MEET Restaurant on Newcastle's King Street has returned to its churrasco roots following a kitchen fire in December 2023.
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"We have safety features engineered into our equipment to stop fire spreading, however unfortunately in this instance one of these safety mechanisms failed to activate," restaurant co-owner Luciano Cruz told Food & Wine.
"This, combined with the 40-plus degree day and extreme heat on the roof set off a most unfortunate chain of events resulting in the fire spreading and causing significant damage to the filtration system which forced the unwelcome and extended closure.
"Our filtration system is a custom build with a three-month lead time so it has unfortunately taken a significant time to rebuild and replace.
"This time, however, we are more prepared than ever, with extra safety mechanisms, measures and controls to ensure it doesn't happen again."
Damage caused by the fire forced the restaurant to close for three months and resulted in lost revenue but, on the flip side, gave Cruz and co-owners Mitchel Steel, Greg Mathew and Daniel Pires some time to think.
"The time out enabled us to reflect on what was really special about MEET, why we created it and what we have achieved," Cruz said.
"We decided to return to our roots and showcase an offering similar to when we first launched MEET in 2015, namely, a churrasco experience like no other.
"The new churrasco experience includes a larger variety of meat, especially beef and smoked food, more vegetables, and a bigger and better offering of vegetarian and vegan options."
Churrasco is a traditional South American style of grilling meat, often on a skewer, and typically carved directly onto your plate by staff.
MEET had, in recent years, extended its original churrasco offering to include a selection of a la carte options. Cruz and his team re-evaluated this decision after the fire and now offer an "elevated" churrasco experience complete with a more diverse range of sides.
The 15-course churrasco menu at MEET costs $69 per person. The picanha, the pork scotch with fennel and mustard, and the lamb with paprika are carved at your table. Then there's the 12-hour smoked brisket and beef ribs, the eight-hour smoked Boston Butt, and the barbecued garlic and parmesan chicken wings, Spanish chorizo, mustard and citrus chicken thigh, salt and pepper pork belly, flank and rump steak, lamb relish, chicken hearts ... the list goes on.
"Proteins are prepared by our three chefs - Jordan, Caesar and Patrick - who have created marinades, brines and rubs unique to MEET," Cruz said.
"Some of the cuts require up to 12 hours of smoking, low and slow, while some are cooking slowly on our rotisserie over charcoal and ironbark wood."
Each protein has been prepared in a different way, and flavoured with a different marinade or rub. No two courses are the same.
"Something we really want to get across is that MEET is for everybody," Cruz said.
"Our 15 cuts of premium local meats are our staple, yes, but we appreciate that might not be for everyone.
"Considering this, we have expanded to include a focus on vegetables are now offer both a vegetarian and vegan feast that will consist of four dishes and accompanying sides (much like a churrasco experience).
"The vegetable dishes include brassica salad, Kentucky fried mushroom, eggplant thermidor and elote (barbecued corn with pangrattato and lime and jalapeno crema), and our Meetloaf (barbecued seitan with maple slaw).
"The seafood add-on is another new addition which currently includes Sydney rock oyster, grilled prawns, torched mackerel and BBQ'd sardines - all prepared in the MEET style - although we're excited to offer up different seafood specials pending market availability."
As for dessert, think banana fritters, churros, and barbecued pineapple with cinnamon.
MEET now has a wall dedicated to wine (a floor-to-ceiling wine rack) and a dry-ageing cabinet.
Staff are more than happy to answer questions about the various cuts of meat, the sauces and the wine list, and are an important part of the overall MEET experience.
Cruz and his team have been busy ticking the boxes on the to-do list but there is still more to achieve by year's end.
"We're working on a whole new dining concept for the existing front bar area of MEET - so stay tuned for more detail there," he says.
"We're excited to get our bottomless brunches going again, and we'll also host special events throughout the year.
"We're always open to private functions too - we've even hosted a few weddings and we love creating bespoke celebrations
