Top chef Aiden Byrne is to team up with the traders from Market House for the centrepiece of a brand new event for Altrincham, the Alt. Festival of Food & Drink.
Byrne, the chef at the renowned Manchester House restaurant and the youngest chef ever to win a Michelin Star, will curate a six-course tasting menu in collaboration with Market House’s existing traders for a ticket-only event on Sunday March 29th.
It will form a spectacular finale to a weekend at Altrincham Market that is aiming to be “a celebration of the food, the culture, the producers and the raw talent from England’s North West”.
Over 80 stallholders will be taking part in what market operator Nick Johnson admits is the “biggest event yet” since the market’s relaunch, starting on Friday March 27th.
He told Altrincham Today that Byrne, a regular visitor to the Sunday markets, had himself suggested some form of collaboration.
Johnson said: “Aiden has been a regular fixture on a Sunday and he’s a great fan of Market House, and he said to me before Christmas that he would like to do something in Market House.
“We put it to him that we might think about him curating the traders, with everyone collaborating and throwing ideas into a hat. We decided to do it last week – it was all typically impromptu!”
The weekend will include a series of workshops from the likes of artisan coffee baristas Atkinsons in Lancaster, award-winning cheese producer Claire Burt, BBC Food & Drink wine critic Kate Goodman, Aiden Byrne’s own flavour thesaurus workshop and many more.
Music for the weekend is being curated by Manchester’s Roadhouse and members of Manchester’s Halle and other local ensembles will accompany diners for the special tasting menu, Sunday Supper, which will last between 7.30pm and 10pm on Sunday March 29th.
A total of 160 tickets for the event will go on sale from Market House Coffee on March 12th, with prices to be announced then.
Johnson added: “The menu will be a surprise to everyone on the night – it will be a coming together of the excellence that Aiden pursues in his career and the informality and family nature of Market House.
“It’s also a celebration of the talent and culture of the North West of England, something I have always championed. That’s why we have included the flag of the North West from one of Altrincham’s alumni, Peter Saville, in the corner of the poster.”
Byrne and the traders are already swapping ideas on a private Facebook page, and as Johnson says, the traders all “see the opportunity that presents itself from working with him”.
Below: The Alt. Festival of Food & Drink poster
