With queues winding round the block from before the gates opened at 6pm last Friday, straight through until they closed again at midnight, The Long Table, London's only outdoor night market, welcomed a constant stream of curious diners to the car
With queues winding round the block from before the gates opened at 6pm last Friday, straight through until they closed again at midnight, The Long Table, London's only outdoor night market, welcomed a constant stream of curious diners to the car park behind Abbot Street off the Kingsland Road.
A joint initiative from Michelin-starred chef Nuno Mendes' Loft Project supper club, and social enterprise Bootstrap (who run the Dalston Roof Park), The Long Table brings together some of the city's best street food and artisan vendors, making real Mendes’ dream of opening a night market in London. “Everywhere I travelled in Asia I would visit these incredible markets,” he tells us. “And street food is such an inspiration for me, I wanted to create a space that was somewhat curated, with vendors doing amazing things, each one of them adding something to the whole. There's nothing like this anywhere else in London.”
The Long Table title is an appropriate allusion to the market’s broad culinary offering, with everything from okonomiyaki (Japanese cabbage pancakes), to Big Apple hot dogs (which actually do taste like the ones in NYC), Yum Bun steamed buns and takoyaki (octopus balls), to Moro’s Moroccan food and tacos and tamales from Off Broadway’s Erik Medina, as well as pastries from the Lily Vanilli bakery and ales from the London Fields Brewery. Mendes’ own Loft stall was selling BBQ beef short ribs with mushroom caramel and salted peanut pralines, though each week they’re planning to do something different. “This is basically a street interpretation of a chef's gallery,” Mendes explains. “Everyone can express themselves in their own way.”
For the next three Fridays, Mendes hopes to bring in artists to add their own touches to the outdoor space, and he wants to add live music as well. At its heart however, The Long Table is about high quality, affordable street food in a social setting that’s as welcoming for families as for people enjoying a night out. “This is my adopted home and my neighbourhood,” says Mendes, who is originally from Portugal and now lives in East London. “I want to make it as good and as exciting as possible.” He also intimated that the night market may eventually expand. “If we keep an eye on it and make sure it grows in the right way,” he said, “it could be that we're on to something.”
Other news: Newly returned from a year working under Rene Redzepi at Noma, Tom Sellers, who was Tom Aiken’s apprentice at the age of 16, is holding his first pop-up, called Forward, which is being hosted by the Rebel Dining Society at an old chapel on Vyner Street. For two nights (29 – 30 Nov), the 24-year-old wunderchef whose hotly anticipated Story restaurant is set to open in London next year, will be dazzling guests with an imaginative menu that includes beef dripping candles and a pine-infused gin cocktail.
Ananda and Neil visited The Long Table on Friday November 26 at 9pm, and made short work of visiting the stalls. They advise you to get to the next one early to avoid any disappointment – the queues to get in were long, and some vendors sold out early. The last three Long Table markets will be held on December 2, 9 and 16, 6pm-midnight.
Text by Ananda Pellerin
Ananda Pellerin is a London-based writer and Neil Wissink is a visual artist also based in London. More from The Hunger here, and contact The Hunger here.
