Exclusive: JÖRO duo to open ‘grocerant’ concept in Sheffield

Sheffield’s husband and wife team Luke French and Stacey Sherwood-French told CODE their first retail operation will be a ‘grocerant’, a term no doubt familiar to you. The couple, chef and restaurant director respectively, will open a high-end food and drink store in the city’s Cutlery Works food hall this month, just a few units down from their East Asian-inspired fast casual concept Konjö.

Called ‘Shöp’, the space will be most aligned with their flagship restaurant Jöro, selling some of the high-end Yorkshire produce Luke cook’s with, as well as natural wines, charcuterie, cheeses and more. By night, Shöp will sell wines by the glass and simple snacks, and will host flower arranging classes, knife sharpening workshops, and community events.

Among the items sold will be Yorkshire wagyu, Sheffield honey, and crockery made by local woman who also happens to be the architect behind another of Luke and Stacey’s projects. By their own admission, they’re keeping her busy.

‘We’ve got a lot of food and drink from Sheffield and wider Yorkshire,’ Luke told CODE. ‘Obviously we want to support and champion our city.

‘But we’ll also be selling wines from Sagar + Wilde, Wildfarmed flour, single species charcoal from Oxfordshire, handmade skincare products, Neal’s Yard Cheeses, and so on.’ 

Luke appeared adamant that cooking over charcoal made from a single type of tree – beech, in this case – had an impact on the flavour of food, and he and Stacey said they take a similar level of care in everything they use in their restaurants.

Both said branching out into retail seems a natural step as they continue to expand their hospitality group. 

Stacey said: ‘During lockdown, we started selling products online, and we want to carry that on. People are always asking us where we source certain things and so it seems like a sensible move.

‘We also now have our own-brand gin and wine, as well as chef tool kits and other resources that we think will work for consumers.

‘We have access to amazing producers and suppliers that the public can’t really get to or might not have heard of. We’ll also host events in the evenings, and open for wine and cheese nights too’. 

Luke and Stacey plan to open Shöp ‘quietly’ in late-August. It will be the first, but apparently not the last. The couple said they are also working on a second, much larger store in a larger venue in Sheffield, as well as a new restaurant, location not disclosed, which is set to launch after Christmas.