YOU can be a hero – just for one dish! Tampopo, pan-Asian stalwart of the Manchester restaurant scene, is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a unique tribute to the familiar faces who have worked their way through the menus over the years.
They commissioned a special, commemorative photography exhibition featuring 20 of their superfans, the Tampopo Heroes, each pictured with their all-time favourite dish.
Below is just a sample (the complete Tampopo20 exhibition will be displayed at Tampopo Albert Square from 24th May, and shared across our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter under the name #Tampopo20.)
Julie Hesmondhalgh – actress (favourite dish vegetable ramen); John Robb – punk legend and Louder Than War Editor (tempura veg); Rowetta – singer (pad thai chicken); Graeme Park – DJ (Thai rare beef salad); Jackie Kearney – Masterchef finalist (summer rolls, she is cropped in main picture); and Carl Austin-Behan, outgoing Lord Mayor of Manchester, who can’t get enough of Tampopo’s coconut prawns; and
These and the rest of the portraits were unveiled – and the dishes savoured – at a special 20th birthday dinner at the original basement restaurant in Albert Square.
Each of these dishes will be identified on the menu at Tampopo Albert Square, and 20p from each dish will be donated to charity for three months – that’s 20 lots of 20p all day, every day for 92 days.
The exhibition will be raising money for two separate charities:
• The Tim Bacon Foundation, a charitable trust set up in the name of the Living Ventures founder who passed away from cancer in 2016. The first appeal by the Foundation is to support the Christie Hospital and University College London in their fund-raising for Proton Beam Therapy centres in Manchester and London, and for Maggie’s Centres.
• Project Sumatra is an educational documentary that aims to highlight the issues driving the Sumatran orangutan towards extinction. The project will show how people in Sumatra are living alongside the orangutan and how our lives in the west shape the future of these amazing creatures. Further details can be found here.
The exhibition has been created and artistically directed by acclaimed Manchester photographer Paul Wolfgang Webster (above, capturing Graeme Park). His work has been exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery, and he is known for his natural, authentic style of portraiture. The Tampopo20 portraits feature Paul’s own take on each of the subjects, celebrating who they are and what they love about Tampopo.
David Fox, co-founder of the much-loved independent chain, said “It’s hard to believe that it was 20 years ago when we made that huge leap into the unknown and launched our first Tampopo restaurant. Our little spot in the shadow of the Town Hall has been our home ever since, and we’ve seen the city transformed in that time.
“This exhibition is to recognise that milestone, as well as some of the fans and supporters who have helped, and eaten with us, along the way. I’m hoping that together we can raise lots of money for some great causes, too.”
Tampopo, 16 Albert Square, Manchester, M2 5PF. 061 819 1966. http://www.tampopo.co.uk