DIG the City, Manchesters urban gardening festival (August 3-11) has a strong grow your own food element and it has secured a real coup by signing up the citys most talked abput chef in years.
Michelin starred chef Simon Rogan will serve a special Dig the City menu at his Manchester restaurant,The French, at The Midland for one week only from August 6-10 as well as making an appearance at the Festival Hub, Exchange Square on Wednesday, August 7 at 2pm and 5pm.
Rogan, fresh from the relaunch of his 2-starred restaurant LEnclume and appearances on Masterchef and The Great British Menu, will present a Dig the City at The French menu featuring a twist on the edible garden.
The chef will be working alongside the team from Roganic, his former London pop-up restaurant. Since he is famous for combining luxury ingredients with his own farms produce and foraged plants, the menu will only be decided on the day.
A few culinary guesses, though. Maybe dishes such as:
· Peas and sugar snaps with calamint
· Carrots with beef tongue dill and buttermilk
· Sharpes Express potatoes, onion ash and lovage
· Scallop with turnips, horseradish and barley
· Pollack in brown butter, smoked roe and fennel
· Strawberries with sweet cicely
Dig the City is an amazing event that will turn Manchester City Centre into a garden city. Expect workshops and talks by talks by Monty Don, Rachel de Thame and Matt the City Gardener plus a 75-tree pop-up forest, workshops, a garden fete, artisan producers market and a giant artwork by Americas Jason Hackenwerth.
For more information about events celebrating bees, world beers, edible flowers, keeping chickens in the cityy and the like plus to book tickets visit www.digthecity.co.uk.