Meatopia Will Press the Flesh on July 23

As he has done for the past seven years, Josh Ozersky will bring the smell of slowly cooking animal flesh to the city with Meatopia. This time around, he's taking his bloodlust to Brooklyn Bridge Park, where the festivities will take place on July 23.

Gilt City has some details, and $98 pre-sale tickets (general tickets go on sale May 25). Chefs this year will include Naomi Pomeroy, April Bloomfield, Floyd Cardoz, and Sean Brock, and according to Ozersky's Gilt spiel, they'll attempt to fulfill his lofty mandate to move "beyond barbecue, beyond burgers, beyond even whole hogs." Instead, Ozersky wants "all kinds of animals, and every part of those animals, and ... the farmers to be there right next to the chefs."

That last part was pretty much what Ozersky wanted for last year's festival, which took place on Governors Island. In addition to endless lines and inadequate food supplies, the event was marred by the fact that, contrary to its billing as a local/sustainable meat showcase, much of Meatopia's meat came from conventional sources. What wisdom its organizers have gained from their mistakes remains to be seen, but one hopes that they've learned why you can't expect small family farms to supply skirt steaks for 7,000 people.

[Via Gothamist]

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