Meatopia 2024: Adriana Cavita, Ben Tish and Budgie Montoya among first 50 chefs announced

Meatopia, the smoke-fuelled food festival dedicated to cooking over fire, has announced the first 50 chefs who will be cooking at the mammoth event.

Among those joining the weekend, which runs from August 29 to September 1, will be Cavita’s Adriana Cavita, Ben Tish of the Cubitt House group, Budgie Montoya of Filipino street food restaurant Apoy, Harneet Baweja of Empire Empire, Cue Point’s Mursal Saiq and Nathan Chapman of the Quality Chop House. Brad Carter, who opens his debut London restaurant Undercroft in the summer, will also appear.

Others on the bill include Scotland’s youngest Michelin starred chef, Sam Yorke of Heron, and Jean Ganizate and Paul Loiseleur, who run a Parisian restaurant specialising in Texas-style barbecue called Melt.

Each of the chefs will cook over wood and charcoal, with countless barbecues stacked alongside each other. Despite the name, the festival is not exclusively dedicated to meat — though it was in the early days — with plenty of fish also on offer (vegetarians should, however, stay home). The festival says it has long been dedicated to ensuring all produce used has been “raised naturally” after “good, cruelty-free lives”. It also pledges to only use ethically-sourced wood and charcoal.

This summer marks the 11th year of the festival, with tickets still remaining for both the Thursday and Sunday sessions, starting at £32.10.

Meatopia was founded by American writer and James Beard winner Josh Ozersky, and brought to London by Richard H Turner. Aside from the food, the festival offers lots of drink — craft beer is typical — and plenty of live music.

Meatopia runs from August 29 — September 1 at Tobacco Dock, E1. For more information, visit meatopia.co.uk