where banquette seating wraps along the tall windows.
Down a short flight of steps is a further seating area.
Altogether, there’ll be space for around 70 customers inside when social distancing rules are relaxed, with room for roughly 60 more on the terrace outside.
The menu will focus on classic cocktails, but Joe said they’re hoping to make a name for themselves by serving the best versions of the classics that people have ever tasted.
Twelve drinks will be staples, but 12 will change with the seasons, using British ingredients.
As well as cocktails, there’ll be champagne and wine, draught beer, German pilsners, and draught Guinness, plus coffee and tea.
Both brothers have learned their craft at some of the world’s most prestigious bars, including the American Bar at The Savoy and other venues in Singapore, Paris, Sydney and London.
Daniel said of their first joint venture: “It feels great, we’ve been conceptualising and talking about the bar for the last ten years, and fully working on it for the last two.
“To finally have something physical after working on it for so long, it’s amazing.”
Speaking of going into business with his brother, Joe added: “We’ve both come from similar schools of hospitality so when it came to the idea of us working together there was nothing that we could see as being a challenge - we’re both very aligned in our vision for what a great bar should be.”
With such impressive CVs, they could have chosen just about anywhere in the world to open Schofield’s, but say it was only ever going to be Manchester.
“We were born in Bury and we love the city,” Joe said.
“There are some amazing operators here.
“It’s got a real energy here that’s like nothing you’ll find anywhere in the world. There was nowhere else we even considered.”
Its neighbours here will include established nightlife spots Albert’s Schloss and Impossible, as well as the new Blues Kitchen across the street.
● Schofield’s will open at 3 Little Quay Street on Wednesday, and will be open Wednesday to Sunday for the time being.