Inside the new shop that's a chocolate lover's paradise
manchestereveningnews.co.ukLet's start with the basics. How do you pronounce the name of the new luxury chocolate shop and cafe on Cross Street? Knoops, the brand which prides itself on being a purveyor of 'expertly crafted chocolate drinks', is pronounced 'kuh' like huh and 'noops' like hoops, but its founder Jens Knoop doesn't mind how you say it, after all he's heard many variations since first launching the brand ten years ago. "Knoop is a Dutch word and it means button - and we use chocolate buttons so it's very playful," he tells me as we sit down for a hot chocolate at the newly opened site. "I like to say that given my last name, It was meant to be before I was even born - I really don't mind how people say it, as long as they come back for more," he smiles. READ MORE: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community And he needn't worry, since launching the luxury chocolate brand ten years ago, it's amassed a strong legion of followers, allowing him to open several sites in London, as well as Brighton, Oxford and Cambridge.
The Manchester site is the 10th in the portfolio and the first in the North of England. Jens has had a strong relationship with chocolate since his childhood in rural Germany, eventually pursuing that passion and opening the first Knoops in Rye, East Sussex in 2013.
Building a strong team of chocolate lovers around him, he's gone on to develop an at-home range of chocolate flakes, and even released a chocolate cookbook.
Inside the new Cross Street spot, which has been given a minimalist design aesthetic featuring terrazzo flooring, a polished black tile counter and a neutral colour palette, the shop's expert team of 'Knoopologists' await to give you a helping hand selecting your drink from the extensive
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