Jöro, Sheffield: 'I visited the Michelin-recommended restaurant inside a Yorkshire mill - it was insanely good'

A year or two later you couldn’t move for them. Chef Luke French is an innovator, then and now – not so much following trends, but rather creating them with his wife Stacey Sherwood-French.

It was an extraordinary place, the interior not remotely like what you might think, but the definition of urban chic without the hard edges, and cosy too.

The promise of the food was ‘hyper-seasonal’ a restaurant with ‘a close bond with nature, to local farms, hunters and foragers’.

I’m at an age where memory plays tricks, but I recall two or three extraordinary dishes from eight years ago, particularly one of the desserts; two bars of white, aerated chocolate with sticky dots of fudge so intense it sucked my cheeks in - the ‘Aero’ just dissolved as soon as it hit my tongue, sending shivers down my spine.

I remember the range and depth of knowledge the waiting staff had of the ingredients and methods, and a very likeable sommelier who gifted us glasses of wine to try from the previous evening’s tasting.

I don’t espouse the ‘making memories’ school of Clintons Cards triteness, unless they’re food ones which I’m very keen on.

With echoes of the magically disappearing Aero bouncing round my brain I head for the new incarnation of Jöro, housed in the recently converted Oughtibridge Mill, this time on the main road at Wharncliffe Side.

From the get-go it’s impressive. The Sherwood-Frenches have gone from dinky Krynkl to a monumental 19th century paper mill and made it look easy.

It wasn’t easy, we all have some idea of the work that might be involved in making a massive empty building into a habitable space, but walking in it feels effortless; black concrete floors and dark ceilings, whitewashed stone walls, exposed ducting and sheepskin throws – it’s a huge, lofty room with twelve beautiful pale beech tables facing the open kitchen, all the better for watching the theatre as it unfolds, in a Boiling Point sort of way but hopefully less stressful.

It is, in fact, a calm, seamless ballet which quietens my slightly jangled nerves from an incident-rich drive over.

I’m going to do my best to describe lunch, six courses – that’s my job, after all – but since I don’t pretend to know anything about the Asian and Nordic food movements that French takes as his inspiration, I’m not going to burden you with the various fermented ingredients and methods as told to us by our friendly waiter.

You’ll just have to believe me when I say that what comes to the table is insanely good.

First up, tiny delights engineered to kick start your appetite; a choux bun brimming with Hafod cheddar, with the finest, crunchiest coating – it’s the size of a gob stopper and does just that.

An aged Yorkshire beef croustade is a doll’s house pastry pie with a proper meat hit and a leaf like a pixie’s hat topped off with a wild garlic flower – so pretty.

Three perfect batons of pineapple have had a sansho pepper and kaffir lime treatment and are somewhere between sweet and savoury and 100 per cent sensational.

Trout arrives, sashimi I think, in a beurre blanc made with yuzu kosho (fermented Japanese seasoning) and Pike roe like jewels glistening in the gingery broth, lemony fronds on the top and a shard of crackling made from the skin – it’s a stunner.

Next up, a bowl of celeriac sliced so thinly it’s transparent, in a feather-light espuma which simply dissolves on impact, topped with a tangle of crispy celeriac bringing crunch to a soft dish – such great textures here, and hard to imagine how French gets so much intense flavour into a modest looking thing.

There’s Silver Hill duck, a plate of food so dark as to be dangerous if not for the splash of bright orange pepper reduction. Black bean sauce – again, deeply flavoured and a gorgeous wee duck sausage.

A Morel farci (chicken, goose liver, truffle) completes the dish. Now my eyes are rolling back in their sockets.

In other parts of the mill there’s a pub – seriously – serving Dark Woods coffee and fabulous cakes from Crumb in Sheffield alongside beer, wine, cocktails and small plates.

Outside, a pleasant decked area will come in handy in summer when the outside kitchen is finished, and upstairs, seven glamorous boutique apartments.

I’m already planning a stay – imagine what the breakfasts are like? The Sherwood-French’s eye for detail is spectacularly good throughout, from the elegant, modern dining room to the cosy, stylish pub – even the loos are worth lingering in.

Time for dessert; it’s called Jasmine rice koji: ‘Ohitachie soy, Miyazaki yuzu & Madagascar vanilla’ which roughly translates as ‘achingly soft sweet and sour rice pudding studded with minute crunchy bits and tiny spring flowers.’ It’s an exploding Aero moment – and just like that, another food memory is made.

The highlights, in no particular order: extraordinary presentation, French’s precise approach to clean, intense flavours; he’s endlessly inventive.

The cute sausage dog at the next table who never made a peep, David Gilmour on the sound system and the lovely waiting staff, especially Charlie, whose knowledge of wines is immense despite his tender years.

No dress code. Actually, the best thing about Jöro is the feeling in the room: this level of cooking often demands a hushed reverence, having to sit up straight and whisper.

There’s none of that malarkey here – it’s a happy, relaxed vibe which if they’ve any sense they’ll bottle.

Welcome 5/5

Food 5/5

Atmosphere 5/5

Prices 5/5

Menu One: £55 pp. Menu Two: £125 pp. Wine pairing available.

Jöro, 22-24 Main Road, Wharncliffe Side, Sheffield S35 0LB www.jororestaurant.co.uk