Meatopia 2010

So I'm not sure where I first read/heard about Meatopia, but after missing Big Apple BBQ this year Alex and I were determined to go.  So we emailed some friends who are also BBQ lovers and bought some tickets.  We headed off to Governor's Island this morning for some serious meat action.  Although this is the very first year that they have done Meatopia, I hope they continue to do it in the future.  With time they will attract other restaurants, work out any kinks, etc.  All things considered, I thought it was a fabulous event.  Sure the trek out to Governor's Island from the UWS took us a considerable amount of time (50 minutes give or take on the subway and then the ferry), plus it was a little hot out to be gorging on that much meat, but some of that food was seriously delicious.  Some of my absolute faves were the baron of beef from The Little Owl (so juicy and flavorful), the grilled bacon sandwich with pickled green tomatoes and Napa cabbage from Bobo (the combination of a really thick cut strip of bacon and pickled green tomatoes was genius), and the grilled marinated chicken with green papaya from Barbuto (the chicken had the best crispy chicken skin ever).  We also tried the whole roasted lamb from Boqueria (the above picture is Seamus Mullen and another chef basting their whole lamb), the MLT (mutton, lettuce and tomato) from Resto (which Alex really enjoyed), the pork shoulder tacos from La Esquina, grilled chicken sausage from The Smoke Joint, and a variety of other things.  I was a little disappointed in the Montreal smoked meat from Mile End, which was good, but nothing special.  And frankly, after reading all of the good press about Mile End I was expecting a little more.  Then again, Alex and I both agreed that it was better than Katz's, so we clearly weren't that disappointed.  So we ate lots of good food and drank some nice Sixpoint Sweet Action Ale, which made for a wonderful summer Sunday afternoon.  Oh and I met Jonathan Waxman from Barbuto, who really is just as nice as he appears on Top Chef Masters!  So that was fun too.

Here's hoping that Meatopia 2011 will be just as good, if not better, than Meatopia 2010!

Pictures after the jump!

 Chicken from Barbuto

Jonathan Waxman

Sliced pork sandwich with coleslaw from RUB BBQ

Baron of beef from The Little Owl

Bacon sandwich from Bobo

MLT from Resto

 Resto booth

 

Whole roasted lamb from Boqueria

Montreal smoked meat from Mile End

Pork shoulder tacos from La Esquina