Gary Neville’s award-winning hotel in central Manchester has announced the shock closure of its restaurant with immediate effect - just four months after it opened to much fanfare.
The Stock Market Grill, which replaced a restaurant run by celebrity chef Tom Kerridge on March 1, was operated by the brothers behind the well-known Schofield’s Bar, Joe and Daniel, and they will continue to oversee the hotel’s cocktail bar, Sterling.
But it is unclear why the decision to close was taken with immediate effect and a hotel statement on Monday morning confirmed that the kitchen will remain open to serve breakfast and room service for overnight guests.
"Stock Exchange Hotel have taken the decision to close the doors to Stock Market Grill, as of 3rd July 23,” the statement read. "The restaurant will, however, continue to serve breakfast and in-room dining to all overnight guests.
"In the meantime, the focus will be on Sterling, the premium cocktail bar located in The Vault at the Stock Exchange Hotel. The team are continuing to develop the Sterling concept and its offering.
"Further details on Stock Exchange Hotel’s new F&B [food and beverage] concept will be revealed in due course."
According to the Manchester Evening News, the Stock Market Grill opened with Michelin-trained Joshua Reed-Cooper as head chef and the menu included ex-dairy cow rib eye steak priced at £55.
At the time of opening Joe Schofield said: "This will be our first restaurant venture but we do have 20 years experience in world class restaurants during that time.
"In a nutshell our concept is a British brasserie, championing dishes we love and elevate and refining them with great produce and working with the seasons. To be honest we're just really excited about continuing the legacy of Tom and his team.”
A notice on Companies House said that the firm is being “dissolved via voluntary strike-off.”.
It had opened two UK branches of Cafe Football, one in Manchester and another near London Stadium in Stratford less than 18 months after the Olympic Games. Its launch menu included “Treble Pies” and “Nev's Noodle Pot” with food critics delivering a number of positive reviews.
A third branch remains open in Singapore, operating through a different company, but both UK restaurants closed in early 2019 with the pair, who included unpopular Valencia owner Peter Lim as a business partner, saying at the time that they would be focusing more of their resources on other business interests - including their hotel next to Old Trafford and the Stock Exchange.
