
Inside New Yorkshire Restaurant-With-Rooms Jöro
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5 days ago
A review of Jöro 2.0
Husband and wife team Luke French and Stacey Sherwood-French have already been making waves with their gastronomy. And now they are taking their restaurant Jöro to the next level, as Margaret Hussey reports.
Restaurant Review: Jöro, Sheffield
It’s no surprise that Jöro means Earth in Old Norse. It’s the perfect moniker for this fabulous Yorkshire restaurant, which uses the best ingredients the planet has to offer while keeping fully grounded in its attitude. That’s hugely due to the husband and wife team of chef director Luke French and Stacey Sherwood-French, who are behind Jöro (it’s pronounced yoro). An outstanding knowledge of incredible food and drink plus good service is etched in their DNA. Their enthusiasm and positivity filters through everyone, from the hugely personable sommeliers to the engaging front of house and kitchen staff.
This 2.0 Jöro is in Oughtibridge, Sheffield, on the edge of the Peak District, and an expanded addition to the pair’s portfolio, who first started Jöro in a shipping container in Sheffield City Centre in 2016. (The couple also have House of Jöro, a boutique hotel/restaurant with four rooms and Asian-inspired Konjö, both in Sheffield, and Japanese-inspired Nama in Liverpool.)
This newer version is housed in a 19th century former paper mill and with a nod to its past they have kept its soul with industrial poles and girders visible and uneven, whitewashed walls. Not that you will be looking too closely at them, as here everything focuses around the food.
And what a treat it is. The 19-course £125 signature tasting menu is served from Wednesday to Saturday and is a four-hour gastronomic odyssey. It’s Japanese/Nordic and influenced by Luke’s travels in Asia.
The Food
There’s everything from an amazing croustade of truffled curd and broccoli to zesty kohlrabi with winter tomato and lime vinaigrette. What about Chawanmushi (a savoury Japanese egg custard) with black truffle and shiitake or sublime Hebridean scallop, rhubarb & habanero hot sauce. Not to forget the tasty celeriac, teriyaki and three-cornered leek or the Thirkleby duck with Kampot pepper and blackcurrant condiment.
The list and invention goes on as the dishes arrive, all beautifully presented on earthy ceramics, with a description from the server about each one’s provenance. And if it sounds pretentious, it’s not. It’s colourful and playful – who would have thought a lollipop of beetroot, blackcurrant and white chocolate would be such a conversation starter. But like most of the dishes, the conversation stops the minute you put the dishes in your mouth and savour the ingenuity behind them.
The excellence continues with desserts, blending old school with Asian – among others there was a sticky toffee pudding with miso and a jasmine rice kofi, followed by smaller delights of raspberry jelly with black cardamom and Amalfi lemon meringue pie, theatrically scorched at the table. The kitchen is exposed here and you can see them busy at work while later Luke moves around the tables, checking in on diners and taking as much delight in his food and its reception, as we are.
The Drinks
There are also excellent drinks pairings – we sampled everything from an Estrella beer to Malbec and saké. Luke and Stacey are teetotal and have come up with their own tasty alcohol-free alternatives, including quince, stem ginger, and wild cinnamon and green apple, apricot and citrus.
And being the kind of unstuffy pair they are, there’s an Express lunchtime version of the tasting menu for £45, a lovely touch to encourage curious, younger or cash-strapped diners. That sense of egality continues with their BBQ terrace due to open this spring, where there will be an outdoor kitchen and food cooked over fire, a Jöro speciality.
There’s also a café which becomes a bar at night. I would seriously love to have this as my local for a coffee and pastry in the morning – supplied by local Sheffield bakers Crumb – and a cocktail at night.
Luckily there are seven apartments/studios above if you want to stay over, making good use of the former mill’s cavernous space. There’s a Nordic, elegant feel with lots of plants, neutral colours and the comfiest bed.
Breakfast of course is delicious and brought to your room: there’s treacle soda bread, Spanish tortilla and kyoto miso muffins. Plus there’s a kitchenette to make that all important cup of Yorkshire tea. How much more grounded could you get..
BOOK IT:
Jöro’s signature tasting menu costs £125; the Express tasting menu is £45. The drinks pairing is £65 or £45 for the non-alcoholic version. For more visit jororestaurant.co.uk