Tag: Eat Me Speak Me

Eat Me Speak Me's Jarrett Stieber talks about hockey, culinary school, and why his dog is more famous than he is.

Historically speaking, the Southern meat-and-two has called for beef, pork, or chicken. Today kitchens are showing interest in other animals. I spoke with four chefs who know their way around the hottest cuts.

It's been a good year for Jarrett Stieber, who launched his Eat Me Speak Me pop-up at Candler Park Market last fall. Stieber has spent the last few months cooking up lunch at the General Muir and dinner at Gato Bizco, but as with all roving chefs, nothing is ever permanent. His lunch pop-up at the General Muir will end next Friday (June 13), and he'll soon be spending two nights a week at Gato.

Most pop-up restaurants—in which a chef typically takes over a professional kitchen for a night or two—serve as incubators or showcases. Traveling toques may want to drum up attention away from home, or cooks who dream of starting their own place might take over a friend’s stoves to grandstand their food. But Jarrett Stieber is the only chef in the city who makes running pop-ups his full-time living.

Last fall, pop-up chef Jarrett Stieber launched Eat Me Speak Me at Candler Park Market, a two-part dining and drinking experience that quickly culled a loyal following. Like most pop-ups, the concept was pretty straightforward. Stieber would cook a succinct menu inspired by locally-sourced ingredients, and then with the help of a tiny map and password, you’d end the evening in a secret location imbibing with fellow diners. Setups like this allow chefs in the process of establishing themselves an opportunity to connect directly with adventurous eaters, and in Stieber’s case, gives him a work-life flexibility uncommon to the average line cook.