Nowadays, do we even know what we’re eating exactly? Because of the massive scale of the food industry, it is hard to find out. A climax was reached with the ‘horse meat scandal’ (in 2016 all over the news). Horse meat turned out to be secretly incorporated without this being stated on the packaging. Now, horse has become a piece of meat shrouded in controversy. But is that justified? Who wants to eat more consciously, can just eat horse. It’s lean meat, rich in iron and other minerals. Moreover, there are no horses bred for slaughter in the Netherlands. A horse that is not eaten, ends up in the destructor.

For The Fat Pony we researched the combination ‘horse’ and ‘restaurant’. Fieldwork was literally carried out, this ranged from the ponies in the pasture, but also to the boning of a horse at the butcher. In addition, we organised workshops by design studio Catalogtree, chef Tom Buiting and theatre director Lisah Baert. All this comes together in the horse meat restaurant The Fat Pony.

AlexColes about The Fat Pony:

"It felt like a scene between Jilly Cooper and John Wayne as directed by Wes Anderson with sets designed by Gordon Matta-Clark and his Food project"

collaboration with:
Josine Beugels, Woody Veneman, Lucas Maassen, Paul Slot & students ArtCoDe (Sophie Kleuskens, Vincent van Opdorp, Milan van Belle, Sjoerd de Graaf, Nina Hampsink, