Guinness X Meatopia, the beer and barbecue festival taking place in Dublin next month (July 6th-8th), has attracted a strong line-up of London chefs, as well as an international contingent.
Niall Davidson is the Scottish-born, Derry-raised chef behind Nuala, the London restaurant on City Road specialising in British and Irish food cooked over wood.
Dan Doherty recently left Duck and Waffle in the Heron Tower to set up his own, yet to be announced, restaurant in London, as well as consulting on a New York opening at Hudson Yards on Manhattan's west side.
They are being joined in Dublin by Pip Lacey, Great British Menu winner 2017, and Elizabeth Haigh, the Singaporean British MasterChef contestant who was founding head chef at Michelin-starred Pidgin in Hackney.
Both women are due to open restaurants in London this year that will make a feature of cooking over wood. Lacey is at advanced stages of planning for Hicce, and Haigh’s solo project will be called Shibui.
New York restaurateur Esther Choi will bring a Korean grill influence to the event, and Ohio chef and restaurateur Jonathon Sawyer will be bringing a US flavour to the festival.
San Pellegrino Young Chef UK and Ireland winner Killian Crowley, from Aniar in Galway, will also be taking part and plans to devote his grill to seafood.
The Open Gate Brewery at St James’s Gate in Dublin, which will host the festival, has developed beers to pair with the chefs’ dishes, including innovations created specially for the event, including a salt and pepper beer, a rhubarb sour and a caramel ale.
The Meatopia Cutting Room will have a stage with butchery demonstrations, and panel discussions with Guinness brewers, beer sommeliers and chefs. Musical entertainment will be provided by New York’s Reverend Vince Anderson and the Love Choir and Dublin’s Ukulele Tuesday.
Meatopia was started in the US by the late Josh Ozersky and was brought to the UK by Richard H Turner and his partners in London restaurants Hawksmoor, Blacklock and Turner & George. It was staged in Dublin for the first time last summer.
Tickets for the Dublin festival cost €70, to include four dishes chosen on the day, with paired taster beers, and a pint of the Guinness X Meatopia special brew. There are three sessions – Friday, July 6th (4-10pm); Saturday, July 7th (4-10pm) and Sunday, July 8th (1-6pm). Tickets can be booked at guinnessopengate.com/meatopia.
