Why This Epic Food Experience Has No Plates, No Servers, and No Rules
Release Date: 06/20/2025
Chef x Founder Podcast
Why This Epic Food Experience Has No Plates, No Servers, and No Rules Welcome to Meat Carnival, a hands-on, no-frills, no-rules food experience where chefs serve you straight off the station and you eat it with your hands. In this episode, Tony Piombo interviews Itamar Abramovich about how this idea came to life, scaled fast, and built a cult following, without paid ads or a traditional kitchen setup. If you’re a food entrepreneur, event creator, or just someone who wants to build community through experience, this one’s full of gold. What’s Inside: Why Meat Carnival ditches...
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Chef Tim joins us to talk about his background with wood fired cooking, along with information for his upcoming live stream cooking class.
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Robert Sulatycky joins us to talk about the Corona Virus and how it is affecting the food industry, along with how you can be safe when it comes to food. Robert has a long history with the Bocuse d'Or. Representing Canada in 1999, he placed fourth and was awarded the "Prix Viande" or best meat prize. He was instrumental as coach for Team USA in 2015 taking silver and 2017 taking the gold. He has been appointed head coach for Team USA for the 2019 Bocuse d’Or.
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Dario is a winemaker and certified VPN and APN pizzaiolo. Originally from Italy, Dario is on of the owners of Ca' Momi Osteria, a wood fired pizza restaurant located in Napa, California.
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Itamar Abramovitch is a Culinary Institute of America graduate and part-owner of Blossom Catering company located in Napa and has been cooking in our oven for over 5 years.
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Robert Sulatycky has a long history with the Bocuse d'Or. Representing Canada in 1999, he placed fourth and was awarded the "Prix Viande" or best meat prize. He was instrumental as coach for Team USA in 2015 taking silver and 2017 taking the gold. He has been appointed head coach for Team USA for the 2019 Bocuse d’Or.
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Tyler Rodde is the owner and head chef at Oenotri, a southern Italian restaurant in Napa California that features 20 different types of house-made salumi, a large wood fired oven and a variety of produce sourced from their own farm.
info_outlineWhy This Epic Food Experience Has No Plates, No Servers, and No Rules
Welcome to Meat Carnival, a hands-on, no-frills, no-rules food experience where chefs serve you straight off the station and you eat it with your hands. In this episode, Tony Piombo interviews Itamar Abramovich about how this idea came to life, scaled fast, and built a cult following, without paid ads or a traditional kitchen setup.
If you’re a food entrepreneur, event creator, or just someone who wants to build community through experience, this one’s full of gold.
What’s Inside:
- Why Meat Carnival ditches silverware, and still sells out
- Turning a failed first event into a breakthrough brand
- The logistics of creating “controlled chaos” (without the chaos)
- Culture-building for kitchen teams that want to grow
- Marketing lessons from launching a food concept without ads
Whether you’re building a food brand or still dreaming one up, this convo is loaded with insights you’ll want to replay.
CONNECT WITH ITAMAR ABRAMOVITCH:
Website: https://meat-carnival.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meat.carnival/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meatcarnival.us
FOLLOW US BEHIND THE SCENES:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chef.x.founder
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chefxfounder
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chef.x.founder
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChefxFounder
CHECK OUT TONY'S WOOD-FIRED OVEN BUSINESS:
https://fornopiombo.com/
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Introduction to the Chef Founder Podcast
00:02 Meet Itamar Abramovich: Culinary Journey and Meat Carnival
00:22 Humor in the Kitchen: The Importance of Lightheartedness
00:48 Creating a Positive Workplace Culture
06:57 The Essence of Meat Carnival
16:37 Challenges and Successes of Meat Carnival
22:12 Balancing Catering and Meat Carnival
24:14 The Entrepreneurial Spirit
28:20 Funny Music Moments
28:42 The Power of Music in Cooking
29:22 Live Music Challenges in Catering
31:44 The Fire Table Cooking Experience
36:33 Craftsmanship vs. Automation in Cooking
43:34 The Emotional Connection to Cooking
52:37 The Origin of the Pizza Oven Business
58:20 Faith and Personal Beliefs
1:03 Luck and Preparation