Young British Foodies

Andy Bates, the perfect pieman
16 May 2012
Who:

Andy Bates, 34

Lives:

north London

What he does: Runs a market stall and shop called Eat My Pies. “I have some chefs and together we do a lot of cooking, make pies and Scotch eggs, and listen to 'sick' music. I feel like Willy Wonka in the Chocolate Factory apart from I make pies.” Andy has just put together a Camden Town app to help people find food in north London and is about to film the second series of Street Feasts, this time in America, which hits Food Network UK in October.

Signature creation: Award winning chicken and ham hock pie. “It’s just all meat. It came from me seeing the pathetic versions in service stations and supermarkets and wanting to do better than them. I thought I could do it like a terrine. So you have the lovely meat, thyme, lots of flavour, salt and pepper. Once it’s set, you put the jelly in and some black treacle to give it the sweetness, then you can serve it with a bowl of pickled vegetables. Boxing Day is what I based it on – the perfect meal of cold meats, pickles and mashed potatoes.”

How he did it: While working in commercial production, Andy realised he wanted a stall on Sunday “where I could listen to the cricket and read the papers and make food”. He started making food on Saturdays and taking it to a stall on Brick Lane: “That was my kind of dream, just being able to hang out and friends would come down. Then it became busier so I turned the cricket down and got on with it.” Six months later he got a Friday stall on Whitecross Street. “You can always take my food home. That’s what really needs to be in a market – stuff you can take home too, rather than just a quick snack.”

Why he does it: “I love being outdoors. My mum works for me occasionally and she always says how nice it is that we’re all working for ourselves. We’ve got to be there and we’re all passionate about it. There are some brilliant people involved, for example with the eat.st market, and it’s a really good vibe and there is no sense of competition.”

Where you can find him: Wednesdays at eat.st Kings Boulevard, Fridays at Whitecross Street Market, EC1, Saturdays at Broadway Market, E8 (eatmypies.co.uk, @eatmypies)

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in