What went down at MattyFest, chef Matty Matheson’s food and music festival featuring the Wu-Tang Clan

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This past Saturday, Toronto’s most outrageous chef, Matty Matheson, hosted his first-ever MattyFest at Echo Beach, a day-long celebration of food and music. Over 20 restaurants, including some of Toronto’s and Montreal’s top chefs, were on hand to exchange their delicious dishes for Matty Bucks, the event’s official currency. And lucky VIP-ticket holders had access to barbecue from three visiting American pitmasters. More than a dozen musical acts performed, including Metz, Danny Brown, the Descendents, Gogol Bordello and the headliners—the freaking Wu-Tang Clan. Here’s a look at all there was to see, do and, of course, eat.

There was plenty to eat, but the Matheson’s Matty’s Patty’s booth was by far the most popular:

Maker—another Matheson-affiliated joint—had a booth, too, selling whole pizzas:

Afrim Pristine from Cheese Boutique doled out Ontario burrata with pickled Ontario peaches:

And Buca’s Rob Gentile served bombette Pugliese with a vegetable giardiniera:

Imanishi made okonomiyaki:

And Five Points Chicken served Nashville hot chicken sandwiches:

Leandro Baldassarre of Famiglia Baldassarre was churning out ravioli for a dish he named RZAvioli with reggiano and O.D. butter, in honour of the night’s headlining act:

Pinky’s Ca Phe served lemongrass chicken banh mi:

Chefs Julio Guajardo and Kate Chomyshyn of soon-to-open Balam made barbacoa tacos:

There was plenty of barbecue, including some made by visiting American pitmasters Bill Durney (Hometown BBQ and Red Hook Tavern, New York), Pat Martin (Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint, Tennessee) and Sam Jones (Skylight Inn and Sam Jones BBQ, North Carolina):

Here’s the man of the hour:

And here he is in cut-out form:

This Matty is even larger-than-life than the real thing, if that’s even possible:

Musical acts included the Descendents:

And Metz:

And Danny Brown:

The very entertaining Gogol Bordello:

And closing out the night, the Wu-Tang Clan:

Here are some other shots from the fun-, music- and food-filled day: