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The 2022 Meatopia line-up just got a whole lot juicier

More chefs have come onboard to lure you in with fleshly delights

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Carnivores alert! (Yes, technically if you eat meat, you’re an omnivore, but let’s face it, you’re not really interested in the green stuff, are you?) Meatopia London, the annual festival for all things flesh is happening at the start of September. Fresh off the griddle, news has just hit that after the first announcement earlier this month of Meatopia’s line-up, things have just got a whole lot beefier.

Original US Meatopia founder Josh Ozersky pledged to showcase sustainability, quality and flavour in the form of a festival for food and fire-cooking lovers – and, erm, meat, of course. This idea quickly took fire in the UK and in the last ten years, Meatopia London has really earned its chops. As one of the longest-running food events, it attracts over 70 renowned chefs from across the globe to cook bespoke dishes over live fire. It’s pretty much a total onslaught of the senses, with the promise of tasty fire-cooked food, drinks and entertainment all wrapped with a bun or cornbread at the end of it.

For meat fest newbies: admission is ticketed and pre-booked here, and each day of the weekend-long festival ( this year from September 2-4) 20-30 chefs cook a bespoke dish, over live fire, in front of you. There’s a special form of currency in the form of  Meatopia’s ‘Meatbucks’, purchased before the festival with ticket bundles, or from roving ‘MeatBucaneers’ (hopefully wearing breeches and a tricorn hat like Captain Hook) during the event, which allow you to eat as little or, be honest, as much as you’d like.

Keen to get the salivary glands working, Meatopia has now revealed the first wave of chefs appearing this September and promises to show a leg or rump later this summer.

Meatopia 2022
MeatopiaMeatopia's 2022 line-up is announced

First up are Meatopia veterans, fêted on the steak scene, Hawksmoor, who have appeared at every single festival. There’s the chance to see Big Has, known for his ‘BBQ Sunday Sessions’ YouTube show, live, in his natural habitat. Sam and Shauna, aka Hangfire, are synonymous with Southern American barbecue food. They love it and want to convert everyone to their way of thinking. Fallow’s ethos is creative cooking with sustainability, including hyper-seasonal menus to the use of dairy cows. Mangal 2’s Turkish food is cooked on an open fire and celebrates heritage ingredients and unusual cuts of meat, as chef Sertaç Dirik builds up delicate layers of flavours.

Back to the Americas with Adriana Cavita showcasing Mexican fire-cooked fare. Also returning for a second year is fire-cooking aficionado Melissa Thompson and Maureen Tyne, known for her word-of-mouth jerk in Brixton.

Making his only festival appearance this year is Ruben’s Reubens: smoking, curing and fire-cooking inspired by his Polish-Jewish roots. Cue Point brings Afghan-British barbecue fusion and a commitment to providing employment opportunities for refugees and immigrants. Akwasi Brenya-Mensa introduces a dish from his pan-African restaurant Tatale after opening this summer at London’s Africa Centre. Finally, there’s Chaya Pugh, recipe developer at the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen. Chaya’s Mauritian upbringing means coconut, chilli, pineapple and lime. Expect plenty of spice and flavour from her dish at this year’s festival.

Here’s the full Meatopia line-up so far:

Adriana Cavita, Cavita

Aisling Chaudhuri, Rye By The Water

Akwasi Brenya-Mensa, Tatale

Andrew Tuck, St Kew Inn

Bogdan Galaction, The Lowback

Chaya Pugh, Ottolenghi Test Kitchen

Chris Roberts, Flamebaster

David Bravo, Nopi

Dom Fernando, Paradise

Elliot Cunningham, Lagom

Emily Chung & Amy Chung, Rangoon Sisters

Genevieve Taylor

George Wood, Brix and Bones

Hasan Semay aka Big Has

Iain Heywood, Hawksmoor 

Jack May, Bare Bone

James Whetlor, Cabrito

Joe Hill, The Table

Josh Moroney & Mursal Saiq, Cue Point

Lap Fai Lee, Fire + Rice

Lewis Spencer, Hotbox

Leyli Homayoonfar & Rebecca Goad, Bab Haus

Luke French, Jöro

Luke Payne, The Pack Horse

Maria Georgiou and Rhianna Butler, Mam Sham

Mark Rosati, Shack Shack

Matt Beardmore, Legare

Matt Gillan, Heritage

Max Grimes & Sam Pearce, FIREYARD

Melissa Thompson & Maureen Tyne

Mikel López de Viñaspre, Sagardi

Philip Branch, Hawksmoor

Richard Corrigan & Simon Merrick, Daffodil Mulligan

Roberta Hall McCarron & Hamish McNeill, The Little Chartroom

Ronnie Aronica, Bench

Ruben Dawnay, Ruben’s Reubens

Sam Evans & Shauna Guinn, Hang Fire

Sam Grainger, Madre/Belzan 

Sertaç Diriki, Mangal ll

Suzie Bakos

Talia Prince, FYR

Will Murray & Jack Croft, Fallow

Yavaj Rach, Piña

Meatopia, Tobacco Quay, Wapping Lane, E1W 2SF. Sep 2-4 2022. From £25.

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