Belfast Night Czar Michael Stewart & Foodie Entrepreneur Caroline Wilson at The Common Market!
We found the right guides for Belfast’s burgeoning food and festivities scene in Michael Stewart and Caroline Wilson.
Caroline is a lawyer-turned-serial-entrepreneur of food and drink experiences. She founded Belfast Food Tour, co-founded Taste and Tour, Ahoy Belfast, Fooday and Belfast Gin Fest and she’s on the Board of Visit Belfast and The Strand.
A well-known man about Belfast, Michael Stewart, spent close to 40 years in hospitality--and was he ever hospitable to us, helping us arrange for the lion’s share of our #LostinBelfast interviews.
A past president of the Belfast Chamber, Michael now reigns as Belfast’s Night Czar, tasked with promoting the nighttime economy of the City Center, Linen, Cathedral, and Belfast One Business Improvement Districts.
We met the mad duo at The Common Market, an indoor international street food festival, open to all--including dogs--in a cavernous old fruit market in the Cathedral Quarter, with our mics picking up all the background craic in this on-location recording session.
There’s a seat for you at the table, so join us!
Links
Michael Stewart
Caroline Wilson
Episode Details: Season 7, Episode 13; Total Episode Count: 116
00:00 - Introduction
04:30 - Belfast Food Scene and Common Market
08:32 - Caroline: How Taste and Tour Started
12:18 - The Belfast Experience
13:28 - Michael Stewart: The Night Czar Job
16:59 - Measuring Tourism Successes
21:10 - The Taste and Tour Experience
24:10 - When Michael and Caroline Ovelap
26:52 - Overcoming Nightime and Other Challenges
37:22 - Tourism From the Republic
42:36 - Imagining a Big Belfast Tourism Investment
46:24 - Learnings from Off Shore
48:55 - Seamus Plugs
51:12 - John and Martin Recap
53:52 - Credits
MIchael Stewart
Belfast Night Czar
Michael Stewart is a seasoned hospitality professional with four decades of experience in the industry. He has an enviable reputation for excellence in food and beverage management, business and event planning, customer service, training, and advertising.
Michael’s leadership credentials include senior roles such as General Manager at Bob Cratchits and The Fly, and Operations Manager at Botanic Inns, where he oversaw six venues, including The Apartment, The Northern Whig, and Madison’s. He went on to become Operations Director at Ultimate Leisure Group PLC, managing eight high-profile venues across the UK and Ireland.
In 2003, Michael founded Bar Czar Limited, a consultancy firm that continues to provide expert guidance to businesses across the hospitality sector. He has also held ownership and directorial roles at The Hudson in Smithfield and House Belfast, and currently collaborates with Common Market in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter.
Caroline Wilson
Founder
Caroline Wilson: After a 15-year legal career, Caroline turned her passion into a business when she created Northern Ireland's first-ever food tour, the Belfast Food Tour™, in March 2014. It all started with a desire to show off the very best of Belfast's hospitality scene and the incredible produce of Northern Ireland in a fun and informative way - and this ethos remains to this day.
Little did she know that what started as one tour a week would grow into what Taste & Tour - founded in 2016 with Phil Ervine - has become today, with 36 tour guides and expansion into Edinburgh, Scotland in 2023.
Always passionate about tourism in Northern Ireland, Caroline is also a board member of the Visit Belfast and, Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival and is a member of the Belfast City Council Food and Drink Tourism Network.
