SO this is Christmas. A time of foodie excess if you can afford; skint, it’s a struggle to fill your belly, never mind host a festive feast.
It’s hard to credit a decade ago food banks were barely around. Now there are more than 2,000 across the UK, handing out around 1.6 million grocery packages a year, according to food charity The Trussell Trust. An estimated 200,000 emergency grocery parcels are due to be handed out this December.
Worth thinking about as you pay a premium price for a craft beer or work your way round the cornucopia of our burgeoning food halls. These have become the ultimate golden egg-laying goose – the recipe for regeneration Altrincham style, a Mackie Mayor in every mill town the mad dream, the reality being they are the best fit for an aspiring area, affordable for young families.
Urmston and Levenshulme, with halls in the pipeline, fit that bill. Macclesfield Picturedrome is the current benchmark (pictured, third venture from Nick Johnson’s Market Operations after Market House (Altrincham) and Mackie Mayor (Northern Quarter).
We loved it, but Nick is not the only food hall operator on the block. Restaurateur Steve Pilling has followed his Stockport Produce Hall with The Mad Giant (main image) in his former tapas bar, La Cantina, at 653 Wilmslow Road Didsbury, while Mital Morar, owner of the Store Group, has added a site in Sale’s Square Shopping Centre to his mini-empire that started with Ancoats General Store and progressed to Stretford Foodhall and Kiosk in Manchester Arndale.
The Mad Giant (no, we’ve no idea either) leans on the two excellent Asian street food operators who refreshed the Produce Hall after accusations mot of the traders were Pilling own sub-brands. Chat Cart is offering South Indian treats such as Khozi Kuttan (above), a mix of chicken, coconut, black pepper, ginger, rice, salad and rainbow slaw.
Cambodian specialists Angkor Soul have chosen to launch a new casual concept called Kambuja (an old world for that country). Neighbours Kneadful Things pizza and AtLast Burgers are Pilling projects, local beers come from Alphabet and First Chop with coffee and cakes from Black Market Espresso Co. The style is communal canteen with graffiti murals.
The Store Group’s new Groceries & Beer outlet has taken over over Aladdin's Den, The Square Shopping Centre furniture shop, plus two neighbouring units. It’s early days, so the space has a stripped down look of brick walls, concrete floors and the inevitable long tables to share.
Stretford Food Hall devotees will be familiar with pioneering trader Slurp Crackle and Pop, offering Asian street food bao and noodles. To wash those down beers from Cloudwater and Northern Monk. Eat drink and be merry in these communal gathering places, an asset to their neighbourhoods.
Let’s all, though, spare a thought for those whose belts are just a little tighter. Merry Christmas from Taste of Manchester.
The Mad Giant, 653 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, M20 6QZ Manchester. 0161 434 9919. Open Tue-Sat, noon-11pm. Groceries & Beer,13-19 The Mall, Sale, M33 7WZ. Open seven days a week, 7am-9pm.