Easter events: frying hard in Shoreditch and BrewDog's last sipper

By Daniel Woolfson

- Last updated on GMT

#FryHard comes to Shoreditch Box Park over Easter weekend (photo by Travis Hodges)
#FryHard comes to Shoreditch Box Park over Easter weekend (photo by Travis Hodges)
Easter is approaching and the general public are looking forward to four days of chocolate, relaxation and inexplicable bunnies. Licensees and operators however, are gearing up for one of the busiest periods in the industry calendar.

At Shoreditch’s Box Park, street food outfit Messhead is debuting #FryHard, a new calorific venture celebrating the Easter weekend with over 100 different deep fried dishes courtesy of chef James Thomlinson of London Mess and creative director Emma "Miss Cakehead" Thomas.

Thomlison said: "The response so far has blown us away - it's such a fun project before the hard work on launching my street food concept in Prawnography in early June.

"I have also discovered I love cheese strings and babybel when deep fried - they go from plastic to fantastic, especially when accompanied by sriracha - not something you'll hear many classically trained chefs admit." 

Billed as “an event where zero f***s are given about calories”, some of the pop-up’s indulgent offerings are set to include cheese-filled hot cross buns, a selection of battered confectionery and the Fully Fried Easter; a fried lamb joint with roast potatoes, rosemary, carrots and sprouts.

Messhead has also enlisted members of the public to request other potential things to deep fry, with suggestions so far including kebabs, croissants, gummy bears and Jaffa cakes.

Six-course Sunday

BrewDog has teamed up with pop-up Scottish specialists Dram & Smoke to put on the Last Sipper, a six course Easter tasting menu with paired beers at BrewDog’s Shepherd’s Bush bar.

James Watt, co-founder of BrewDog, said: "We're thrilled to be working with Dram & Smoke on this Easter feast. We love pairing beer with food. We love beer full stop, of course, but when thoughtfully brought out at mealtimes it shines even more. Fundamentally, this is due to the myriad of differing styles - they convey far more possibilities than other drinks out there, when you stop to consider the notion of complementing and lifting your chosen dish. 

"The right beer can offer that perfect contrast, it can cut through rich or fatty flavours at will or, with the benefit of similar ingredients, partner up more totally than wine ever could."

Dishes on offer are set to include peas and cheese with smoking onion broth, smoked pork belly with carrots and puffed barley and Dead Pony Ale-battered Mars Bar with cornflake ice cream and Irn Bru drizzle.

Guests will also be given the chance to win a variety of Easter goodie-bags.

Tickets for the events are £35 per head.

Classic spring

On the other side of the cholesterol spectrum, Surrey-focused pubco Classic Inns has launched a new menu across its portfolio of sites.

The menu features a range of low-calorie dishes, vegetarian options and traditional comfort food-style offerings including spinach, mushroom ad cheddar cheese filo tart, salted caramel and chocolate truffle bar with caramel sauce and ice cream and salmon and pepper skewer salad.

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