Sunday Sessions

Sunday in The Pop-Up Market will revolve around a blissful array of panels hosted by award-winning writer and author, Clare Finney, Social Pantry’s, Alex Head and more to be announced. Joined by a raft of guest chefs, authors, journalists and more, they’ll be discussing all manner of things food and drink, full timetable to come, taster of the current of the current offering below. What better to while a Sunday.

Food of Love - Clare Finney

What is the food of love? Is it oysters and chocolate strawberries? Or is it, really, the garlic-sauce-smothered chips devoured on a bench after a night out? Is it first dates at cheap Italians, 25th anniversary dinners at the Wolsey, or the numbers 12, 18, and 21 you order together every Friday from your local Chinese? Clare Finney presents a panel around the ever-present, ever-shifting role food and drink plays in love, and why it matters.

Table Power - Clare Finney

Whether it’s a plywood number in your rented flat or the head table at a wedding, the table assumes a significance that belies its humble appearance. In the family home, it is the site of laughter, tears, strife, triumph and failure. Sometimes it’s beautifully set; sometimes strewn with bags, letters and newspapers. Everyone has their favourite seat, which they defend to the death. Yet even outside the home the table matters. Think of the care taken over design, seating arrangements and table setting. Clare Finney explores what makes tables work, what makes them fail, the significance of their design, setting and seating.

A Taste Of Life From Behind Bars - Alex Head

How can we inspire people serving time in prison and prepare them for life on the outside? What conditions need to be created inside and outside of jail to help ex-offenders choose a different path? What forms of nourishment - physical, emotional, social, professional - have they missed out on, what role has this played in their journey, and crucially, how do we address these deficiencies so they can thrive? This panel, chaired by Alex Head, Social Pantry founder and leading ex-offender employer in hospitality, explores the intersection of food and incarceration, criminality and second chances.

Small Plates - Clare Finney

For years chefs have been obsessed with the role childhood plays in our experience of food, seeking to harness old memories, unlock old feelings and inspire new ones via riffs on childhood favourites. Why is our childhood so formative in food? How does this manifest itself, for better and for worse? How do chefs tap into that – and what can parents and cooks learn from power to ensure their children’s indelible sensory memories are as positive as possible?