The couple behind the transformation of Altrincham Market claim the recent Observer Food Monthly award will have “profound implications” on the way the town is perceived.
Nick Johnson and Jenny Thompson travelled to London with a number of Market House traders last week to pick up the prestigious award for Best Local Market.
It capped a remarkable turnaround for the market, which Johnson and Thompson restored and then relaunched last year with the help of funds from Trafford Council.
And Johnson said: “We’re demonstrating that the best of the North West can compete with the best around… there are a lot of markets out there, a lot of very famous markets that you would perhaps more readily think of than Altrincham Market, but not now.
“I think it will have profound implications for the way in which the town is now perceived.
“It puts us on the map and allows us to drive home that message about quality, and I think that we will play our own role in the transformation of the perception of this town.
“Our objective is to make this town the modern market town, and I think that this is testament to us seeking to achieve that, and if we are now seen on a national level as being the modern market town, the exemplar not of the number of empty shops but of how one can reinvent and rediscover a town around the reason for its existence, then we’ve done our job.”
Market House now hosts some of the most lauded food and drink destinations around, including Honest Crust pizza, Wolfhouse Kitchen, The Great North Pie Co and Reserve Wines.
And Johnson admitted he had been forced to turn away many others who had been interested in taking space at the market.
“We won’t accept mediocrity and we’ve fought to make sure that we’re curating not just the best people in Market House, but the best people in the covered market,” he added. “We say no to far more people than we say yes to, in an attempt to make sure we’re shifting towards the quality to which we aspire.”
It’s Altrincham’s second win in the coveted Observer Food Monthly awards in three years, with Claire Burt having picked up the best producer title in 2013 for Burt’s Cheese.
Although only Johnson and Thompson attended last week’s ceremony in London, many of Market House’s traders travelled down with them and went for dinner after the ceremony.
“The people there were some of the biggest hitters in the UK food industry – people like Yotam Ottolenghi, Tom Kerridge, Antonio Carluccio… there were 400 of the great and the good from the world of food, and Altrincham Market took its place very proudly as the first up to collect the award.”
Johnson and Thompson established their reputation as the owners of Atlas Bar in the city centre in the 90s, and Thompson said that Nigel Slater, the Observer’s food writer, had been a huge influence.
“We used to pore over and follow every word, and that influenced our menu at Atlas,” she said. “In turn, it’s influenced everyone in Market House.
“To now be working with the amount of creative people we are now working with is an utter privilege, and it’s a privilege to come to work every day and be surrounded by this enthusiasm and creativity.”
