get F.A.T

i was very excited to be invited to the very first F.A.T. dinner just recently by old friend and fab foodie frederieke janssen. eliza f from fatfoodtaxi and i waltzed our way to the newly launched 18 hewett street gallery in anticipation of the feastings and meet of new peeps ahead of us. the 6 course sit down extravaganza based on favourite childhood food memories from those invited was a huge task from a small kitchen and perfectly executed by fredie, alice and terence. we ate well – high food notes were hit with the masterly interpreted egg chip, red bean tacos and fish sandwich especially, and drank quite a lot by the light of candles and surrounded by kutmah’s prison drawings on the walls. a more than wonderful night was had here, where new food met nostalgia and with take-home F.A.T. ketchup too – woohoo! get F.A.T.

F.A.T photos by addie chinn.

and teddy fitzhugh.

fredie spent time from her hectic schedule and answered bdwa questions  – with thanks and love for a great night. x

1. list your favorite places to do, be and see.

my favorite places in london at the moment…

polpetto: i love the shrimp heads – www.polpetto.co.uk 

great pressed metal ceilings and zucchini fries at polpetto too.

(get yourselves to polpetto people + watch for their new restaurant opening soon)

hawksmoor, in covent garden: the lobster roll, omg – www.thehawksmoor.co.uk/

18 hewett street – www.18hewettstreet.co.uk

the hackney pearl – thehackneypearl.com/

garlic & shots: beer, shots & cheese nachos – www.garlicandshots.com/

2. was there anyone that inspired you from the beginning? who inspires you now?

i think i got really inspired about doing something with food when i went to new york may last year. the markets there are insane foodwise, my favourite ones have to be brooklyn flea (www.brooklynflea.com/) and hester street fair (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hester-Street-Fair/307701207501). kimchi hot dogs, people’s pops strawberry & basil icepops, cucumber & sea salt soda… food trucks and stalls run by young people who are passionate about food as well as great product design and branding, which all have their own loyal following of fans that follow their whereabouts through facebook and twitter –  that street food culture simply doesn’t exist (yet..) here in london .

3.tell a little about your background.

i grew up in maastricht, a cute town in the south of holland. when i was 17 i moved to amsterdam to study fashion design. our teachers told us ‘your life has to be fashion, fashion, fashion! 24/7!’ – which freaked me out as i dreamed about writing a book, throwing parties, owning a gallery, being a music journalist, so i left school to study media. 10 years later and now i’m in london where i work at a boutique creative agency (protein.co.uk) where i do all the awesome things i’ve ever dreamed of: i run a gallery(18hewettstreet.co.cuk), work on an arts funding project for beck’s, throw parties in paris in paris and help curate london-focused editorial content for europe’s best under the radar travel guide: london.unlike.net (i discovered unlike on the night  – ’tis good, check it out.)

F.A.T,  is a side project i’m doing with friends.

4.what is it exactly that you do?

i’ve also always liked drinking and eating and hanging out with nice people, and F.A.T is a continuation of that. it came about on a drunken night out at brawn(http://www.brawn.co/), with terence (www.affiliates-studios.com) and alice (www.alicewaese.com). they both have ‘normal’ jobs too – alice is a designer/artist, terence runs record label (www.earnestendeavours.com) and works as a journalist for dazed & confused.

F.A.T = freddie, alice and terence. we don’t mind eating food that’s a little fatty (okay, alice does a little maybe)

we don’t have a business plan, nor a manifesto. but we love food, music, design, art and nice people – we try to bring all that together in F.A.T. there’s talk of doing supper clubs on roof tops, at gallery show openings, and maybe run a little pop-up market stall at some point too.

some of alice’s designs below..find her at hostem.

5. what are you currently collecting?

nothing. i try to not hold on to too much stuff in case i move around.

6. what are you listening to at the moment?

i’m really into pelican (www.myspace.com/pelican) at the moment.

7. what would be your ideal collaborative project?

F.A.T’s been talking about doing an art and food installation: a huge dining table built out of a plaster manatee, where we serve up a huge fish feast.

we’re also talking to our friend addie chinn about coming on board, he’s the master of drink-making; palate cleansers between meals, molecular cocktails paired with the menu, that kind of thing. sounds amazing!

8. your favorite food to prepare/cook/eat?

i love fish tacos. the best ones i’ve ever had were recommended by our friend shaniqwa jarvis. it’s a little place on the highway in LA called ‘best fish taco in ensenada (www.bestfishtacoinensenada.com/), they have 2 things on their menu: fish taco, or shrimp taco. for $1.50 you get handed a soft corn tortilla with fresh fried shrimp, you can top it yourself at this salsa bar:  shredded lettuce, radish relish, creme fraiche, and tomatillo & avocado salsa.

so simple, so good.

fredie makes a mean shrimp taco herself…

9. your favorite colour or combination of colours?

black.

10.  do you have a motto or manifesto that you live by?

no.

11. favourite destination?

there is a shop around the corner from my place that i call ‘the panflute’. i buy my weekly supply of dumplings, kimchi, miso and edamame there. they play panflute versions of phil collins’ “think twice”. the staff in there are so sweet. i don’t know what it is exactly but this place makes me so happy.