"I am so excited to be opening my first restaurant"
Roux Scholar Tom Barnes has revealed his new Skof venture will open in manchester in spring 2024.
Skof marks the debut restaurant from Tom Barnes and is expected to serve dishes designed to remove the formalities associated with tasting menu restaurants.
The news comes after an already successful career for Tom, who won the Roux Scholarship at the age of 25 in 2014, as well as an award-winning 12 years at Simon Rogan's Umbel Restaurant group.
Commenting on the new opening, Tom explained that he chose Manchester due to it's ever-changing food scene and warm hospitality from punters and businesses across the city.
“I am so excited to be opening my first restaurant in Manchester. It feels like the right place for me. The food scene is changing so frequently, and everyone I’ve met has been incredibly welcoming," he said.
Tom added: "Growing up in Barrow-in-Furness, I knew I wouldn’t want to be too far from my childhood home and my family, so it’s the perfect place.”
As head chef at Rogan & Co, Tom helped the restaurant gain one Michelin star before guiding L'Enclume as executive chef to winning it's third star in 2022.
Commenting on Tom's new venture, three Michelin-starred chef Simon Rogan said: "I’m so excited for Tom, our former executive chef in the north-west, who will be opening his first restaurant Skof next year. Moments like these make me so happy, and it’s pretty special to be able to support a chef who has worked with me for so long to go on to realise his dreams."
Simon added: "I’m incredibly proud of Tom and everything he has accomplished. We’ve been working towards this moment for a while now, and I can’t wait for him to be able to show the world what he can do."
In 2020, Tom took part in series 15 of the Great British Menu, where he won the main course at the final banquet.
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