Foodievents

Brace for the Coming of Meatopia, September 21

A scene from the New York Meatopia last weekend.
A scene from the New York Meatopia last weekend. Photo: Jed Egan/Grub Street

As we mentioned the other day, Eat Real returns next week in Oakland and this year it kicks off with the first West Coast edition of Meatopia, the New York-based meat-centric event started by Josh “Mr. Cutlets” Ozersky, founding editor of Grub Street New York, Time columnist, and author of The Hamburger: A History and Colonel Sanders and the American Dream. The event just happened last weekend in NYC amidst a rain storm, but a lot o’ meat was consumed by all, and we thought you might want to know what’s in store for what will surely be a sunnier time across the Bay.

The Eat Real kickoff party will feature butchery and BBQ from a slew of industry greats including Chris Lilly (Bib Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q), Chris Phelps (Salt’s Cure in L.A.), Nicole Brisson (Carnevino), Nick Pihakis (Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q), Doug Keiles (Ribs Within), and Belcampo Uruguay chef Santiago Garat. Tickets are $50 and include two drinks, and advanced purchase is advised. Also, there will be DIY ketchup.

On Friday, as well, will be the Brewers Summit at which all 20 brewers vending beer at the festival will be present offering tastes and participating in panels.

Eat Real, as you may know if you’ve attended, is part street-food fest, part state fair, and part local food-craft celebration, and was the brainchild of Anya Fernald, who previously organized Slow Food Nation. Fernald is now working on Belcampo Meat Company, which has been doing pop-ups near their Jack London Square office, but is ramping up toward opening a butcher shop and restaurant in Larkspur.

Eat Real runs from September 21 to 23, and will also feature a mixology station called the Jam Bar, a Kraut-a-thon, and Milk Fed Brunch on Sunday, September 23, featuring milk punch cocktails and cuts of veal, suckling pig, and lamb (whole animals donated by Belcampo Meat Co.) prepared by chef Daniel Patterson. Admission to the festival is free and as it has been every other year, all food items are $5 or less — the point being that good, sustainably sourced food doesn’t have to be expensive.


Earlier: What You Missed at Meatopia: Rain-Braving Crowds Rewarded With Flesh and Fire [Grub Street NY]
Belcampo Meat Co. on Its Way to Marin in October; Good Food Jobs Fair This Week in Oakland
What You Missed at Eat Real 2011 in Jack London Square

Brace for the Coming of Meatopia, September 21