Apr 26, 2013

Tim Lester

The Meat Shack Paul Fulford

Meat Shack, For more information, follow Meat Shack on Twitter @themeatshack

On our walk there we had been given the evil eye by a man with a giant snake slithering around his neck.

Outside the restaurant we queued for an hour and a half, during which time we were engaged in baffling conversation by a passer-by who engulfed us in clouds of cannabis smoke.

Inside, we queued to order and then faced a long wait for our food.

The
drinks we drank were served in plastic glasses and cups and the napkins
on the table took the form of a roll of kitchen paper.

The meals arrived in plastic baskets.

And yet here we were – my wife, my son and I – discussing whether this meal should merit four or five stars.

Which rather suggests that the evening had been a success. And it was.

But let’s put things in context.

The Meat Shack – aka Paul Collis – is one of this city’s growing army of street food vendors and his burgers are renowned.

So
renowned that Brad Carter, chef-patron of the fabulous Moseley restaurant that bears his name, invited him in to stage a pop-up because
he was keen to collaborate.

Not
a surprise, perhaps, because there’s a real buzz about street food in Birmingham right now – the recent launch of the monthly Kings Heath gathering and the weekly Digbeth Dining Club event, for instance.

Hence the queues outside Carters on a dry and warm Monday evening.

And
the presence of so many well known chefs and foodies, including one who’d received a text from his wife telling him that he’d missed his baby daughter’s first words (though it didn’t seem to detract from the enjoyment of the burger he was eating).

Customers queue outside Carters in Moseley

There
was a sense of occasion about the evening, so it’s difficult to separate the glow of satisfaction that I felt as I ate the food from the
sense of being at an event.

But there’s no doubt at all in my mind that the burger that I’d ordered was the best I’d ever eaten.

Called
the Jam Pudding, it was a moist, melting delight that balanced an array
of savoury, sweet, smokey, sour, creamy and sharp flavours brilliantly.

The
precisely-cooked patty – a winning combination of good-quality, dry-aged ground beef and black pudding – was a thing of supreme beauty.

Also
piled on to a glazed, slightly sweet bap was bacon chilli jam, cheese, a
smokey chipayo sauce, pickles and crunchy iceberg lettuce.

Alongside lay a rasher of bacon – described as ‘candy bacon praline’ – the sweetness and crisp texture of which were wonderful.

Deftly seasoned and perfectly cooked spaghetti fries were a good alternative to chips.

My son Ewan was equally as delighted as he tucked into his Jam Pudding.

Lynn,
meanwhile, was slightly less adventurous with the Mr ‘OG’ Shack, which included a patty with a Jersey milk cheese called Ogleshield, pickled red onions and slaw.

She, who is no fan of burgers, was suitably impressed by this.

Conscious
that others were still queuing outside, and also replete, we decided against ordering the dessert of popcorn sundae, a decision that I now slightly regret, for it sounds to me like a blissful combination.

Another,
and greater, regret: that I didn’t spot on the menu the McFoie burger that I’m sure would have been worth every penny of the £25 that it cost.

As
it was our bill, which included a couple of bottles of an excellent German pilsner and a glass of red wine, was the right side of £30.

Watch out for Meat Shack at various venues in the city.

The burgers are well worth hunting out.

Three more places for unfussy food

Cafe Opus:
All-day operation offering quality food. 1 Oozells Square, Brindleyplace, Birmingham B1 2HS.

Habaneros:
Tasty Mexican street food from a street vendor near the cathedral. Temple Row, Birmingham.

Yorks Bakery:
Great coffee, tea, cakes, sandwiches and stews. 1-3 Newhall Street, Birmingham B3 3NH.

Street food sensation is sweeping the nation

Forget frozen burgers, soggy sausages and stale chips, street food has had a makeover. Mary Griffin
finds Birmingham’s brightest young chefs are taking to vans and snack shacks to bring gourmet dining to a street near you.

Stuffy restaurants can be enough to make any foodie lose their appetite.

But a new wave of chefs are going back to basics, turning their backs on permanent premises to serve their
signature dishes from trucks and pop-up gazebos.

Sparking
recipe books, TV series and the annual British Street Food Awards (which drew 300 entries for its debut in 2010, rising to a whopping 3,000 entries last year), food-on-the-go is taking the country by storm.

And the revolution is alive and kicking in Birmingham, with last week seeing the launch of a monthly street food market in Kings Heath where queuing foodies had the pick of 15 different vendors in the village square.

The
concept of street food is nothing new. For hundreds of years cooks without their own premises have been hawking their wares from street corner stands.

But today’s street food is a cut above the cheap bread rolls stuffed with frozen burgers sold in lay-bys.

