Tom Barnes sets opening date and releases more details for Skof

The former Simon Rogan lieutenant and Great British Menu winner has also revealed his launch menus.  

At both lunch (Thursday to Saturday) and dinner (Wednesday to Saturday), he will serve two variations of his tasting menu, one 12-course and one 15-course which will be priced at £120 and £165 respectively.

At lunch, Skof will also serve a four-course offering, priced at £50 per head.

Dishes on the first set of menus include roasted Sladesdown duck, peach leaf, Ibis celeriac, wholemeal bread; and Berkswell cheese sable biscuit, crushed broad beans, whipped roe, bronze fennel. 

In the lead up to the opening of Skof, Barnes has been working on preserving ingredients to add depth of flavour to his dishes, also allowing them to be used all year round. As a continuation of this mindset, the team at Skof will create their own miso, used to flavour a lightly-set custard, served with hen of the woods mushrooms, truffle, mushroom dashi and their own Amasake sorbet flavoured with milk oolong tea. 

“It’s been a long time coming, so I’m excited to be able to finally release our reservations. I can’t wait to share what we’ve been working on and to return some of the incredible hospitality I’ve received from the people of Manchester," Barnes says.

"With Skof, my purpose is to create an incredible experience that focuses on great quality ingredients but above all, puts a smile on peoples faces.”

Skof will have 36-covers and is being billed as ‘an unpretentious yet ambitious dining experience’​​ offering menus that are ‘deceptively simple yet brimming with technique and full of flavour’.

Originally from The Lakes, the 35-year-old has spent a total of 12 years working within Rogan’s restaurant group. He was head chef at Rogan & Co when it received a Michelin star, and executive chef at the group’s flagship L’Enclume when it gained its third Michelin star in 2022.

In 2014, while working with Rogan, Barnes won the Roux Scholarship. In 2017, he left Umbel restaurants for a senior role at three Michelin-star Danish restaurant Geranium, rejoining Rogan’s group a year or so later.

Skof will be owned and operated by Barnes but will form ‘part of the next iteration’ of Rogan’s Umbel Restaurants,​​ where the group will ‘support talented individuals in opening their own restaurants and businesses’.

Bookings for Skof are now live up to 14 September.