The American event which came to London last year is returning in September. The festival was a huge hit with foodies wanting to catch a glimpse of big-name chefs cooking delicious meaty dishes. This year it looks to be bigger and better with an impressive line-up of guests, 4 bars and a different theme for each day. Restaurants putting in an appearance include Flat Iron, known for their remarkable steaks and superb sides and Big Easy, the American BBQ and crabshack chain that has won the hearts of many for its lobster, ribs and margaritas.
All meat for the event will be transported from Islington butcher shop Turner and George who use high-quality and sustainable meat. The dishes are cooked over wood or charcoal by top chefs and served in taster portions to allow you to try as many as possible. Last year over 22,000 dishes were consumed along with 10,000 litres of booze, figures which are likely to be surpassed this year!
There will be a variety of live music, cabaret and street theatre to accompany the meat feast which will form the themes for the event. Saturday will be ‘Old Skool Saturday’ featuring Classic BBQ & Southern Smoke with Electric Blues, Bluegrass and acoustic jams. Sunday will be ‘New Skool’ with Contemporary Cue & Smokey Spectaculars with Electronica and DJ sets.
Chefs and restaurants will either be cooking on one of the days, or a different dish for each day. You can purchase a day ticket for £30 or a weekend ticket for £55. All food at the event will be paid for with Meatbucks which are £5 each.1 Meatbuck = 1 dish. If you buy your Meatbucks online in advance, 5 Meatbucks will cost £24. It might seem pricey but the dishes are said to be unique to the event and an absolute dream for meat lovers. There are also VIP tickets for £150 which include five dishes, a free bar, table service (no queuing – yay!) and Fred Smith’s special burger. These are now on sale from the Meatopia website.
The line-up will continue to grow right up until the day of the event, but it currently stands as follows:
- Almost Famous
- Barbecoa
- Big Easy
- Dirty Bones’ Ross Clarke
- Duck & Waffle
- Flat Iron
- Hawksmoor (Saturday) and Foxlow (Sunday)’s Richard Turner
- House of Ho
- The Jugged Hare
- Lockhart’s Brad McDonald
- Lucky Chip
- Meatlover
- Miss P’s BBQ
- Neil Rankin/Smokehouse
- Shake Shack
- Smokestack
- Texas Joe
- Tommi’s
This year’s event will have four bars in place as well as a few new additions, including:
- Cutting Room Stage – which will be bigger than last year and with edible demos hosted by DJ BBQ
- Tasting Room – again, much bigger with free craft ales and artisan bites
- The VIP Room – This will be for VIPs only, who will have access to Fred Smith’s Dream Burger (essentially a burger made the way Fred would make it if time and cost were no object) and, as DJ, Gizzi Erskine
Meatopia will be taking place at the Tobacco Docks, 50 Porters Walk London, Greater London E1W 2SF on September 6th and 7th 2014, midday to 9pm each day.