With
the average dish costing somewhere between £3 and £7, the emphasis is on top quality – and usually locally-sourced ingredients – that have been skillfully transformed into moreish meals through tried and tested recipes.

And instead of serving to a captive audience at an event or positioning themselves opportunistically on a busy high street, today’s street food traders are
teaming up to form their own markets, making their dishes the destination.

Richard Baker from www.awesomecoffee.co.uk

Moseley resident and food fanatic Duncan Stanley, working under the name of Brum
Yum Yum, launched last weekend’s event – and already has designs on weekly street markets, touring Kings Heath, the Jewellery Quarter and the city centre.

As an apprentice producer with UB40, Duncan first got a taste for street food on tour and later tickled his tastebuds as an independent traveller in South Asia, South and Central America and Europe.

He says: “My background is in music events but I’m a foodie at heart.

“Street food is stripped down cuisine about depth of flavour and the honesty and care that goes into creating that.

“It’s about independent chefs taking one or two dishes and perfecting them.

“In Birmingham we’ve got plenty of choice at the top and bottom ends of the market. But there’s a middle market malaise.

“With
street food the quality of the ingredients and the dedication of the chefs shine through and all the bits that turn us off restaurants – the stuffy staff, the decor, aren’t there so there’s nothing to take away from the value of the food on the plate.

“Most
vendors are trained chefs with many years’ experience of catering but in this economic climate they don’t have a hope in hell of opening a restaurant – and the chance of making money is quite slim even if they did.

“This is a way of getting out there and reaching a discerning audience with quality dishes.”

Birmingham’s
street food scene was born last August when Moseley-based freelance videographer Jack Brabant, 30, launched the Digbeth Dining Club at Spotlight, under the railway arches.

With a rotating weekly roster of two or three vendors, the club serves freshly cooked food every Friday night.

Themed
events such as Day of the Dead, a Halloween weekender and the festive Digmas (designed to rival the “boring and overpriced” food at Birmingham’s German markets) have been touted on Twitter and Facebook, attracting a growing crowd with most vendors now selling out.

Jack,
who got the idea after being commissioned to film of London’s street food traders, says: “We wanted to get the scene going, get people enjoying good food and dispel the myth that street food is just cheap burgers and jacket potatoes.

“People came down not knowing what to expect and we have a lot of discerning foodies.

“We make it so that you almost have to sit or stand next to someone you don’t know and it gets people talking.

“It’s not at all stuffy. It’s very European with no pressure.”

Building
on Digbeth Dining Club’s foundations, Duncan’s Brum Yum Yum has been licensed by Birmingham City Council to operate street food markets and is already looking to expand with sister markets in the Jewellery Quarter and city centre.

The organisation is also in talks with BBC Good Food producers about featuring street food at their shows.

The Kings Heath Streetfood Market returns on the second Saturday of every month, running from noon to 6pm.

Digbeth Dining Club’s choice of best street food vendors

* The Original Patty Men

Their burgers use beef that has been hung for nearly five weeks, allowing
the marbled meat to reach its ideal maturity and full potential.

They have developed their own Krispy Kreme burger and are also fans of smoked
brisket and pulled pork.

* Jabberwocky

Jabberwocky
tour the Midlands promoting the humble toasted sandwich to a delicious dining experience, using quality, locally-sourced ingredients.

* Hungry Toad

Hungry Toad, from Redditch, has been a hit with barbecued baby back ribs and their own special recipe buttermilk fried chicken as well as huge burritos, two-hour slow cooked chilli, curries and, the street food favourite, burgers.

* The Meatshack

Under the strapline “Dripping filthy goodness”, the Meatshack claims to serve “the
best burgers in Birmingham”, cooked to order in five minutes.

Flic and Barny Luxmoore of The Jabberwocky.

Tasty toastie is turning heads

What makes a successful professional couple choose to tour the Midlands selling toasted sandwiches from the back of a van?

For Flic and Barny Luxmoore it was a chance to share their love of food and follow the dream of being their own bosses.

Barny is head chef at Merchants
restaurant in Warwick while Flic works full-time in marketing, but in their spare time the pair from Leamington have been developing a successful business selling gourmet toasties under the name The Jabberwocky.

Their latest creation is a toastie filled with smoked wood pigeon, red Leicester, spring onions and red currant sauce.

Flic, 28, says: “We were thinking about starting a restaurant but it was just too expensive.

“So we looked at alternatives, came across this van on eBay and decided to go for it.

“With street food the people who are serving you are the business owners, managers and chef, and you get direct contact with them.

“It has to be cooked fresh and it has to taste amazing – something that people couldn’t easily make themselves at home.

“We hope to get to the stage fairly soon where we can live off it.

