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 Headliners at the first On Blackheath Festival included
Massive Attack, Grace Jones and Aloe Blacc.
But it was the chefs, among them Richard Bainbridge, who heads
up the Michelin-starred Morston Hall in Norfolk, England, and
who demonstrated how to cook a Sunday roast to a packed
audience, who stole the show.
He served the dish a couple of hours later to festival-goers
lucky enough to get his sold-out 25-pound ($41) ticket for two
courses and wine in Gizzi’s Chef's Club, an on-site pop-up
restaurant offering sittings of the meals presented at the
Saturday and Sunday event.
Other chefs serving up meals included the BBC’s Valentine
Warner, multi-award winner Simon Hulstone, pop-up veteran Carl
Clarke, BBQ chef Neil Rankin, baking duo The Meringue Girls and
Jack Stein, son of the acclaimed cookbook writer and
restaurateur Rick Stein.
The On Blackheath festival was a first for London but only the
latest in Britain putting food at the fore.
TV chef Jamie Oliver and Blur bassist-turned-farmer Alex James
collaborated three years ago to start The Big Feastival. It took
place the end of August featured headliners such as Fleetwood
Mac and De La Soul while revelers sank their teeth into food by
Michelin chef Nathan Outlaw and restaurateur Mark Hix.
Next week, musos and foodies can flock to the Good Life
Experience in Flintshire, Wales. Led by singer-songwriter Cerys
Matthews, it will include a diverse musical line-up, cooking
classes and food stands.
FINE DINING
Back at On Blackheath, named for its locale in south London,
Gizzi Erskine, a pop-up chef and TV personality who curated the
Chef's Club, said the aim was to make fine dining more
accessible and present it to a new audience.
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"We’ve chosen people who are doing the best that they're doing
within the industry," Erskine told Reuters at the festival on
Sunday. "Michelin-food for 25 pounds quid ($40)? That means they're
getting out there. They're showing people what they can do."
She said that eating has become a more important part of festivals
as people's desire for good food grows.
"We look at other festivals that go on throughout the year like
Wilderness and Latitude and the food offering there is amazing...
We're not just happy with your average burger anymore or to go
through of sea of noodles – we want something proper."
John Quilter, a music fan and chef who hosted the live food
demonstrations, agreed that food was becoming more important to
festival-goers.
"When I was 20, what was important to me were the trainers that I
was wearing and listening to the music that I was into at that
time," he said.
"Food was not on my radar. Twenty-somethings today are still getting
those Nike Airs, they’re still listening to the music but they're
now carrying that smoked salmon under their arm...."
(US dollar = 0.6156 British pound)
(Editing by Michael Roddy/Jeremy Gaunt)
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