Meatopia 2011

"The Woodstock of Edible Animals"

Floyd Cardoz and Joshua Ozersky

The name says it all.  It's a festival of meat.  Every animal.  Every cut.  Every method of cookery.  If you're a meat lover, Meatopia is your heaven.  And that is exactly what it is to the founder of the event, Joshua Ozersky. 

Joshua is very well known in the food world as a food writer and meat lover.  He was one of the founding editors of Grub Street, has written two books including one on hamburgers and a carnivores guide to NY.  It is no surprise that he is the man that brought over forty chefs from all over the country to celebrate his favorite thing.  

Although many people think this year marked the second year of Meatopia, they are actually mistaken.  This event has now passed its seventh year, with the first five years being a small invitation-only event.  Every year was themed, and Joshua invited 5-7 chefs to cook pork, lamb, beef, etc. for about 200-300 guests.

Floyd Cardoz and I were invited to cook at Meatopia two years ago during the lamb event.  "Lamb Bam Thank You Ma'am" was the slogan.  We witnessed six chefs grilling whole baby lambs over spits.  Spraying and brushing the animals with marinades, and sitting back and waiting patiently for hours until the perfect doneness.  At the end of a long, hot day, the animals were brought over to picnic tables, and broken down to serve the diners. It was magical.

The event space

Last year the event blew up.  Held on Governor's Island, Meatopia became a ticketed event.  Thirty-five chefs were invited, 5000 guests attended, and a lot of meat was devoured.  Although I did not attend last years event, I heard it did not go well at all.  Vendors ran out of food, the lines were long, the heat was painstaking, and a lot of patrons were upset.

This year Joshua worked out the kinks.  Over forty-five chefs in attendance, from NY to LA, Portland to Miami.  The tickets were capped at 3500.  The event was held at a wide open venue at Pier 5 in Brooklyn Bridge Park.  Chefs were asked to make no less than 1000 portions each.  Joshua Ozersky was a happy man.

After his Top Chef Masters win a few weeks ago, Floyd Cardoz was asked to come back and cook for Meatopia this year.  After not seeing him since the closing of Tabla back in December, it felt good to reunite with him and some of the old employees of the restaurant.  What will follow is the story of the first event we did under his new restaurant scheduled to open in late 2011.  This was North End Grill's first public event,and we served marinated, grilled goat.  All of it.

It's official

The event started at 4:00pm, and due to the fact that over forty chefs would be attending, unpacking their food, setting up their stations, and serving, we were given specific "in" times.  Ours was earlier than most, and at 10am, I was the first one on site.  I quickly realized we were going to be in trouble.  Nothing we needed nor asked for was on site with us.  It was 102 degrees outside.  Ice was not being provided.  We had but one cooler.  We had speedracks that didn't fit sheetpans.  There was no tent.  We were all the way in the back corner.  We had one grill even though we asked for two.  Attached to it was a spit when our goats were already broken down.  We needed grill grates.  There was only 5 bags of cheap charcoal to last us the entire day.  After meeting up with two fellow coworkers, we quickly got in my car at 11am and drove to Union Square Events and met up with Chef Cardoz.  We needed to rectify this situation quickly.

I, Chef Cardoz, Chris Robertson, and Adam Harvey quickly packed up ice, grabbed necessary equipment minus a tent which is what we really wanted, changed into our chef whites, and drove back to Brooklyn.  After finally receiving two grills with grates, we threw our goat on at 2pm.

Adam grilling it up

Working in the 102 degree heat for hours was unbearable for many that worked the event

The team behind North End Grill.  Simran Mahal, Woodrow Merkowitz, Chris Robertson, Floyd Cardoz, Zia Sheikh, and Adam Harvey

The event from our end was fantastic.  Floyd Cardoz did not hold back on what he is known for, and that's spice.  The goat tasted amazing, and paired with the sweet onion salad it became a favorite of many at the event.  Although Tabla is now closed, we are looking well into the future and happy to serve our spiced cuisine once again.  The Tabla crew was revitalized, and there was an incredible energy surrounding us.