“Since discovering street food there’s nothing that suits us more.”

30. Robyn Almodovar of Palate Party Food Truck – New Times Broward

Robyn AlmodovarNew Times’ Best of Broward – Palm Beach 2013 issue arrives June 13. To celebrate, Clean Plate Charlie is serving up 30 of our favorite tastemakers — restauranteurs, chefs, bartenders, and other foodies — that make the South Florida food scene what it is. We’ll start with number 30 and lead up to the South Florida’s number one. All are listed at the end of the post.

Robyn Almodovar and her food truck Palate Party are hard to miss. The truck comes equipped with a large mouth and a rooftop stage. Robyn comes equipped with signature bright red pants and can sometimes be seen dancing on said truck-roof stage. But behind all that showmanship is a serious and ambitious chef. A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Atlanta, Almodovar held her own against potty-mouthed chef Gordon Ramsay in Season 10 of Hell’s Kitchen and is launching a line of hot sauces. One of the few female food truck owners, Almodovar holds her own, serving chef-driven sustainable food while having fun doing it.

The most influential person in my career has been…
My mother, since birth.

When I’m alone and in need of comfort, (and no one is there to watch or judge), the one food or drink I turn to is…
To be completely honest? Celebration donuts from 7-Eleven. They are so good. 1 a.m. is when the fresh batch comes out — and I am there!

What does South Florida need more of?
We need more local eateries using more local ingredients. We also need the support of more locals eating what us independent small business operators make.

You get to vote one food or beverage trend off the island forever — what is it?
The one food trend that definitely needs to go away is foam. Foam… air… Same thing.

You have unlimited funds to open a restaurant or bar — what’s the name and what do you serve?
It would be called Grazella’s, after my mother. The name means “blessing” My cuisine would be very eclectic. It will be an inspiration of my culinary journey.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
In five years from now I see myself running my own restaurant in the beautiful city of San Diego. That’s where I plan to retire.

Dream dinner party for six: Who (living or dead) are you inviting?
OMG. my very own dream dinner party. Well, first I would have my wife of course, my mother, my father, my sister and my nanny. Keep it in the family.

Follow @ CleanPlateBPB

Food Truck for DOGS Sets Tails Wagging

APRIL 14, 2013James Nye, Daily Mail

A food truck for dogs that promises to bring artisanal treats to four legged foodies is to open in Phoenix this weekend.Serving up flavors to pooches such as beef short rib, braised brisket and grilled sirloin steak, the Chef Michael’s Food Truck for Dogs claims that as well as being tasty, the meals are nutritional too.’They sound inspired by human food because they are,’ says Niky Roberts, spokesperson for Chef Michael’s, the Purina-owned brand that operates the nationally touring truck. Read more: Daily Mail

Food Truck for DOGS Sets Tails Wagging

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Food Truck Carnival Rounds Up Foodies in Spenard

Dedicated Anchorage foodies track their favorite food truck vendors via Facebook and Twitter updates, but what about the uninitiated?

For the past few weeks on Thursdays, the parking lot at Chilkoot Charlie’s in Spenard has been the temporary headquarters for a food truck carnival, making it easier for customers to locate the mobile restaurants.

Foodies bundle up around lunchtime to pickup tacos, sandwiches, Asian-inspired street food and sweets from five local food trucks.

The carnival runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and there are street performers entertaining crowds with fire acts and bongo drums.

“I did a career change and went back to school at UAA culinary arts,” Kathy Robinson, Wheel Good, co-owner, said. “It was one of those decisions, do a restaurant, get to work for someone else, or get on the wave of doing a food truck.”

Koots is located at 2435 Spenard Road and has also hosted the Spenard market during the summer months on Saturdays.

To a view full photo gallery of the food truck carnival, click here.

Contact Neil Torquiano

Pebble Beach Food & Wine, Supported by Classic Party Rentals, is a Grand Hit …

Visitors to FOOD WINE Magazine’s premier epicurean event enjoyed four days of delectable delicacies under tents provided by Classic Party Rentals, whose presence extended beyond mere event production.

Monterey, CA (PRWEB) April 11, 2013

Rocky Mountain Elk Carpaccio, blood sausage sliders, lobster with green curry butter, dried beet and sea urchin, dark chocolate almond bark, and literally hundreds of wines to choose from … if any of this sounds good to you, Pebble Beach Food Wine was the place to be in Monterey, or all of Northern California, this past weekend. Foodies from all corners flocked to the scenic California coastline for FOOD WINE Magazine’s sixth annual event, which Classic Party Rentals has been proud to support for five years running.

