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Eats

The Stockport farm supper club where you eat outside in the fields

Georgina Pellant

There’s a supper club on a community farm in Stockport where you can dine outside in the very fields where your food has grown.

Hosted by Manchester food waste cafe Open Kitchen in partnership with The Kindling Trust, the journey from plot to plate has never been shorter.

The pair have joined forces to celebrate local, seasonal and sustainably produced food in the most delicious way possible – with a three-course vegan menu designed to show off the organic produce grown at The Kindling Trust’s site in Woodbank Memorial Park.

The supper will be served outside in the fields as part of a unique ‘pop-up restaurant’ experience, accompanied by paired organic wines designed to complement each dish.

Full bar service will also be provided, with provisions made for cover from the ‘Manchester weather’ if required.

Corin Bell, Exec Director of Open Kitchen said, “Messages about sustainability can sometimes feel like
they are all about going without…. Don’t fly, don’t drive, etc.

“We want to focus on positive messages about sustainability, that focus on shifts in behaviour that are kinder to planet and people.

“The event with Kindling will showcase beautiful food and drink, and also be supporting local, sustainable, independent and ethical business, all of which are really core values for both open Kitchen and Kindling”.

Chris Walsh from the Kindling Trust said: “Events like fine dining in the fields are really important to us,
because they open up the farm to members of the public, and help to really bring the message home
about why local and sustainable produce is so important for our planet and our local economy”.

Read more: An Aldi billboard dispensing free rosé wine has appeared in Manchester

Located just a mile east of Stockport town centre, Woodbank Community Food Hub is an urban horticulture hub co-ordinated by the Kindling Trust that joins up inclusive community gardening with commercial organic food production.

The size of one and a half football pitches, it includes several large polytunnels for under-cover veg growing as well as three field blocks, apple trees and a community garden.

Read more: ‘It’s not easy being green’: The Manchester cafe turning discarded supermarket food into hearty lunches

As well as hosting the dinner in the fields, it is also a place to collect fresh organic veg bags delivered by the Veg Box People, who make sure farmers get regular demand and a fair price for their produce.

Taking place from 6 to 9pm on Wednesday 21 June 2023, to find out more about the dinner and purchase tickets click here.

Featured image – Supplied

Eats

An Aldi billboard dispensing free rosé wine has appeared in Manchester

Georgina Pellant

A blush pink billboard dispensing free wine has appeared in Manchester’s St Ann’s Square today, and it is causing quite a stir amongst shoppers.

Set up by budget supermarket chain Aldi to celebrate the start of the rosé drinking season, according to the team the jazzy wine-dispensing billboard is something of a ‘world’s first’ – designed to dispense rosé only when the weather hits the perfect temperature (19.2C, apparently).

According to research from Aldi sales, the north west is the biggest rosé-loving region in the UK. In response, the team decided to celebrate the arrival of the perfect rosé weather by launching the billboard – which will dispense the summer tipple when the weather hits the perfect temperature.

With the North West identified by Aldi sales data as the UK’s biggest rosé-loving region, the supermarket set up the billboard in the centre of Manchester ahead of National Rosé Day (10 June).

After researching over 1,000 rosé drinkers, the taps poured out free glasses as temperatures hit the ideal 19.2C at around 1pm in St Ann’s Square.

Two-thirds of those surveyed describe rosé as the ‘perfect summer drink’, while almost half think it’s best enjoyed in shorts and t-shirts – and a quarter start drinking it as soon as the winter coat comes off.

But ice is a divisive topic, with the country split in half when it comes to cooling their rosé; 55% think it’s acceptable when the weather is hot, while 45% claim they would ‘never’ dilute their drink.

Julie Ashfield, Managing Director of Buying at Aldi UK, said: “Everyone’s heard the saying ‘it’s wine o’clock’ but we wanted to find out when it’s ‘rosé degrees’ – and according to the nation of rosé lovers, the ideal temperature is 19.2C.

“Setting up the world’s first billboard to dispense rosé at a certain warm temperature was a challenge in Manchester, which is noted for rain.

“But as the centre of the region which loves rosé more than any other in the UK, fortunately, everything came up rosé.”

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Research by the supermarket also found that rosé lovers enjoy an average of 63 glasses throughout summer, spending £11.34 a bottle, with the preference being a glass of Provence at 5.18pm.

But despite a liking for Southern French vino, shoppers are decidedly more British when it comes to pairings, with over a third (34%) claiming crisps are the ultimate accompaniment to rosé. 

Unexpected answers also include a roast dinner (16%), cake (13%), curry (10%), ice cream (6%) and doughnuts (6%) – rising to 11% of 25–34-year-old rosé drinkers.

And one in three rosé drinking Brits claim to have tried last year’s ‘spicy rosé’ TikTok trend in which sliced jalapeños are added to a glass of pink – rising to over half of millennials, with 15% claiming to add one to every glass.

The activity comes as Aldi is fast becoming a destination for rosé wine. Last year, the supermarket saw a 134% uplift in spring/summer sales year on year – with the most successful day coinciding with the August heatwave.

Sam Caporn, Mistress of Wine, added: “Rosé is the ideal summer drink; it really does add a sense of summer fun and al fresco vibes to any occasion with friends and family.

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“When it comes to ‘whether’ to put ice in the glass or not, I’d advise rosé fans to be led by personal preference – which as ever – is all that really matters. Don’t worry too much about dilution as with rosé it’s all about refreshment and I love it being served super chilled.

“So let’s raise a glass to the nation’s favourite vino for summer sipping, a drop of pink!”

Aldi’s Rosé Billboard will dispense free rosé when the weather hits 19.2C (approx. 1pm) until 7pm in St Ann’s Square, Manchester on Thursday 8th and Friday 9th June.

Featured image – The Manc Eats