The annual meat orgy known as Meatopia returns to Randall’s Island on Saturday (photo by Nathan Rawlinson Photography)
Randall’s Island
Saturday, September 8, $140, 5:00 – 9:00
www.meatopia.org
The ninth annual meat orgy known as Meatopia takes place Saturday on Randall’s Island, where meat lovers can devour an unlimited amount of food and drink during a four-hour feeding frenzy beginning at 5:00. Founded in 2004 by New York food writer and James Beard Award winner Josh Ozersky, the Woodstock of Edible Animals will be divided into such locations as Offalwood, Beaktown, Meatopia Heights, Carcass Hill, the Game Reserve, and other culinary districts, where chefs will create exclusive delights (not signature dishes), all certified cruelty-free, hormone-free, and antibiotic-free, using only wood and/or lump hardwood charcoal for fuel to keep things all-natural. Admission to this year’s City of Meat has jumped to $140, but here’s some of what you get: A ferry ride to and from the event, unlimited beer, wine, and spirits, Jeni’s ice cream, Honey Drop Tea, Robicelli’s cupcakes, and specially made dishes, just for Meatopia 2012, with chefs using all parts of the animal. Here is just a handful of the highlights: Michael White’s Marea (grilled pork cheeks with late summer vegetable mostarda), Alex Guarnaschelli’s the Darby (canard a la presse with sauce chasseur), Paul Denamiel’s Le Rivage (beef shin bourguignon with bacon and champignons de Paris), April Bloomfield’s the Breslin (whole Hampshire hog with spicy pepper seasoning), Pat LaFrieda’s whole thousand-pound marinated Creekstone steer, Adam Perry Lang’s fleur de sel bbq short ribs, Marc Forgione’s grilled rib steak with bone marrow maître d’ butter and pickled grilled onions, Naomi Pomeroy’s Beast (wood-seared intercoastal “finger meat” with pickled watermelon remoulade), Joey Campanaro’s sangria-marinated butcher steak with hearts of Romaine alla Caesar), Phillipe Massoud’s zatar and sumac-seasoned pulled lamb shoulder sandwich, Mike Toscano’s grilled quail alla diavola with charred scallions and buttermilk dressing, Harold Moore’s Duo of Squab (rillette of dark meat and roasted breast ancienne), Jonathan Sawyer’s Brains and Bread (scrambled brains and eggs with crispy sweetbreads and lamb liver bottarga), and Takashi Inoue’s beef belly in bbq marinade. There will also be gourmet plates by Franklin Becker, Anthony Goncalves, Aaron Franklin, Santiago Garat, John Stage, Julia Jaksic, Sam Jones, Justin Smillie, Tim Byres, Kris Yenbamroong, Serafim Ferdekis, Rodney Scott, Adam Sappington, Zak Pelaccio, Craig Koketsu, Hemant Mathur, Shane McBride, Nick Pihakis, Noah Bernamoff, and many others. Live music will be provided by American folk rockers Woods, psychedelic garage punks the Living Kills, and reggae punks the Slackers.
In September 1983, innovative saxophonist and Fort Worth, Texas, native Ornette Coleman received a key to the city of his hometown and then helped open the new Caravan of Dreams arts center by performing the world premiere of “Skies of America,” a specially commissioned work that teamed Coleman and his band, Prime Time, with the Forth Worth Symphony. Director Shirley Clarke uses this celebratory event as the central focus of her 1985 documentary, Ornette: Made in America, which is being rereleased in a beautiful new 35mm restoration overseen by Milestone Films as part of its continuing Project Shirley, which began earlier this year with a dazzling new print of Clarke’s 1962 film about jazz and drugs,