We look at the rise, fall and rise again of the northern dining institution that has been part of the city's DNA for more than 150: the Victorian Chop House Company now has three local restaurants under its belt, Mr Thomas's Chop House, Sam's Chop House and Albert Square Chop House.
Manchester, 1867. Cottonopolis is is booming and a young London-born chef named Thomas Studd has created a new venture in the heart of the city’s power base. Opposite the original Town Hall, Mr Thomas’s opens – and a Manchester institution is born.
As the gastropubs of their day, chop houses were a meeting place for movers and shakers – somewhere to exchange ideas over meaty dishes. At times, they’ve hung on by a thread, but these days they’re in rude health. That’s largely down to the owner of The Victorian Chop House Company, Roger Ward. Today, his three restaurants – Mr Thomas’s, Sam’s and Albert Square – are thriving. Mr Thomas’s was Ward’s and his business partner Steve Pilling’s first restoration, which carefully preserved the exterior and original floor.
Fun fact: Mr Thomas’s wife ran the show
Thomas married Sarah, a Yorkshire farmer's daughter, when he was 20. When Thomas died in 1880, aged 45, Sarah took over the business (while raising seven children).
Sam’s was also opened by Thomas Studd, named for his son. Opening on Market Street in 1872, it moved to its current premises, on a backstreet just off Chapel Walks, in the mid-twentieth century. Publicity material from the 1960s reads: ‘In a world of change, we at Sam’s Chop House have preserved the best; the quality of food remains constant; the hospitality is just as warm as it was 100 years ago.’ But times did change, and after being run as a pub for a while, Sam’s closed down in the ’90s. It reopened as a second incarnation of a Victorian chop house, with a lovingly recreated interior, in 2001.
Fun fact: Sam’s artist-in-residence was Lowry
Head in at any hour and youíll see someone in a rumpled suit, waistcoat and trilby propping up the bar. With one difference: the figure has been dead for 43 years. It's artist LS Lowry, Samís most famous patron, immortalised in brass. A regular for many years, he often gave staff his drawings.
In 2012, Roger Ward welcomed another addition to the family, the Albert Square Chop House. Dominated by the neo-gothic Town Hall and the Albert Memorial, Albert Square represents the zenith of the city’s Victorian confidence. It’s also home to Memorial Hall, a Venetian gothic revival extravaganza with an extraordinary history. It was this building that became a third chop house. The restoration repaired and cleaned the exterior and exposed as much of the building’s original interior fabric as possible.
Fun fact: Albert Square Chop House has existed in many forms
Completed in 1866, Memorial Hall pre-dates the Town Hall and even the square itself. It was designed by Thomas Worthington, who was also responsible for the famous Prince Albert Memorial. The building became a place for gatherings of progressive thinkers. Lower floors functioned at various times as a warehouse, a Kardomah Café (Britainís first coffee house chain, in business until the 1960s), and a nightclub. The building was empty for almost a decade before springing to life once again as a chop house.
Over the past few years this city’s food scene has flourished: trailblazing indie restaurants have opened across the city, under-the-radar local favourites have been celebrated by national restaurant critics and world-famous chefs are setting up flashy new ventures.
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