This summer prepare for a foodie tour and James opens up his kitchen to appearances from special guest chefs Tom Brown, Ellis Barrie, Tommy Heany and Tom Griffiths.
Chef James Cochran has announced that he will be taking his restaurant 12:51 on a UK tour this summer, hitting some of this year’s best festivals and welcoming in special guests to the restaurant for one-off menu collaborations.
Since opening last autumn on Upper Street, 12:51 has become much-loved for James’s playful take on modern British cooking, uniquely defined by his Scottish-Caribbean roots. With its name rooted from the classic hit by The Strokes, music has always been a core element of 12:51 and so festivals are the perfect home for James and the team during the summer months.
Starting off at Taste of London, the capital’s ultimate food and drink festival, 12:51 popped up as a ‘Daily Special’ offering signature dishes such as the ‘Buttermilk Jerk Chicken’ and ‘Cured Cornish Mackerel with Nduja, Pork Crackling & Cucumber’ to hungry Londoners. James will also be making an additional appearance at the festival on Saturday 22nd June at 12.30pm, with a live demonstration at the Fire Pit on how he cooks one of his favourite cuts of meat, a haunch of goat leg.
Next, from 5th to 7th July, 12:51 will head over to Dublin for the first Meatopia festival of the summer, a celebration of high-quality, ethically sourced meat where James is set to join some of the UK’s best chefs to offer a unique selection of the restaurant’s top meat dishes.
Moving into August, the team will be making their way to Cornbury Park in Oxfordshire for Wilderness, one of the best loved food and music festivals (1st-4th August). 12:51 will be joining the likes of Smokestak and Le Bab in ‘The Dining Room’, a space where festival-goers can sample some of the country’s best restaurants whilst listening to live DJs. Dishes on offer throughout the weekend will include ‘Pickled White & Brown Devon Crab Tartlet’, ‘Pork & Eel Sausage, Eel Gravy, Grated Hen’s Egg, Crispy Shallots & Sourdough’ and ‘Crispy Cauliflower, Mint Yoghurt, Peanuts, Pickled Chilli & Mint Cress’. James will also be teaming up with sommeliers Charlotte Wilde and Ruth Spivey on Friday 2nd August to offer a unique food and wine pairing experience. In addition, he will be joining forces with MUNCHIES for one of their ‘Mornings with MUNCHIES’ panels, discussing appropriation vs. appreciation in the food world and ‘Giving Everyone a Place at the Table’ (Friday 2nd August).
The gang will finish off the summer back in London at the second Meatopia at Tobacco Docks, with 12:51 dishes being served up throughout the day on Sunday 1st September.
Not only will the restaurant be travelling round the some of the country’s best festivals and events, but James will also be welcoming in old and new faces to the 12:51 kitchen for a series of one-off collaboration dinners.
Monday 15th July sees fellow Great British Menu finalist and chef and co-owner of the Marram Grass in Anglesey, Ellis Barrie bring his imaginative cooking style and passion for local produce to the menu.
This will be followed by Tommy Heany on Monday 12th August, who also joined James on Great British Menu this year, and has since gone on to open two solo restaurants in Cardiff, Heaney’s and Uisce.
Tom Griffiths, the chef behind nose-to-tail cooking concept Flank in Old Spitalfields Market, will join James on Wednesday 28th August
Monday 9th September, James is joined by good friend, fellow Great British Menu finalist and Executive Chef of award-winning restaurant, Cornerstone, Tom Brown, who will bring his creative flair to the 12:51 tasting menu.
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12:51 107 Upper Street London, N1 1QN
