Dalston to get winter night market

Chef Nuno Mendes pic: The Long Table

East London’s first night market will open in a “secret” Dalston location this Friday.

The ‘Long Table’ project will combine street food, performance and music to create what organisers hope will be a local and communal eating experience.

The market has been organised by Bootstrap Company in collaboration with Michelin starred Portuguese chef Nuno Mendes, founder of The Loft Project. Both are based in Hackney.

The “secret” location of the market is a disused carpark on Abbott St, and includes an underground WW2 bunker, which will be used for an art installation to be revealed after the launch.

Emmanuella Cole, from The Long Table, said the bunker forms part of their concept of “regenerating space”.

“It is indicative of what is happening in Dalston at the moment – if you’ve got a space, use it.”

With an emphasis on “fine street food,” the market will host 20 stalls, almost all of them run by local traders.

These will include Yum Bun, a Taiwanese food stall on Broadway Market, and Mangal, a well known Turkish Restaurant on Kingsland Road, popular with eccentric art duo Gilbert and George.

“We want as much local and diverse food as possible”, Cole told EastLondonLines.

Visitors will be encouraged to bring their food to “one massive banqueting table” to eat together.

To ensure they get the community response they seek, The Long Table have refused to make it a ticketed event.

“It is about getting a local vibe going,” said Cole.

Previous projects by Bootstrap include the Dalston Roof Park, an open roof garden which hosted regular events over the summer, and The Loft Project, an experimental kitchen that showcases the work of the next generation of chef.

The Long Table will run every Friday until Christmas, from 6pm-midnight.

Market dates are: November 25, December 2, 9 and 16.

Follow them on Twitter @ThelongtableAS or see www.thelongtable.net for more.

One Response

  1. Kerry Taylor March 28, 2013

Leave a Reply