JUST a fortnight to the start of the 2016 Manchester Food and Drink Festival. It’s a citywide event, venturing far with its Fringe Events, but the the focus is inevitably the Festival Hub in St Albert’s Square – home of the Live Cookery Theatre, pop-up restaurant events, the Great Manchester Bake Off and, of course, the Fever Tree Gin Garden and all the other bars with a full programme of live music.
The mecca for most visitors is inevitably the array of global street food stalls, active from noon to 11pm. Delicious cooking smells assail your nostrils as soon as your step into the Square’s pop-up food village. This year the Street Food at the Festival Hub offering is divided into two free to enter sessions – Thu 29 Sep 29-Tue Oct 4 and Wed Oct 5-Sun Oct 9 – with little crossover of traders, thus keeping it all fresh.
There’s an extra tasty line-up this year. Here are Taste of Manchester’s Five Faves:
Diamond Dogs They sell handmade Frankfurters made in Salford with free range pork from J.W Mettrick and Sons of Glossop. Diamond Dogs are made with traditional natural lamb casings and smoked over English fruit woods in a method unique in the hot dog industry. (Session 1)
CAU This Buenos Aires-inspired restaurant and bar offers a menu that is a melting pot of com-fort food inspired by Italy and Spain alongside the jewel in Argentina’s crown, its beef. Burgers or steaks, succulent stuff (Session 1)
Tampopo They’ve travelled all over East Asia to bring back their favourite dishes. So savour the aromas and flavours from the bustling street markets of Bangkok, the hawker stalls of Singapore and the noodle vendors of Tokyo. (Session 2)
Ladle and Skillet This organic flatbread bakery has established a strong ethical reputation trading for five years on London’s Southbank and at festivals. Expect free range lamb from Kent and locally sourced seasonal salad. Their flatbreads are made using stoneground organic heritage wheat, Himalayan salt, filter water and olive oil. (Session 2)
Eat New York A bagel slingin’ food truck with a New York Taxi cab swagger, specializing in salt beef bagels, cheeseburgers, bagel burgers, fries, shakes and sodas. Everything served is oozing with sauce and comes sloppy as standard. (Session 2)