Premier Hospitality

WOODKRAFT

WOODKRAFT
Written by Roma Publications

WOODKRAFT

A year on from the opening of his first fine dining restaurant WOOD in Manchester, MasterChef champion Simon Wood has just opened his next venture: WOODKRAFT.

It is based in the centre of Cheltenham and is an artisan eatery bringing the chef’s love of seasonal produce and informal dining as an addition to the town’s café culture.

The kitchen has embraced the philosophy of farm to work, including locally sourced products that benefit small scale local growers and producers. This is reflected in the dishes on the menu. WOODKRAFT offers an extensive brunch and breakfast menu- available all hours of the day. This includes a Classic full English, vegan and vegetarian, sweet and savoury pancakes, and smaller brunch dishes including sausage rolls, smashed avocado and poached eggs on toast, and homemade granola. Their lunch menu includes dishes such as halloumi bites and chilli jam, Chicken casers salad, The WOODKRAFT super salad, steak, burgers and a choice of sandwiches and ciabattas.

On Sundays they offer a Sunday roast sharing board, perfect for couples or friends, and a simple but pleasing and fun kids menu too. With an extensive drinks list, and an option to take out the dishes (as well as order on Deliveroo), WOODKRAFT fits in with Cheltenham’s bustling café scene and offers relaxed day time fine dining to everyone.

A welcoming atmosphere, WOODKRAFT doesn’t do bookings to make it more informal, and friendly, but what it does do is offer its basement and first floor dining area for private hire. Both areas can accommodate up to 30 guests and can operate until 1am under private hire.

The eatery itself is spread across three floors in a period building in central Cheltenham, and you can also buy the locally grown produce and seasonal goods from their suppliers to use at home or to give as gifts. Uniquely, WOODKRAFT also offers gift vouchers of up to £50.

Simon Wood comments:

“Opening WOOD Manchester saw the culmination of a lifelong dream for me. It has been a huge challenge but also a great success. We’re a year in now and with a second fine dining restaurant now under construction in Chester, we feel ready for our next challenge. WOOD is all about un-intimidating fine dining in a relaxed atmosphere and WOODKRAFT will take this ethos and turn it into the perfect day time casual dining offering, maintaining  high quality food and service.  My business partners have local connections to Cheltenham and know the market well and we think the town will be the perfect place for WOODKRAFT.  We hope the local diners agree.”

Former Data Manager, Simon started cooking when he could ‘reach the top of an oven’. His passion began when, at eight years old, he won a competition to be anything for a day and he chose to be a chef. Thirty years later Simon’s MasterChef win saw him fulfilling a dream he has had since he was young.

Since 2015 he has worked as executive chef at Oldham Athletic FC and Oldham Event Centre, launching ‘The Boardroom by Simon Wood’ at the club. In August 2017 he launched WOOD Manchester at First Street in Manchester city centre.  The restaurant has won awards and much critical acclaim achieving top reviews from Grace Dent at The Guardian and Michael Deacon from The Telegraph in the first six months after opening. His debut cookbook ‘At Home with Simon Wood – Fine Dining Made Simple’ launched in 2017.

The opening hours are:

Tuesday – Thursday 9am – 5pm

Friday & Saturday 9am – 6pm

Sunday 9am – 4pm

 

Caterware

Caterware started working with Simon Wood and his team shortly after he won Master Chef. We worked closely with him and his team to design and install his first restaurant in Manchester. We then took it as compliment that when he looked to open WoodKraft and he again sought the expertise of Caterware to design and install WoodKraft’s kitchen. The concept at WoodKraft was very different to Wood Manchester and required our team to design a kitchen in a small footprint that could delivery its menu of local fresh ingredients. Our relation have developed further and we are currently installing Simon’s new restaurant in Chester.

Caterware are specialists in the design, supply and installation of food service solutions within all sectors of the foodservice industry. During our 42 years of trading we have built up an in-depth knowledge and experience of the market including restaurants, stadia, hotels, bars, contract and public sector catering. We have worked with many clients including names such as Carluccio’s, Manchester City FC, Iberica, Comptoir Libanais, Leon, Crowne Plaza, Watford FC and Marriot hotels.

Caterware actively pursue a policy of continuous monitoring and improving our approach to servicing our customer’s requirements. Our team of experienced, professional and committed people are constantly adapting to market demands and trends to provide detailed product specifications for kitchen schemes and tableware/utensil requirements. This approach ensures the equipment we supply matches the design and operational needs of each client.

 

About the author

Roma Publications