Gourmet stall serving fine food ‘On the Hoof’ at cork's English Market

The English Market has welcomed a new business which will cater for the city’s growing demand for gourmet hot food on-the-go, and is supporting several local firms at the same time.

The market’s newest stall, which is located inside the left-hand Grand Parade gate, is called On The Hoof, the latest venture of Tom Bradley.

Since 2021, at Mr Bradley’s own stall, Tom Bradley Pork and Bacon, he has offered locally-reared pork and bacon, smoked in Ballincollig, and dry cured with Irish whiskey and local honey.

Now that fare is forming the basis of Mr Bradley’s second business, which opened a few weeks ago.

Local

“We’re using bacon and pork that I sell down at my own stall, and on top of that we’re doing a full beef option, a vegetarian offering, we’re doing mainly breakfast and lunch, and then to an extent we’re doing dinner boxes for people who come in after lunch,” Mr Bradley said.

“Everything is as local as it can be, we buy a huge amount from the market itself, and what we’re not buying from the market, we’re buying from Cork companies.

“All our packaging is coming from a Cork company, and it’s all 100% compostable.”

Mr Bradley took over from Stephen Landon of Stephen’s Bacon, who began the stall in 1990.

“I used to supply Stephen with the bacon, I’ve always smoked my own bacon, I’m taking in bacon and pork from Staunton’s in Timoleague and hand-curing it myself, and I have a smoker in Ballincollig, and then we slice it fresh every day,” he said.

“There’s nobody else in Cork doing what we’re doing, and we have the shortest supply chain in the world.”

Fantastic addition

A spokesperson for Cork City Council said the opening of the new stall was very welcome.

“On The Hoof is a fantastic addition to the market’s food on-the-go offering,” they said.

“We would like to wish Tom and his team the very best with this new venture, and look forward to working with Tom and all the traders to continue to drive the market forward and ensure the market’s continued success and growth in the years ahead.”