The team behind popular Broomhill restaurant Butcher and Catch are a just a few short weeks away from opening a new sister restaurant in the heart of Kelham Island.
Their second venue, Chop Shop Bar and Grill, will take over the unit formerly occupied by The Tap House on Alma Street.
The new site promises to be more butcher than catch, with a focus on chargrilled steaks, chops and meats, as well as rotisserie chicken, alongside a smaller number of fish dishes and sides.
Owner Liam Ridge explained to Exposed: “The venue is an arm of Butcher and Catch so the inspiration comes from the meat elements that we do in Broomhill, by really taking it back to basics with chargrilling.”
“That’s the heart of what the kitchen is and pretty much 80 per cent of the menu is on the grill. Whereas up in Broomhill we’ve got quite a complex menu, in terms of elements, this is more about just showcasing the meat.”
“A lot of Butcher and Catch is about theatre and it’s about bringing the customer closer to what we do, so if you’ve been up to Broomhill, you’ll see the open kitchen, and that we’ve got an open meat and fish display. It’s hugely importantly to us that you see where your food’s coming from.”
“Here, we’ll have Iberico ham on the table and we’ll be carving to order, we’ll have a rotisserie chicken, and you’ll be able to see the Argentinian chargrill that we can raise up and down allowing us to either smoke meats or slow cook them, giving a really good emphasis on that smoky flavour. It’s really exciting.”
The new venue will also house a 40-seater bar, specialising in a range of top-quality red wines, as well as local cask ales and cocktails.
“It’s a great venue to have a bar as well, so we’ve split the venue into two – a bar area and a dining area.” explains Liam, “The bar will have a huge focus on wine. We will have cocktails, but the huge red wine menu links to the steaks, the chops and the meats. We’re going for wines with stronger, bigger flavours. Even the white wine is designed purely around pairing with meats, so a lot of stronger flavoured whites, nothing that’s just going to sit in the background.”
For Liam, opening this second site brings the Butcher and Catch full circle and is the culmination of a five-year long journey since they first looked at this unit, before finally taking the plunge on their first site up at Broomhill.
“We’ve learned a lot from our first restaurant, so it’s important to get this one right, and there is pressure obviously. We’ve got a good reputation to start with, but it’s really important to understand they’re not the same, and when you see the menu, you’ll see the differences.”
“There are similarities in terms of the way it looks, but it is a different menu. This is really back to basics in terms of chargrill and rotisserie cooking and kind of not overcomplicating things.”
“We’re just very excited about getting open now.”
We’re pretty buzzed for it too, Liam. For opening date updates, chuck ‘em a like on socials here.
