‘The only way is up’: Popular Northampton chophouse celebrates five years open

A popular Northampton chophouse celebrated five years open on Thursday (March 16), and one of the co-owners believes “the only way is up”.

Hops and Chops, in Kent Road, specialises in steaks and chops cooked over charcoal – as well as offering pasta dishes and a cheese counter.

The venue is owned by brother duo James and Matt Ingram, 42 and 40, who also own The Smoke Pit and will be introducing a chicken shop to the former Buddies USA building in the town centre in due course.

James said: “It’s great to be celebrating our fifth anniversary, as we didn’t think we would get here with the horrendous time the pandemic was for hospitality.

“We first set out to open a restaurant run by hospitality lovers, for hospitality lovers.

“It wasn’t about making lots of money, it was about keeping people in jobs and giving them an option to work for someone other than big companies.”

James admits the restaurant has done better than they thought it would.

“Covid was difficult,” he said. “When the announcement was made that people could not visit hospitality venues, we opened as a takeaway the next day.

“We made the best of a bad situation, and we like to think we’ve hit rock bottom and the only way is up.”

Excitingly, Hops and Chops welcomed a new chef to the team over the past month and have already introduced a new menu.

Reece Coles, 27, has taken the reins and worked hard to reimagine their menu, which has already been introduced.

Taking to social media, James and Matt said: “We have always delivered excellent quality food with fresh, locally sourced produce, and we can’t wait for you to see where Reece takes Hops with his passion for good, homegrown dishes.”

Reece is originally from Burton Latimer and trained to be a chef in Milton Keynes, where he catered in restaurants, banqueting and large events.

He then branched out into pubs when he was fully qualified, but wanted to take on a new challenge at Hops and Chops.

“I saw the opportunity to get my name out there and grow with the business,” said Reece. “This is not the sort of restaurant I’ve worked in but I like where it’s heading.

“I’ve already been able to put my own ideas into place and this business has so much scope for cool things.”

Matt and James wanted to take the opportunity to thank both their dedicated staff members and loyal customers.

James said: “It’s been a rocky road but they have stuck by us through it all.”

Though Hops and Chops is happy to continue with the path it is currently on, the team looks forward to doing some outdoor events in the summer months – particularly taking the food truck to the County Cricket Ground.

“We’re not looking for major expansion or to build an empire,” said James. “We want to keep everyone happy and motivated, and move one step at a time.”

You can check out Hops and Chops’ Facebook page here.