McCain has just announced Ru Paul’s Drag Race Superstar Baga Chiz as its new creative director.
Taking a leaf out of Pretty Little Thing’s book, the creators behind the nation’s favourite potato brands have brought on the superstar drag queen to oversee its creative output online.
Having already awarded herself an MBE for “contributions to the Potato Arts”, it sounds like she’s pretty well qualified for the role to be honest.
The self-proclaimed “Queen of Chips” will be getting involved with all the various creative outputs of the McCain business, starting with those all-important midweek meals.
Image: Supplied
Serving us delicious potato realness, she’s set to share her own fabulous take on British classics – including the beloved potato smiles and beans, and the ultimate UK favourite, the chip butty.
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Styling things up with her very own personalised diamante oven glove, Baga will be on hand to give the nation ideas and inspiration on how the dishes can best be enjoyed – .kicking things off with a livestream from her personal Instagram account this Thursday 2 June.
Baga originally hails from West Bromich but spent most of her career working in East London before competing on the first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2019.
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Image: Supplied
She instantly won fans on the show for her hilarious portrayal of Margaret Thatcher on The Snatch Game (a celebrity impersonation challenge), and whilst she didn’t win the show she went on to appear on numerous others – including RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs the World 2022.
She’s also appeared on Celebrity MasterChef and The Celebrity Circle.
Speaking on the announcement, Mark Hodge, Marketing Director at McCain, said: “We’re delighted to finally be able to unveil Baga as our first ever Creative Director – her iconic and fearless attitude perfectly encapsulates our ‘Anything Goes’ philosophy.
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“With Baga’s support, we really want to highlight that any meal can be exciting when you invite McCain onto the plate – through our new series of social videos.”
Feature image – Supplied
Food & Drink
‘Manchester’s best lunch deal’ that’s only available for two hours a day
Daisy Jackson
There’s a cafe in the centre of Manchester that’s had queues all the way down the street thanks to its incredible value lunch deal.
Although it’s been in Spring Gardens for two years now, Meridian has remained one of Manchester’s best-kept secrets online, thanks to its decision to stay totally off social media until recently.
That hasn’t stopped the queues though, and they’re all here for the same thing – a loaded £5.80 lunch box.
Tucked away just off Market Street, Meridian is an unassuming cafe operated by founder Dan.
It’s much more than a coffee shop, with a menu of Asian fusion dishes served in the cafe, as well as for grab-and-go lunches.
The lunch boxes start from just £5.80, which gets you a box absolutely packed to the brim with delicious Chinese and South East Asian items.
You start off with a base of either egg rice fried, chips, or noodles; then lash on a sauce like Malaysian curry, Thai sweet chilli, or satay.
Meridian in ManchesterThe Meridian lunch boxes in Manchester
As for the toppings, there’s a massive list including popcorn salt n chilli chicken, Japanese gyozas, roasted pork ribs, tofu bites, and crispy spicy beef.
Plans officially submitted for ‘vibrant’ new food hall in Wythenshawe
Emily Sergeant
Are you feeling hungry? Good, because a new food hall is on the horizon.
That’s right – plans to transform Wythenshawe Civic have taken another exciting leap forward this week, as Manchester City Council and placemaker Muse have submitted a planning application to bring a brand-new food hall to the town.
Set to be housed within the three units next to the former Peacocks store – which has now been demolished – the new food hall will become a ‘vibrant’ destination for independent and local food vendors to attract people with ‘delicious and diverse’ offerings.
Developers also hope the new food hall will keep the suburban Manchester town’s centre ‘bustling’ throughout the day and into the evening.
The announcement that the new food hall is in the works comes as part of the already-announced plans for Wythenshawe Civic – with work to soon begin on everything from the public realm, and outside space, to the vacant office space above the existing Iceland-store, which will also be transformed into modern new workspace to support local start-ups and bring new jobs into the town centre.
Developers also recently submitted three separate applications to create 422 new affordable homes for social rent across three locations in the town centre.
“Listening to local people over the last year and more, we know that Wythenshawe residents want more from their town centre – more things to do, opportunities to spend time in Civic and night time attractions that give the area a lift and attract visitors,” commented Cllr Bev Craig, who is the Leader of Manchester City Council.
“This is the drive behind the Culture Hub. A place for local people with an interest in the arts to take part in creative activities, see a show or enjoy the cinema space – right in the heart of their community.
“This is another exciting chapter in the transformation of Wythenshawe Town Centre.”
Joel Chandler, who is the Senior Development Manager at Muse, added that developers are ‘moving at pace’ with plans to give the town centre the ‘regeneration it deserves’.
“The food hall will be a hive for a range of local outlets and will provide new spaces for the community to spend time in and give the town’s nighttime economy a major boost.”
Georgina Pellant -
1st June 2022 
