Mercado Central – Cambridge (UK)

Posted on 12/12/2019 by One Two Culinary Stew

Mercado Central is bringing expertly prepared, market fresh produce to the heart of Cambridge. The painstakingly refurbished building on Green Street now has a cohesive presence with its uniform colour and striking hand painted sign. This independent restaurant is warm, classy and welcoming – the type of place that stops you in your tracks and makes you want to step right in.

The interior is elegant and modern, with subtle Spanish accents such as greenish-blue tiles (reminiscent of Cambridge Blue) and a gorgeous Sargadelos ceramic tap for pouring Estrella Galicia beer. There is a cosy area near the bar where customers perched on stools can enjoy drinks and nibbles.

There are more tables at the back but the main dining area is on the first floor. It’s a stunning space with high ceilings, soft lighting, beautiful wood flooring, sumptuous curtains, linen napkins, wooden and velvet chairs as well as tables without stuffy tablecloths.

The inspiration lies in Spain’s historic markets and restaurants and Mercado Central certainly deliver. It’s clear in their excellent food and drink offering but the owners (the majority Cambridgeshire locals) have the background, expertise and experience to bring a restaurant of this calibre to Cambridge. They are Daniel Grana of local company Pata Negra Spanish Food, Spanish retired footballer Gaizka Mendieta who is a childhood friend of Daniel’s, and brothers Lee and Mark Hughes, part of the popular Provenance Catering Airstream and horsebox.

Instagram @Gaizka Mendieta6

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Eat Cambridge 2015, the Main Event – Cambridge (UK)

Posted on 29/05/2015 by One Two Culinary Stew

Eat Cambridge was held at the Corn Exchange on 23 May, 2015. This one-day food and drink fair was the Main Event, with two weeks of fringe events leading up to the big day. I wrote about some of the fringe events: foodPark NIGHT MARKET, Over The Tracks and Grub Club Cambridge Producers’ Dinner.

Only in its third year, this food and drink festival has already become one of Cambridge’s best foodie events.

The aim of Eat Cambridge is to showcase independents that can produce, source or make their products easily available in Cambridgeshire. It’s a great way to discover our local producers, restaurants, cafes and farms.

Strictly not-for-profit, Eat Cambridge is organised by Heidi White and Sian Townsend, with the invaluable help of their team of volunteers. Heidi and the volunteers all worked really hard to make the day run smoothly. (Sian is expecting a baby any minute now so she wasn’t able to attend). As last year, the Corn Exchange was a fabulous venue to hold all the stalls and there were lots of rooms available for the various talks and pop-ups.

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Grub Club Cambridge Producers’ Dinner at Fitzbillies, a fringe event for Eat Cambridge 2015 – Cambridge (UK)

Posted on 27/05/2015 by One Two Culinary Stew

I was delighted to attend the Producers’ Dinner, a fringe event organised by Grub Club Cambridge for Eat Cambridge 2015. It was held on 22 May 2015 at Fitzbillies and included a talk by the iconic restaurant’s owner Tim Hayward.

Grub Club Cambridge is run by Vhari Russell (The Food Marketing Expert, providing marketing and retailing support for food and drink businesses) and Kelly Molson (Rubber Cheese, a design agency working with the food, drink and hospitality sectors). It is a networking club based in Cambridge for food and drink professionals and their aim is to put producers, retailers, buyers and businesses together in order to build relationships. And they do it at some mighty fine places. As the Producers’ Dinner was part of Eat Cambridge, it was open to anyone with an interest in good food and drink who wanted to feast on Fitzbillies’ tantalising menu.