While checking their diets at the door, visitors to this four-day scrumptious spectacle attended a dizzying array of luncheons, cooking demonstrations, wine tastings, dinners and after-hours parties between April 4th and 7th. Event producer Coastal Luxury Management and location host Pebble Beach Resorts exposed visitors to some of the most imaginative and daring recipes in food today. Guests also had direct access to the methods and trade secrets of nearly 100 celebrity chefs, among them Guy Fieri, Jacques Torres and Cecilia Chiang, who was the subject of a Friday night tribute.

Classic Party Rentals’ 90,000 square feet of tenting, subfloor and ground cover were well-traveled territories, as guests marveled at all the offerings in the Grand Tasting tent.

“What a fabulous weekend that was truly enjoyed by all,” says Classic Party Rentals President CEO Jeff Black, an attendee. “The Pebble Beach Food and Wine combines a great location, great venues, producers of incredible wine, and great chefs with excellent event production.”

Drew Barrymore, who brought Barrymore Wines’ trademark pinot grigio to the festivities, was spotted in Classic’s Imperial Lounge for an extended visit. The Imperial Lounge hosted friends of the Classic family and other well-wishers.

Classic’s San Francisco office spent months putting the event details in place for under the guidance of Event Consultants Kevin McAuliffe and Sue Leggett. The festival kicked off with an opening night reception at The Inn at Spanish Bay, and continued through to the Lexus Grant Tasting on Saturday and Sunday, with all sorts of activities sprinkled in between.

The consensus among the Classic team was that this was the smoothest Food Wine yet.

“This year’s event definitely raised the bar of operational excellence with this ultimate food and wine event experience,” says Susan Kidwell, Classic’s Northern California Regional Vice President. “We are honored to be a partner.”

ABOUT CLASSIC PARTY RENTALS

Classic Party Rentals is the nation’s leading full service event rental company. Classic services most major markets including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Phoenix, New York, and Pompano Beach. Its high-profile event roster includes more than 180,000 major sporting events, brand promotion tours, Hollywood awards shows, movie premieres, celebrity weddings, charity events and private social events annually. Locally, each Classic Party Rentals location is recognized as an integral part of successful holiday celebrations at home and at work, backyard weddings and birthday parties, school and church functions, local food and wine festivals, and many community service benefits. Classic Party Rentals is also a leading nationwide provider of tents, clear span structures, power, heating, air conditioning and sub-flooring. Ultimately, there is no need to lose sleep over the details, if you can dream it; Classic Party Rentals can deliver it. We do business under a number of different names, and customers are never disappointed by our Blue Diamond service or the strength of our partners will bring to events. For more information, please visit ClassicPartyRentals.com. “Choose Wisely Choose Classic. Feel Secure…No Event too Big or too Small; we do them all.”

ABOUT PEBBLE BEACH FOOD WINE

The Sixth Annual Pebble Beach Food Wine (April 4-7, 2013) continues as the signature West Coast culinary event, with more than 100 prominent chefs and 250 acclaimed wineries and distinguished winemakers from around the world coming to the iconic Pebble Beach Resorts in Pebble Beach, CA for a four-day first-class display of epicurean splendor and unrivaled access. In addition to cooking demonstrations led by the most talented chefs from around the globe and vertical tastings from the world’s top wine producers, unique experiences added each year make this a must-see annual event for culinary enthusiasts and wine aficionados the world over. To purchase tickets to Pebble Beach Food Wine, or for more information on ticket packages, visit http://www.pbfw.com or call 1-866-907-FOOD (3663).

ABOUT COASTAL LUXURY MANAGEMENT

Coastal Luxury Management (CLM) founded and managed by David Alan Bernahl II and Robert Weakley, is a fast growing company focused on identifying and creating unique opportunities in the hospitality, entertainment, and event sectors. CLM produces Pebble Beach Food Wine and Los Angeles Food Wine Festival, both recognized amongst the best epicurean events in the country for bringing together the very top culinary and wine talents to create one-of-a-kind experiences. In 2010, CLM launched the first of two restaurants in Monterey, CA – Cannery Row Brewing Company, a family-friendly destination in the heart of the historic Cannery Row District as well as home to the largest draft selection of beer in Northern California. One year later, the team opened Restaurant 1833, earning national recognition including a 3-star review from the San Francisco Chronicle as well as a 2012 “Best New Restaurant” nomination from the James Beard Foundation. For additional information about CLM, please visit http://www.coastalluxurymanagement.com.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2013/4/prweb10623387.htm

Pebble Beach Food & Wine, Supported by Classic Party Rentals, is a Grand Hit …

“What a fabulous weekend,” says Classic Party Rentals President CEO Jeff Black, an attendee. “The Pebble Beach Food and Wine combines a great location, great venues, producers of incredible wine, and great chefs with excellent event production.”