It was an exciting Saturday last month when Burgers and Hip Hip, Berlin based festival, graced the people of Cape Town. The festival has been going for over 2 years now and has featured in various European cities.
Founder, Kativa Meelu, described the festival to Highsnobiety as a block party that marries hip hop music and great burgers. “For us they’re the perfect match” she explains, “burgers are so accessible… and hip hop is the music of community”. The simple amalgamation is what has made the festival so successful, and of course the good choice of burger-making contenders.
BHH was welcomed with open arms and fitted perfectly with Cape Town’s burger-loving and hip-hop appreciating culture. The block party was hosted by House of Machines and took place outside on Shortmarket Street between Bree and Loop. The restaurant’s involved were Royale Eatery, The Pot Luck Club, Ash Restaurant, Jason Bakery and El Burro with meat supplied by Frankie Fenner, prepared as requested by each participant.
Here’s what they served:
A Tribe Called Zest – squid ink brioche bun, whole forequarter patty, Colby cheese, smoked jalapeño and ketchup leather.
The ODB – Steam bun, miso mayo, pickled cucumber, kimchi slaw and a pulled pork patty.
Ash Restaurant (restaurant coming soon to Church Street)
It’s cheesy E, bitch//The buns-n-the-hood – soft butter bun, mustard mayo, funky AF tomato ketchup, FFMM free range patty, onions, pickles and cheese.
Grandmaster Smash – housemade black sesame bun, FF pure beef patty with grass fed 12 month mature cheddar, chorizo chips and crispy wakame.
Jason Bakery bun, butter lettuce, shaved radish, tequila infused candied jalopenos, sweet corn and masa harina parmesan chip, with FF pure beef patty, basted in pasilla chilli sauce, guacamole, chicharons, and a chilli releno.
Although it was a tough call, each burger being really well made and unique from the rest, the crowd voted for Royale Eatery‘s Grandmaster Smash as the BHH’s best burger. Not a surprising choice since these guys have been making burgers for over a decade.
Burgers and Hip Hop proved to be a really successful and well curated block party leaving a positive impression on Cape Town’s food and music scenes. Red Bull studios made sure of a decent line up of dj’s, which included some b-boying (breakdancing for the less familiar folks) from local group Concrete Apostles.
Aside from the food and music the utalisation of the city on a generally quiet Saturday afternoon felt really good. With the Bree Street area continuously expanding, parties like this are a definite step in the right direction, creating a sense of community in our well-kept streets and giving us Cape Tonians something else to do! Hopefully the party will become a more regular thing, because we’re also keen for more of those incredible once-off burger concoctions that have certainly set the bar high for BHH’s next festival.
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