The offal cuts.  Head and brains, liver, heart, and kidneys

I must add one thing of why I idolize Floyd Cardoz so much.  As many now know from Top Chef Masters, he is incredibly charming.  He convinced people not only to eat the offal cuts of the goat, but he was feeding people the roasted brains right out of the head.  He stood there, with a fork in hand, and fed people the brains.  No one was hesitant.  No one complained.  It was such a beautiful thing to watch.

Here is a rundown of some of the other chefs that attended:

Pat La Freida of Pat La Freida meat company:

Pat La Freida's 850-pound steer.  The beauty that is beast.

They were the "centerpiece" of the event.  On their own large, make-shift grill, they roasted an 850 pound steer.  They had it covered and grilling for hours.  At 4pm, they unveiled the massive beast.  As they cut into it a waterfall of juices just flowed from the animal.  I have never witnessed such a spectacle.

Lee Anne Wong of Mosefund Farm:

Mangalitsa (Hungarian breed bred as a lard pig) Ham turned bacon lollipops. Lee Anne Wong, I love you.

My favorite item offered at the event.  Her Vietnamese bacon and watermelon salad was perfect on so many levels.  The flavor popped, it was refreshing, it had depth, it had texture.  Yes, yes I do love you very much.

Charles Grund, Jr. of Hill Country Barbecue:

More Mangalitsa Pork!  Yes!  Just look at these guys go!

Naomi Pomeroy of Beast:

Sun sets on my favorite Top Chef Masters

She is now very well-known for being one of the final four of Top Chef Masters this season.  Her beef cheeks were incredibly tender, and the bread salad gave the dish so much texture and flavor.  I would love to visit her restaurant if I am ever in Portland.

Philippe Massoud of ilili:

Definitely the best looking table at the event.  He used thyme to cover his table, and the hot sun helped release the aromatic scents.  His lamb ribs had so much flavor, and I couldn't help but lick my fingers at finishing this fairly large portion.

Akhtar Nawab of La Esquina:

Took home the title of Meatopia champion last year in 2010.  However, this year his veal taco fell a little short of hitting the mark.

Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo of Animal:

Chicken hearts on a grill.  One amazing bite.

Michael Psilakis of Kefi:

The man who gave me my first taste of lamb brains has returned to offer Greek lamb offal to the public.

Mike Price of Market Table:

If only all hoagies were this good.

Eddie Huang of Baohaus:

Three small cuts of bland meat with really bland white rice.  Definitely not my favorite.

April Bloomfield of The Breslin:

The michelin-starred mistress barbecued whole hogs, broke them down, and served some of the best pulled pork sandwiches I have ever had.

Michael White of Osteria Morini:

I've been wanting to try Osteria Morini for a LONG time, but this does not make me wanna go there.  The porchetta sandwich was 80% arugula, and Cardoz even had a bone in his.  Sorry, but I would expect more from the best Italian chef in America.

Adam Sappington of the Country Cat Dinnerhouse & Bar:

They were set up right next to us.  These guys worked with so much passion and heart.  Oh, and their food was really good too.

Seamus Mullen of soon-to-be-opened Tertulia:

I don't need to say anything.  Anyone that has tasted Chef Mullen's food knows he knows what he is doing.

Yuhi Fujinaga of Bar Basque:

Definitely the most adventurous tasting.  However, he and his team were very far behind plating the hog seven ways.  They had three set-ups, serving the hog seven ways, bacon-topped ice cream, and pig terrine.  Sadly, I did not have a chance to try any.

I didn't get a chance to try everything at the event.  If you'd like to see a list of the other chefs that attended and cooked at the event, please visit the Meatopia website here.  Hopefully I and the rest of North End Grill's team will see you next year.