Yianni Papoutsis facts for kids
Born | UK |
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Cooking style | Street food / Fast food |
Current restaurant(s)
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Previous restaurant(s)
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Yianni Papoutsis (Greek: Γιάννη Παπουτσής) is a famous chef who helped start the Meat chain of restaurants. He used to be the Creative Director for these popular places. Before becoming a chef, he worked for the English National Ballet as a technician. His journey began with one of the UK's first street food trucks, called the Meat Wagon. Later, he teamed up with Scott Collins. Together, they opened many restaurants, including twelve in the UK and one in Singapore. Now, Yianni works as an advisor for businesses in the food and entertainment world.
Contents
Yianni's Journey to Becoming a Chef
Early Life and First Jobs
Yianni Papoutsis was born in England. As a child, he spent his time living in both England and Greece. When he was a teenager, he moved to Denmark to find work. Yianni worked for the English National Ballet for fifteen years. He was a production technician, helping with the shows behind the scenes.
Starting with Street Food
Yianni's first time cooking burgers for a crowd was at a big festival in the US called Burning Man. In 2009, he started a street food van as a hobby. He called it MEATwagon. He served delicious, high-quality hamburgers from his van. His first food truck was damaged, and the second one was lost. This meant Yianni had to cook outside using rented equipment, no matter the weather.
Partnering with Scott Collins
In 2010, Yianni met Scott Collins in a car park in South London. Yianni's MEATwagon was set up there. Scott invited Yianni to bring his food truck to one of his pubs. Soon, they decided to become business partners.
Opening Restaurants
In 2011, Yianni and Scott opened a special temporary restaurant called #MEATeasy. It was located above a pub in New Cross, London. They opened it on January 10, after planning it on New Year's Day. After this, Yianni was able to leave his job at the English National Ballet.
His first permanent restaurant, MEATliquor, opened near Oxford Street on November 11, 2011. More restaurants followed quickly, including MEATmarket at Covent Garden and MEATmission in Hoxton. They even started a radio station called MEATtransMISSION.com. Over the next few years, they opened many more MEATliquor locations. These included restaurants in Brighton (2013), Leeds (2014), Queensway, SW11, Croydon, Kings X, Brixton, N1, and even one in Singapore.
Achievements and Recognition
Yianni Papoutsis was asked to speak at Downing Street. He talked to a committee about new fast food companies. He gave advice on how the food industry can help the economy and society.
In September 2014, he launched a cookbook with Scott Collins. It was called The MEATliquor Chronicles. A magazine called GQ wrote about Yianni and Scott's trips to the United States for their cookbook research.
Bloomberg Businessweek magazine called Yianni "a pioneer of street food." This means he was one of the first and most important people to make street food popular. He has worked with many top chefs, including Fergus Henderson and Nieves Barragan. He also worked with Gresham Blake on men's clothing.
Yianni has been recognized for his influence. The Evening Standard newspaper named him one of the 1000 Most Influential People in London in 2012 and 2013. In 2015, Debrett's listed him as one of Britain's 500 most influential people. In 2016, he was on Restaurant magazine's 'Power List' of the 100 most powerful people in the restaurant business.