Meatopia announce headliner chefs for this September’s fire-cooked food festival

Appearing at Meatopia for the very first time are Sarit Packer & Itamar Srulovich of Middle Eastern institution Honey & Co. Their newest cookbook is a bible for BBQ lovers, and the pair will undoubtedly serve up their invaluable knowledge over the weekend.

Another expert in her field, Melissa Thompson – AKA Fowl Mouths Food – develops barbeque recipes and showcases grilling techniques. Last year she secured a column in BBC Good Food magazine highlighting dishes from all over the globe, and this year she makes her Meatopia debut.

Having previously appeared at the event, it’s about time Big Has stepped up to the plate. The chef has spent years honing his craft in some of London’s top restaurants, and is known for his back-garden BBQ Sunday Sessions. The YouTube series has become widely popular with food enthusiasts and his authority on fire cooking is canonised in each issue of barbeque magazine, Pit.

Another grill expert is Bristol-based Genevieve Taylor, with an impressive 11 cookbooks under her belt and also making her Meatopia debut in September. Taylor has a love of simple, beautiful food and is on a mission to encourage more outdoor cooking.

Richard Turner is what some may call an over-achiever of the restaurant-world. Championing the finest quality, responsibly reared meat, Richard is head chef at UK institution, Hawksmoor, co-author of several cookbooks including Pitt Cue Co, and is also director at renowned Turner & George butchers and founding father at Meatopia festival.

Previously confirmed chefs include Roberta Hall-McCarron of The Little Chartroom, Edinburgh; Brad Carter of Carters of Moseley, Birmingham; James Cochran of 12:51, London; Karan Gokani of Hoppers, London; Frank Fellows, Curtis Bell and Martin Anderson of From the Ashes, London; and Freddie Janssen of Snackbar, London.

Founded in the US by the late, great Josh Ozersky and brought to the UK by a trio of passionate food enthusiasts, Meatopia is a weekend-long love affair with food, drink, fire and music. Each year, more than 60 of the UK’s and the world’s best live fire chefs each cook an exclusive dish over sustainably sourced wood and charcoal. The festival stands for conscious sourcing: only high quality, responsibly sourced ingredients (meat, fish and vegetables) make it onto the menu, which is painstakingly put together over the course of the year with countless chef tasting sessions and refinements made to each and every item. Admission is ticketed and pre-booked. Each day of the festival, 20-30 chefs create a bespoke dish and cook it right in front of festival-goers over live fire. Eat as many dishes as you like using Meatbucks, purchased before the festival with ticket bundles or from the roving MeatBucaneers.

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Meatopia will be at Tabacco Dock E1W 2SF from the 3^rd until 5^th September 2021. For further information or to book a ticket visit the Meatopia website here.