Popular Street Food Market Returns

The re-opening of the popular Street Food Market at Exeter’s Guildhall Shopping Centre has been postponed until Friday 6 March due to the weather.

The market will be open on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then every Friday, Saturday and Sunday thereon-in.

Starting its second year in Exeter, the Street Food Market took the city by storm in its first year and quickly rose to fourth position on TripAdvisor for places to eat in Exeter.

The market channelled the energy of the street food movement and brought to the city a vibe and tastes that are as ‘on trend’ as any similar market in bigger cities across the country.

Its success is down to an impressive line-up of local chefs, cooks and businesses who, while their cuisine may be international, all have a fierce commitment to using and championing local ingredients.

Karen Smith, who created and runs the market, has promised the return of favourite stall holders as well as some new and exciting names.

Coming back to the market in 2014 are: James Strawbridge and his Posh Pasty Company; Eat Like a Greek from Exeter; Noodle Wagon from Pensilva; Hunters Brewery from Ipplepen; Kenniford Farm, cooking pork and bacon rolls using meat from their free range RSPCA certificated pigs; Tasteful Tapas, run by an ex-Marine from Exmouth who learned how to cook perfect tapas and paella while advising the Spanish army; Dan’s Americano, again Exeter-based and using local ingredients to create American classics such as steak and Philly sandwiches and po’boys; Oasis, run by an Egyptian now living in Paignton and using local produce to create Middle Eastern cuisine so authentic that ex-pat Saudis travel from all over the UK enjoy it; La Cantina, run by award-winning Exminster chef Tim Golder and a great advocate of local ingredients; Topsham-based Good Game, which is a charcuterie creating delicious sausages, hams and other products using locally-caught game.

New for 2014 will be stallholders specialising in Lebanese and Moroccan cuisine.

Karen Smith from the Street Food Market said: “We got off to an amazing start last year and we are really looking forward to building on that for 2014. I am delighted that so many of the public’s favourite traders are returning, and I hope that they will take as much joy from our new faces. The street food movement is absolutely bang on trend in the food world, and by the way it has been embraced by the public in Exeter it is obvious that they appreciate it.”

Andrew McNeilly, Centre Manager at the Guildhall Shopping Centre, added: “Our Street Food Market has attracted visitors not just to the centre, but to the city as a whole. It has encouraged visitors to stay longer and make full use of what we and the city have to offer. It reflects our aspirations to become a food destination – restaurants and quality food kiosks feature prominently in our ambitious, £7 million remodelling. Like Karen, we are looking forward to a successful 2014.”

More information is available by visiting www.exeterinnovations.co.uk and www.guildhallshoppingexeter.co.uk, or by following both the Street Food market and the Guildhall Shopping Centre on Facebook and Twitter.