Hamish Smith is in Sheffield to find out more about Jack Wakelin’s fast-expanding hospitality group.
To set the scene, Jack Wakelin (left) and Tom Aronica (right) made their names at the famed Sheffield bog-cum-bar Public, then went on to launch neighbourhood bar-restaurant Bench, cocktail boozer The Pearl and wine-led Bench La Cave both at the iconic and Brutalist Park Hill housing estate.
You’ve been busy over the past few years launching some of Sheffield’s best venues – what’s next?
Maria – a restaurant that’s an homage to Tom’s (my business partner’s) heritage, named after his grandmother and inspired by Italian trattorias and southern European cooking. Typical Italian hospitality, Maria will be a restaurant that has equal focus on the drinks programme alongside the food. Serving up our favourite aperitivo, think Harry’s bar Bellinis and Camparino Americanos, digestivo cocktails will be a platform to showcase our creativity and a ‘super-size me’ amaro list that any trattoria in Italy would be proud of. Oh...and not forgetting five-quid Negronis – all day, everyday!
Your venues all seem to offer quality at a local level, finding new audiences. Tell us about your venues and their markets
Five years ago at Bench, our strategy was to be a neighbourhood restaurant, providing for the leafy suburb which is Nether Edge, here in Sheffield. We actually opened during Covid, so, as it did with everyone, it forced us to pivot. We provided cook-at-home boxes, takeaways and a range of bottled cocktails. This embedded us into the neighbourhood and these people still dine with us most mid-weeks. The weekend we become a little more destinational, providing for Sheffield and beyond.
The Pearl at Park Hill, which we opened in September of 2023, is our second venue and our interpretation of what a ‘local’ in the 21st century should be. Serving up a seasonal, ever-changing cocktail menu, craft beer and natural wines alongside bar food. We wanted to create a ‘local’ that can be for anyone and everyone, not just people into cocktails or Bench’s food, for example.
Bench La Cave is our bakery by day and wine bar by night. Our focus here was to showcase all house-made baked goods and bread in the day and become a wine bar-shop by night. The transition from day to night, the lights get turned down, the music goes loud and the drinks turn from coffees to wines by the glass. It feels like a snug little cave and we wanted it to be a more relaxed party vibe than the one you may experience at Bench. Each new venue tries to always offer something different from the last.
There is an element of democratisation to your offering – considered but not complicated. Tell us about how you balance your approach
Exactly that. Accessible to everyone. Although we use the best ingredients available to us, a big focus of ours is to stay as affordable as we can, having offers at every venue. With the ever-rising costs, this is becoming increasingly difficult. However, our venues are nothing without the good people of Sheffield. It’s important we don’t forget that and make sure we stay accessible in anyway we can. As you put it, we try not to overcomplicate things. Yes, we may have £12 cocktails and £20 pork collar dishes on our menus across our sites, which we are very proud of, but each venue will have an offering to ensure we are always welcoming to all too. Pearl serves £4 pints and £5 Spritzes – Bench’s £5 aperitivo programme & Bench La Cave’s £5 wine list to note.
Sheffield has always been strong on independents. How do you see hospitality evolving over the next few years?
Sheffield is an unusual city. Big, storied, proud of its music, with magnificent suburbs, on the doorstep of the Peak District. But it keeps itself to itself, especially in terms of food and drink. ‘The Madagascar of the north.’ External operators bypass Sheffield to other M62 destinations but that is to our advantage. Sheffield is proud of its independents and because of that it has evolved over the past 10 years or so. As good venues open, Picture House Social, Public and Joro to name a few, it’s only natural that employees will leave and go open their own place – as Ron and I did. This is all to Sheffield’s gain, growing the city’s scene year on year.