Yianni Papoutsis facts for kids

Yianni Papoutsis (Greek: Γιάννη Παπουτσής) is a well-known person in the food world. He helped start the popular Meat chain of restaurants. Before becoming famous for his food, he worked at the English National Ballet. He was a production technician there for many years.

Yianni's journey into food began with a street food truck called the Meat Wagon. This was one of the first food trucks in the UK. Later, he teamed up with Scott Collins. Together, they opened many restaurants. They had thirteen restaurants in total, mostly in the UK. Yianni now works as a consultant, sharing his knowledge in the food and entertainment industries.

Yianni's Early Life

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. He then worked for the English National Ballet for fifteen years. He helped with the technical side of their shows.

Starting His Food Journey

Yianni's first time cooking burgers for a big crowd was at a festival in the US called Burning Man. This experience sparked his interest in food. In 2009, he started a hobby project. He opened a street food van called MEATwagon. He served delicious, high-quality hamburgers from his van.

His first food truck was unfortunately damaged and destroyed. Then, his second truck was stolen. Because of these problems, Yianni had to cook outside. He used rented equipment, no matter the weather. This showed how determined he was.

Building the Meat Restaurant Chain

Meeting Scott Collins

In 2010, Yianni met Scott Collins in a car park in South London. Yianni's MEATwagon was operating there. Scott invited Yianni to set up his food truck at one of Scott's pubs. This meeting was the start of their business partnership.

Opening Pop-Up and Permanent Restaurants

On New Year's Day in 2011, Yianni and Scott came up with an idea. They decided to open a pop-up restaurant called #MEATeasy. It opened on January 10, 2011, above a pub in New Cross, London. After this restaurant became successful, Yianni was able to leave his job at the English National Ballet.

Their first permanent restaurant, MEATliquor, opened near Oxford Street on November 11, 2011. More restaurants quickly followed. These included MEATmarket in 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 were in cities like Brighton, Leeds, and Croydon. They also opened one in Singapore, which later closed.

Yianni's Influence and Recognition

Yianni Papoutsis became a respected voice in the food industry. He was invited to speak at Downing Street. He talked about new fast food companies. He also gave advice on how the food industry helps the economy and society.

In September 2014, Yianni and Scott Collins released a cookbook. It was called The MEATliquor Chronicles. They traveled to the United States to research for the book. Yianni has been called "a pioneer of street food" by Bloomberg Businessweek. This means he was one of the first to make street food popular.

Yianni has worked with many famous chefs. He has also been recognized for his influence. He was named one of the 1000 Most Influential People in London in 2012 and 2013. In 2015, he was listed as one of Britain's 500 most influential people. In 2016, he was on Restaurant magazine's 'Power List'. This list names the 100 most powerful people in the restaurant business.