The very best of Manchester’s food and drink vendors will join forces as part of new weekly event Friday Food Fight, launching next month.
Beat Street MCR is the events group behind the new venture, which promises great food, great beer and great music.
Founder Will Evans and bar and events manager Chris Legh will play host to ten top street-food traders each week in a location they’d kept secret until yesterday – Deansgate’s Upper Campfield Market.
Asif Hayat and Jodie Bannister, who both run Castlefield artisan market, are also helping to organise the events.
“We want people to come and de-stress after the week,” said Will, 34. “But instead of people leaving the office and arguing over where to go, Friday Food Fight brings the city’s best food suppliers all under one roof.”
The Hip Hop Chip Shop featured on MM last week is set to take part, along with Red’s True Barbecue, Solita Bar and Grill and queen of desserts Sugar Rush.
The event will be a laidback and fun one – no tickets, no guest lists and none of the formality that accompanies fine-dining restaurants.
VENUE: Deansgate’s Upper Campfield Market (Image courtesey of Friday Food Fight, with thanks.)
“You just want to relax and have a chat with your mates,” Will added. “When it is done right, it is top-quality food like a restaurant, but without all the fuss.”
While entry will be free, they will run competitions online and a lucky few will win blaggers’ passes, providing guaranteed entry and a few freebies once you arrive.
For those dying to know whether this is an actual food fight – let’s just say they have a few tricks up their sleeves.
Will dropped hints on an ‘unusual centrepiece’ to the evening that will require some good old customer participation.
But their main aim is for people to chill out and enjoy a great soundtrack, a well-stocked bar and food to suit all tastes.
The pair decided to join forces for what was originally just ‘a fun idea’, but both agreed that the quality of food on offer was crucial.
“We want to keep it quite upmarket and make sure we have a really high level,” explained Will.
DE-LA-SOLE: Hip-hop Chip-Shop will be there (Image courtesey of Friday Food Fight, with thanks.)
So much so that their vendors have to earn a place on the menu – they even held a cook-off last week at Media City, allowing them to source the very best.
Friday Food Fight will take place for 12 consecutive weeks and you can find out more by looking up Beat Street MCR on Twitter and Facebook. The event begins on March 7.
Image courtesey of Friday Food Fight, with thanks.
