Manchester Food & Drink Festival award winners will soon open in their hometown of Marple
After five years selling South Indian snacks and curries at festivals, markets and weddings across the North West, award-winning street food traders Chaat Cart are preparing to open their first permanent restaurant in their home town of Marple.
They’ve been inspired by other stall holders who have successfully migrated to bricks and mortar venues such as Levanter in Ramsbottom, The Moocher (who have the Three Hares cafe in Sedbergh) and Beastro - who beat Chaat Cart to win a permanent spot in Spinningfields’ Kitchens last year.
The new venue at 13-15 Derby Way is due to open at the end of this month, taking over what was previously Italian restaurant La Romantica. “We’re very excited about taking things to the next level. It feels like the right time,” said owner Aarti Ormsby. “Our first ‘grown-up’ place is going to look amazing.”
The two storey site is currently undergoing a total renovation, overseen by interior designer and friend Sue Wilkinson. The 30-cover, ground floor bar and restaurant will open first, followed by the second floor restaurant in time for summer. Aarti described the restaurant’s polished look as having “nods towards India, but in a contemporary way which matches our style of food.”
Chaat Cart have established a loyal following over recent years for producing traditional Indian street food classics such as bhel puri, gunpowder fries, homestyle lentil dahl and masala dosa, which match British produce to Indian flavours.
Game dishes have proved so popular at pop-up events, such as Nightgarden at Liverpools’ Camp and Furnace, that they’ll be on the menu in Marple. Expect spiced crispy guinea fowl with curry leaf aioli and Bombay potatoes, or Tatton Park venison croquettes with coconut chutney and lentil sambar.
Chaat Cart has also applied for a booze licence, so they’ll be able to offer some Indian inspired cocktails and beers to match the dishes. This is something they’re well experienced in after creating special pop-up events alongside local breweries such as Magic Rock, Seven Brothers and Alphabet. They even created some special dishes at this year’s Gin Festival incorporating some botanical spices into the curries.
Aarti and the team were keen to open in the Stockport borough which is fast becoming a food lover’s destination. They’ve been looking for the right site for a couple of years and have long wanted to open in suburbia rather than in the city centre. “Marple is a great place,” she told us, “it’s really accessible, on the edge of the Peak District, but only 25 minutes from Manchester.” Along with newcomer, Cambodian restaurant Angkor Soul (reviewed here), Chaat Cart are hoping to create another suburban food hotspot.
“We’ve learnt a lot from our time at The Kitchens and at Beat Street,” said Aarti, and although they still have a full calendar of pop up events already scheduled for the rest of the year, she hopes that the loyal customer base they have built up over the past five years will visit them at their new base.
Chaat Cart is set to open at 13-15 Derby Way, Marple at the end of this month. More info via their Facebook.
