Cambridge Street Collective, Sheffield: Final touches before Europe’s largest purpose-built food hall opens in Yorkshire

Cambridge Street Collective, which is part of Sheffield City Council’s ambitious £470million Heart of the City project, officially opened today (May 23) but a VIP event took place last night where hundreds of people will have a first glance at what the city’s newest food hall has to offer.

Among other things, Cambridge St Collective will house independent vendors, bars, outdoor seating, rooftop terraces and more, and it’s dog-friendly.

Matt Bigland, the founder and chief executive at operator Blend Family, said the Cambridge Street Collective will be home to 20 different, independent kitchens.

When asked what it is about food halls that he and his wife (and business partner) Nina Patel love so much, he said it was a process – “a journey” – from owning restaurants and pubs to travelling and experiencing Asia and what they were offering.

He said: “The food is amazing. The people who are cooking are passionate. It’s their business and it’s their family food.”

That got them thinking about what they could do to help high streets in the UK. They also realised “we want food halls, we want these passionate people” and street food was about to kick the door in.

But the weather is not great for 52 weeks a year in the country so street food vendors needed a place where they could keep working and trading.

“This is the next evolution in the food cycle,” Mr Bigland said.

But do we need more food halls in Sheffield? Mr Bigland said he was asked this question quite a lot.

He said: “Sheffield is the city of food halls at the moment.”

He said they were “incubating talent” and giving people a platform to work and showcase their talents.

“The demand is there,” he said. “People want to eat in this casual, informal environment.”

Grace Byrne, the founder of Michies, said she was incredibly excited about the opening as it’s been a year in the making so they were “finally here”. Michies is offering Detroit-style pizzas – something that sounds different, maybe even foreign, in Sheffield.

She said there were loads of Napolitana pizza places in Sheffield – Ms Byrne said they actually had one in Cutlery Works – and when she heard Cambridge Street Collective was opening, they decided to do something different.

She said: “We can serve it by the slice, we can serve it by the whole pie – you can come by yourself or with a group of friends, so you can be unsocial and you can be social, whatever you like. I think Michies just gives everyone a nice variety.”

She said she was excited and she thought she would be making pizzas 24 hours a day for about a month but it was her “dream job”.

“My main aim is to never run out of pizza so there is always going to be a slice here,” she said.

Among the 20 independent kitchens is Hungry Buddha, an authentic South Indian food place that has a stall at The Moor Market. Ushma Adhikari, a staff member at Hungry Buddha, said the idea of business was to connect with the community.

She said the plan was to help those people who are either from India – the founder of the business is from Bengaluru, South India – or travelling a lot so they can have “a sense of belonging”.

She said they were excited (and a little bit nervous) about the grand opening but they were looking forward to welcoming people.

Coun Ben Miskell, the chair of the transport, regeneration and climate policy committee, said the project joins up the existing spaces of Fargate, which have been regenerated, and the Moor as well, and it provides an opportunity for people in offices to be able to come down, have a breakfast, a lunch or more.

The building also has a children’s play area so it’s “for the whole of the family”.

Coun Miskell said: “The council has driven this redevelopment as well and it shows the value of us prioritising the redevelopment of our city centre to make it into a place that people can be proud of.”

He added that by having this new food hall, the plan is to drive “economic growth”.

Sheffield has a number of food halls already, Cutlery Works, owned by the very same company that is running Cambridge St Collective, is maybe the most popular of them all.

He was also asked if Sheffield is going to turn into the home of food halls. Coun Miskell said it (Cambridge St Collective) offers something very very different.

He added that 85 per cent of the vendors there were Sheffield businesses and people who may have started up in market stalls somewhere else and this was their first “big gig”.

“So it’s giving the people in Sheffield an opportunity to start a bigger business here,” he said.

According to the council’s website, Cambridge Street Collective’s line-up of world kitchens includes:

• Tang offers tantalising fusion cuisine with a famous numbing hot soup that originates from Sichuan China
• Asia Thai Street Food offers flavours of Southern Thailand
• El Chappo bringing authentic tastes of Mexico to Sheffield
• Homeland Delicacy serving up West African classics
• Vnam bringing authentic Vietnamese food and family recipes passed down through generations to Sheffield
• Baity brings authentic flavours, passion and rich heritage of Palestine
• Unit Burger offering halal and gourmet burgers
• Gyros Express bringing authentic Greek cuisine
• Zaika E Pakistan is a contemporary Pakistani street food kitchen
• Send Noods specialises in Hong Kongese staples all made fresh from scratch by hand
• House of Habesha Crowned ‘Best Food Trader 2022’ at the Manchester Food and Drink Awards will be bringing the incredible flavours of Eritrean and Ethiopian cuisine
• Egg & Co where you can indulge in egg-ceptional breakfast egg sandwiches.
• Michies is a Detroit-style pizza-inspired pizzeria. Think cheesy crusts and wild flavours.
• Kyoyu Grill & Sushi Bar where the essence of Japanese cuisine meets a modern twist of innovation
• Tiny Shop is Sheffield’s local favourite bubble tea spot, offers premium teas and fresh fruit infusions
• Little Penang offering flavours of authentic Malaysian street food to Sheffield
• Locale Coffee will serve some of the world’s finest coffees, brewed without compromise, served without complication
• Frerot is a modern British dining on-the-counter experience from the brothers Luke & Joe. Take a seat at the counter and enjoy a sense of belonging and community.
• Hungry Buddha offers healthy home-cooked food with authentic flavours from the mountain peaks of Nepal.
• Kumo is an Asian-focused bar serving premium cocktails and specialising in Japanese whisky and highballs.