Reservations for Skof open monthly and go within 15 minutes. Most months we try for a table and miss the one we want. Always a Friday or Saturday lunch. Always back to the drawing board. Manchester is clearly lapping it up, taking in the place that got a star in well less than a year and supporting it with time and cash. On the lunch we finally get there the square bare-bricked dining room is heaving. Tom Barnes is on the pass of the open kitchen, eyes not missing a beat. Everything that happens in that kitchen is flashed before him; the tea spoons of sauce for him to try, the individual pots of brunoise garnish are glanced over to check for total precision, every cut of every protein that is cooked. He answers each with a simple nod or ‘yes’. It is very much his kitchen.
We’d pre-paid for the £50 lunch because of time constraints and that is what we stick to, meaning that we are immediately into the first course of smoked egg yolk, hen of the woods mushroom, and a stout sauce. It’s straight into the grounds that I thought the restaurant would be; a L’Enclume esque journey into terroir with an understanding of flavours that only a Rogan alumni would understand. The treatment of the mushrooms stand-out; pickled in aromats, steamed, and then deep fried, they are chewy and sweet-like. The yolk is jammy, the sauce umami. A great first course. It’s followed by a salad of broccoli, new potatoes, radish, green beans and courgettes, with dabs of pickled walnut puree and a cheese sauce that binds it all together with bright lactic notes. Sophie comments that she would come here every week for a bigger portion forgetting how many times we have tried and failed to get here.
Duck for main. Leg that’s been deboned, stuffed with mousseline, rolled, cooked, and glazed. The duck is excellent, but my, that mousseline is something else; rich and creamy and gamey. It shares a space with a celeriac puree, creamed cabbage with bacon, and a sauce so deep it may or may not have contained the spirit of Leonard Cohen. A pot of offal ragu covered in a puree of caramelised jerusalem artichoke sits to the side, along with greens, bread and butter. We may have been worried about leaving hungry after the first courses, but not anymore. It’s big. So big we don’t get close to finishing it.
We get a bit cheeky and ask if the kitchen could swap out a chocolate dessert neither of us fancy for something else. They kindly offer the two smaller desserts from the tasting menu that are way more in tune with what we like. First strawberries compressed with something floral with biscuity crumb, jasmine cream, and iced elderflower. As with everything they do, the balance is exact, this time with a smear of heavily caramelised white chocolate at the base that rounds the dish off with a slight nuttiness. We finish up with a honey and cherry combo that’s nothing short of spectacular. More floral notes, the occasional suggestion of salt and bitterness, showcasing a honey that has real complexity. I’ll get in trouble for saying this and I’m conscious about comparing it to the obvious, but I enjoyed the desserts here more than I did at L’Enclume.
We’d pre-paid the £100 for lunch leaving us with a bill of £113 to cover the two cocktails and a nice bottle of red. I really enjoyed Skof despite it not being necessarily the style of cooking I would gravitate to. They’ve hit the ground running and I’d probably say that it already sits at the top-end of one Michelin star cooking, technically superb and cooking without fault. I’d love to go back soon and eat a full tasting there, when time is less precious and we can relax into the meal a little bit more.
9/10
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