The Trof, a pub on Thomas Street in Manchester's Northern Quarter, has been added to The Michelin Guide's list of recommended restaurants just four months after a major overhaul of its concept.
Earlier this year, the team behind the venue, which has been part of the Northern Quarter for almost 25 years, decided to rename it The Trof and reinvent it as both an independent pub and a dining room serving refined British food. The ground floor remains a pub, while a dedicated restaurant space was created upstairs, with a menu described as a 'love letter' to British pub classics and local produce.
Recognition from Michelin
Yesterday, the team learned they had been added to the Michelin Guide. "To think that our little pub on the corner of the Northern Quarter has made it into the @michelinguide - makes today a very special day. This one's for the whole team," they wrote on social media.
Matt Nellany, who runs The Trof alongside chef Jamie Pickles, told the Manchester Evening News: "Overall my thoughts on the achievement are close to speechless!" He added: "I've worked at Trof as a manager and General manager before we took it over ourselves at the end of 2021, so I've been a part of the site in some way for close to a decade. We've always built on the amazing foundations Trof has forever had but when Jamie and I decided earlier this year to make big changes and elevate Trof into a heritage Pub & Dining Room, it is very rewarding to see it all pay off."
Nellany said: "It might have been three months ago that we made big changes, but we have been working up towards this for the best part of five years. It really is special to us."
Menu and offerings
The Trof's menu changes with the seasons and celebrates locally sourced produce. Starters include hogget mince on dripping toast and dressed Devon crab salad, while mains feature an ox cheek pie with Ratte potato mash, salmon with anchovies, tomatoes and capers, and braised lamb shoulder with roasted celeriac, grilled courgette and lamb sauce. Desserts include sticky toffee pudding with milk ice cream, pistachio and cherry Bakewell tart with creme fraiche, and chocolate cremeux.
The downstairs pub serves snacks including homemade scotch eggs, crab on toast, pork pies, cheese on toast and crispy potatoes with tartare sauce. Jamie Pickles told the MEN in May that he was 'most excited about' these snacks, explaining: "They're just presented really simply. There's not really any garnishes or side sauces with them - it's a scotch egg or a bit of pork pie." He added: "I think the crab on toast is as about boujee as it gets. It's a typical pub snack that's been elevated and created to work perfectly with a pint. I think they're the best pub snacks you'll be able to find anywhere around here, really."
On Sundays, diners can choose from rump of beef; pork and sage sausage meat stuffed porchetta; slow-roasted shoulder of hogget; chicken breakfast with pork stuffed thigh; or shallot, beetroot and goats cheese curd tart, all served with roasted potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and seasonal vegetables and gravy.
Adaptability and legacy
Matt Nellany and Jamie Pickles are also behind Stow on Bridge Street, an open-fire dining restaurant that was added to the Michelin Guide last October. The Trof joins a list of Greater Manchester eateries in the guide including Adam Reid at The French, The Sparrows, Mana, El Gato Negro, Where The Light Gets In, Winsome, Posie, Pip and Kallos Cafe & Wine Bar.
Reflecting on why The Trof has remained a key part of the Northern Quarter, Nellany said: "It's been adaptable. It started off as a bit of a brunch place, it was one of the first places that really brought avocado on toast to the Northern Quarter like 20 years ago - that craze was born in Trof." He added: "Very quickly after that, the nightlife backed things up and it turned into more of a bar. For a few years, it was one of those places that was always busy until about 3am. We noticed that then dropped off, and we built up the food element."
Nellany said: "We've had to adapt massively, but we're very fortunate to still be here. One thing we've learnt is that everybody has a story about Trof, the amount of people who have told us they had their first date here and now they're married." He concluded: "It's quite tough sometimes to compete with that nostalgia when you're trying to do something different and change it up. We never want that nostalgia and love to go, but we feel like we are ready for that next step in the story of Trof now - we feel we're bringing something that's really missing to Manchester."
