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I’m a meaty boy. My friends know this about me. I own a cleaver and am never happier than when elbow-deep in cubes of pork belly. As a result, I am naturally interested in Meatopia, the annual flesh-and-fire fest, brought to the UK by all-round geezer (and Hawksmoor boss) Richard Turner.
If you aren’t familiar, Meatopia is a big annual gathering of carnivores who enjoy meeting up, drinking beer and having men who look like this cook for them using fire, charcoal and wood. Some of the biggest names in food usually turn up to lend a hand, and recent years have featured luminaries such as Fergus Henderson, Francis Mallmann and friend-of-the-veggies Yotam Ottolenghi. The 2019 iteration had no less than 70 world-class chefs cooking. This is a truly global gathering of the meat people.
The festival runs for three days at the Tobacco Docks in Shadwell. Every day, between 25 and 40 chefs create one dish each, and cook it right there, using actual fire. In a wonderfully egalitarian touch, all the dishes are priced the same.
This year's full line-up has yet to be revealed, but we can share with you this glistening, marbled selection of names. Roberta Hall-McCarron of The Little Chartroom in Edinburgh (who you might recognise from the BBC’s ‘Great British Menu’); Brad Carter, who accomplished the feat of earning a Michelin star while being self-trained (he also created what might be Britain’s most unique meal kit); friend of Time Out and 12:51 owner James Cochran (currently raising money for an excellent cause); Hoppers boss Karan Gokani who needs no pithy introduction, and finally Fantastic Freddie Janssen, who runs the very cool Dalston café Snackbar, and who is the creator of the godly Doritos Fried Chicken Sandwich.
Anyway, copious amounts of meat (as well as fish and veg), craft beer, live music and DJs. Good times. Unless you hate meat. In which case: why on earth did you read this far, you absolute masochist?
Meatopia, Sep 3-5 at Tobacco Dock, E1W 2SF. Tickets start at £22.50
London’s best steak restaurants, according to us.
Fans of Meatopia might well enjoy Pub in the Park 2021 also.