[title]
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.
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.
Hunter gatherer? Here’s how to eat well on the Elizabeth Line.
Want alfresco? No problemo, here are the best restaurants for outdoor dining.