Carnivorous heterotopias: gender, nostalgia and hipsterness in the Copenhagen meat scene

The past years have seen an upsurge of burger and barbecue restaurants in a Copenhagen gastronomic scene otherwise dominated by trends toward sustainability, ‘wholesome’, local and organic food. In these new spaces, meat is glorified and consumed materially and symbolically (through design and decorations), appeasing a presumed masculine appetite and conveying ideas about masculine, carnivorous bonding/community and a masculine, heterosexual, middle-class gaze. This article examines two manifestations of these celebrations of meat and masculinity: the hotdog restaurant Foderbrættet (‘The Bird Table’, opened in 2014 and elected as the 2014 Best New Restaurant in Copenhagen) and WarPigs, a Texas-inspired barbecue opened in 2015. We discuss negotiations of masculinity in these meatscapes that challenge contemporary ideals for (sustainable, moderate, wholesome) food consumption and gender performances. We argue that these spaces of consumption express nostalgia and longing for authenticity that are simultaneously articulated as progressive and emancipatory. Consequently, these sites represent middle-class masculine counter-spaces – masculine, carnivorous heterotopias where archaic, working class modes of doing masculinity (such as commodification of female bodies and excessive meat consumption) are appropriated, legitimized and sought transformed through irony, hipness and nostalgia