While we've become accustomed to seeing local indie street food operators out on the Manchester Christmas Markets in recent years, it's rare to see an award-winning chef busy firing up a stove on a stall. And yet here is Simon Shaw, boss of the acclaimed El Gato Negro restaurant, out in his apron firing up stoves in a tent along King Street.
It is an ambitious new project for Simon - he's taking a punt on his own food stall at this year's Manchester Christmas Markets for the first time. He's serving up food to the masses tailored from the menus of his Michelin Guide-mentioned Habas restaurant, his most recent Manchester opening a little further up King Street, for the next six weeks up to Christmas.
It could well be a bit of a trailblazing move from Simon - and it's certainly one other independent Manchester operators will be eyeing with a keen interest in the weeks ahead. Simon knows only too well that if he makes a success of it, others could see this as a way to adapt and develop the Christmas Markets experience in future years.
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And certainly for those people who complain about the Christmas Markets, and say we should be investing our money in the year-round operators of Manchester instead, it could be a welcome move.
Simon, 54, says: "We had a conversation about four years ago with the council to say 'look we might be interested in taking a stall'. But it's taken until now to make it happen.
"It's quite a closed shop the Christmas Markets, it's quite lucrative for the traders and so it tends to be the same traders coming back every year. I said to them 'it needs freshening up a bit' give people something new to keep coming back."
But Simon knows his grand plan could go either way. He laughs: "If we can break even this year then that would be great. The main thing is that it will get people talking about Habas.
"But we also know we could become a bit of a trailblazer here. I know I'll be getting a call from other operators in the city asking 'how did it go'. If we are successful, other people will want a slice."
As for the stall itself, it's a refreshing and warming little tent complete with Beduoin carpet and Morroccan lamps offering something really quirky and different along the King Street markets. As Simon serves up a fragrant chicken tagine and lamb merguez burger, the sizzling spices become a proper head-turner.
I watch as shoppers literally stop in their tracks take a sharp inhale with quivering nostrils and ask each other excitedly "what's that smell?" It appears to be a good sign for Simon - and on the opening day on Thursday the stall was already packed from the first lunchtime.
He will be serving a specially-tailored menu of options designed to be able to be assembled swiftly - as is the requirement for a market trade. The Morroccan tagine curries (with a chicken or veg option) - served in a hefty portion in a tray - is priced at £8, as is the lamb merguez burger which is served in a powder-puff soft pitta with a delightful tahini sauce and coleslaw.
There are also warm churros with cinnamon sugar for £6, as well as an array of drinks, including Simon's own special take on mulled wine with Morroccan herbs and spices.
He says: "If you think about things like Pub in the Park there are now a lot of festivals where restaurants do have a sort of pitch there. Clearly it works for them, and what we've done is kept it simple - it's essentially a curry and a burger but with very much our own Habas stamp on it."
Simon has had a unique view of the Christmas Markets in recent years - quite literally - as boss of El Gato Nego Tapas that sits in one of King Street's tall, multi-levelled buildings that overlooks the market stalls here come November and December. He says he can't complain about the fortunes of El Gato when the markets arrive - he says they have an immediate and significant boost to trade at the award-winning restaurant that he admits "can't get any busier".
He says: "For the city, the Christmas Markets arriving it's massive. It puts a lot of zeros on our turnover put it that way. We have a 30 per cent uplift in sales when it’s on."
So why take a market stall this year? Simon says: "With Habas being only in its second year, we thought this is a bit of a driver to going there. We take for granted that El Gato is so well established now, but not everyone realises the link to Habas."
Because of the sucess of his restaurants - he also owns Canto in Ancoats, while his empire now includes El Gato restaurants in Leeds and Liverpool - it means Simon himself will be manning the market stall. Does he know quite what he's let himself in for, I ask?
He laughs: "Ask me again in six weeks. It might be an absolute nightmare! The beauty of it is we have longstanding chefs in the restaurants and so I thought If we are going to do this, then I’m going to be doing this."
"For now it's about finding our own sort of niche and we'll evaluate if it’s worked for us, if so we could do it again next year. Next year it might be that we we Canto. It’s pointless doing El Gato because it could not get any more busy in there."
Manchester Christmas Markets are now open daily until December 22. Opening hours for retail stalls is 10am to 8pm, while food and drink stalls open from 11am to 9pm.
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