Tasty milestone shows Market Kitchen has right ingredients for continued success

The hugely popular eating spot opened back in June 2016 as part of a £14m investment in the market by Leeds City Council.

Ten years on, it continues to go from strength to strength and – in an illustration of how the market offers an ideal environment for independent businesses – nearly all its original vendors are still trading there today.

They, along with more recent arrivals, have amassed a loyal army of customers by serving up a mouthwatering array of cuisine – including Vietnamese, Indian, Turkish and Jamaican, as well as fish and chips and Yorkshire pudding wraps – from their colourfully-decorated units.

And this week the Market Kitchen family came together to celebrate its 10-year anniversary and the part they have played in creating a go-to destination for foodies from across Leeds and beyond.

Vendors marking the milestone included Manjit Kaur, from Manjit’s Kitchen, a vegetarian Indian cafe that was in the Market Kitchen’s original cohort of businesses.

Looking back on a decade of great food and hard work, she said: “We are incredibly proud to have traded at Leeds Kirkgate Market for the past 10 years.

“My mum worked here when I was a child, and I spent many hours here growing up.

“Now, as an adult, I’ve spent lots of my working life here too. It’s a very special part of the city and an important asset to Leeds.

“Kirkgate Market gives independent businesses the chance to start, thrive and grow – and we feel very honoured to be a part of its story.”

Also joining the celebrations at the Market Kitchen was Mylinh Chiem, who owns its Bánh & Mee Vietnamese Street Kitchen, which she runs with her husband, Sengy Tang.

Mylinh said: “We started with a simple mission, which was to improve people’s lunch breaks!

“After 10 years and serving thousands of customers weekly, we think we have succeeded in bringing a taste of Vietnam to our little corner of Leeds Kirkgate Market.”

Other long-serving vendors at the Market Kitchen – which has had 100 per cent unit occupancy since day one – include Fat Annie’s, Istanbul Bakery, Jenny’s Jerk Chicken, Mr Mackerel, Teapot and The Yorkshire Wrap Company.

The latter – famed for its Yorkshire pudding wraps – can count a number of celebrities among its fans, with Man v. Food TV presenter Adam Richman, pop star Ronan Keating and members of Leeds indie rock band Kaiser Chiefs all paying it a visit over the years.

The Market Kitchen has been an evolving success story, with three new units being added to its original nine in 2019. A further five units on the periphery of the Market Kitchen area have also been repurposed for use by food-to-go vendors.

Adjoining the Market Kitchen is an events space that also opened in 2016 and boasts a pavilion stage, a giant LED screen and enough room for 30 gazebos.

It hosted more than 270 events – including record fairs, food festivals and cultural celebrations – over the course of last year alone.

Much of its programme is free and family friendly, supporting wider efforts to ensure the market caters for as wide a range of people as possible.

Those efforts – coupled with an influx of new businesses, both food and non-food – have been a key driver of footfall during the post-pandemic period.

Councillor Salma Arif, Leeds City Council’s deputy leader and executive member for economy, said:

“Leeds Kirkgate Market is an historic and much-loved part of life in our city and, as a council, we have been determined to give it the investment it deserves.

“The opening of the Market Kitchen and the adjoining event space in 2016 was a great example of the transformational impact such support can have.

“A decade on, it’s fantastic to see the Market Kitchen thriving and its various independent businesses getting the rave reviews merited by their talent and hard work.

“The event space has been another big success, bringing people and communities together and reminding them that Leeds Kirkgate Market is a place that belongs to the whole city.”

The council’s commitment to the market has been further underlined in recent times by the soon-to-be completed £10m refurbishment of its 19th-century ‘blockshops’ area.

A planning application has also been submitted for STACK Leeds, a ‘container-style’ leisure attraction proposed for part of the market’s outdoor section.

If approved, STACK Leeds’s food, drink and entertainment offer would complement the Market Kitchen and, it is anticipated, increase footfall and broaden the customer base across the whole market site.

ENDS