What makes a bar a hit? In this month’s spotlight on a Sheffield-based independent, Exposed chats with Mike Pomranz and Matt Beety, the owners of The Old Shoe in Orchard Square. A winning combination of craft beer taproom, natural wine bar and modern ciderhouse, the venue was recently crowned ‘Best New Bar’ at the Exposed Awards and is gearing up to celebrate its first birthday next month.
Congrats on the win, gents, but more importantly, The Old Shoe is coming up to its first-year anniversary. What do you think has contributed to your popularity so far?
MB: I think the reason people like this place is that we’ve done what we initially set out to do: provide a wide range of drinks in a welcoming space, creating something in town that doesn’t exist elsewhere. We didn’t want to be known as just a beer place, and I think we’ve hit that goal. The work doesn’t stop, though, and we’ll be developing that goal even further by co-founding Sheffield Wine Week and launching a new spritz menu.
MP: For me, the goal’s not to win awards; it’s to be a great bar regardless. We have a vision of what bars can be and how we can do something better for the hospitality and food and beverage community.
As well as the drinks offering, you’ve spoken before about the importance of getting the ‘feel’ of the place right.
MB: Yeah, maintaining that standard of service, understanding the drinks we’re serving and taking our time with the customers who come in and are curious about what we’ve got. We’re not resting on our laurels and will continue to push, but we’re really pleased to see that we’ve stayed true to the original ethos and fundamentals that we laid down.
The Old Shoe was recently crowned ‘Best New Bar’ at the Exposed Awards.
Going back to that ethos, you’ve managed to unite the concept of natural wine and craft beer bar – bringing a good offering of cider, soft drinks and cocktails to the party too. Were there any teething problems in the process?
MP: Well, we’re always trying to push the idea that there’s more going on here than what people might expect. Understandably, some come in, see 20 draught lines and instantly assume it’s a beer place. I also think that’s kind of a general Sheffield/northern mentality: more often than not, you go to a bar and drink beer. We’ve tried to show that you don’t have to be a specialist bar with one trick; you can be a hybrid bar that offers great drinks of all types across the board. I know they say you can’t please everyone, but if we were trying to please everyone, we’d also serve mediocre drinks and show sports, you know? What we’re fundamentally trying to do is grow the audience of customers interested in trying new drinks. So, someone who comes in for an IPA might try a Northern Italian wine, someone coming in for a cider might realise they’re actually an orange wine fan, or someone coming in for a Pinot Grigio might find that what they’re really after is a sour beer. That’s the sort of idea we’re working with – expanding palates.
And that’s where customer service and rapport become so important?
MP: Exactly. You can’t force things on people, so it’s more about offering and encouraging them to try things in their own time and suggesting what might be of interest. We’re just here to help people find something different and exciting.
We’ve done what we initially set out to do: provide a wide range of drinks in a welcoming space, creating something in town that doesn’t exist elsewhere.
You mentioned the spritz menu coming out – just in time for summer. I imagine you’ll be putting a Old Shoe twist on that?
MP: Yeah, we don’t stock Aperol as most of our spirits are independent brands or at least off the beaten path. As such, we’ll be doing three different spins on the Aperol Spritz: a fruity one called the Kwai Weh Spritz, a herbal one called Montenegro Spritz and a savoury one called the Ionian Spritz. They’ll all use different liqueurs such as a lychee-flavoured Dutch liqueur inspired by an ancient Chinese tradition, a spritz that uses some weird tree resin found on a Greek island, and the third will use Amaro, which comes from Montenegro, and in theory that’s in the same kind of family as Aperol. If we’re going to do a spritz menu, we’re going to go big and exciting with it.
“For me, the goal’s not to win awards; it’s to be a great bar regardless.”
Sounds delicious. What else is coming up for you guys?
MP: We’ve got the new cider release from our in-house cider brand, Exemption Ciderhouse. We’ll once again be doing our annual 100% Sheffield garden apple cider, and we’ll have another that’s made with Sheffield garden apples but blended with foxwhelp juice from Ross-on-Wye Cider Company in Hertfordshire. Then the final cider is a pretty crazy one that we might save for bottles. We’re calling it Fear & Loathing in Chez Vegas, as it was made using apples from Renishaw Hall.
I’m also told that you have some big plans in store for the first birthday party. How are you planning to celebrate?
MB: The weekend of 12th-13th July, we’ll be having a big party with some of the best beer, cider and wine we can get our hands on. The week after, Vault City, an incredible Edinburgh-based brewery, will also be coming down to celebrate with us in style.
Now that you’re within touching distance of the first year, how do you reflect on reaching that milestone?
MP: It’s been insanely challenging, somewhat by design. But I try to set everything up as an almost unachievable challenge, as I find that’s the best way to push yourself into new territory. The job should never feel like it’s done, so when I think about celebrating a one-year anniversary, I’m thinking about what the five-year anniversary will be like and how we set up for the future. We want to keep evolving as a bar, finding those new challenges and continuing to push things forward.
MB: Apart from being physically broke and exhausted, it’s been great. Getting a year under your belt is a good milestone; everyone’s worked so hard, and we’re just going to carry that on. I’m pleased for the staff that they got the recognition of an award, but we’ll keep cracking on and hopefully draw more people in. There’s always plenty more we can do. To be honest, we’ve barely scratched the surface!
Find out about all upcoming events and see the latest menu additions on their website (theoldshoebar.com) or by following their socials (@theoldshoebar // facebook.com/theoldshoebar).
THE OLD SHOE
UNIT 20
ORCHARD SQUARE
S1 2FB
