THE second event in Manchester Food and Drink Festival’s Hidden Banquet series goes on sale at 9am on Friday August 26. ‘INDUSTRY by Dan Doherty’ is taking place at The Bonded Warehouse on Saturday, October 8, and will raise vital funds for Action Against Hunger.
The Hidden Banquets series programmed in partnership with developers Allied London will allow festival-goers to explore some of the city’s secret, undiscovered, historic, and downright jaw dropping spaces, in association with the nation’s most talented and exciting chefs and food heroes, all in the context of Manchester’s cultural identity and heritage.
The Bonded Warehouse ticks all those boxes. It’s a stunning 1860s warehouse by the Irwell once used by Granada TV as a studio and now destined for redevelopment as a creative hub in the new St John’s Quarter.
In a banquet space not seen for decades exciting guest chef Dan Doherty will cook for 175 people. He’s used to preparing quality cuisine on such a scale. As exec chef of the 24-hour restaurant Duck and Waffle, situated at the top of the 40-storey Heron Tower in the City of London, he regularly handles 1,000 covers daily.
Dinner will be accompanied by a talk from local historian and Blue Badge guide Jonathan Schofield about Manchester’s huge role in the Industrial Revolution and how this shaped today’s city.
Doherty is a long-standing supporter of Action Against Hunger charity, which aids malnourished children in countries such as Ethiopia, South Sudan, Nigeria, Nepal and Somalia..
He told ToM: ”It’s an obvious charity for me. As chefs we spend so much time refining food, it makes sense to make sure those that don't have any, get some.”
Shropshire-born Doherty started his chef career in the City at the then Michelin-starred 1 Lombard Street and he’s keen to train the next generation – he leads the Chefs of Tomorrow programme, through which he has already mentored 16 up-and-coming kitchen heroes. He has a new cookbook just out, Toast Hash Roast Mash: Real Food for Every Time of Day, following his earlier Duck & Waffle: Recipes and Stories.
There are 175 tickets for the banquet, priced at £75. To buy your tickets click here. MFDF run s from Sept 29-Oct 10. Download the Festival Brochure.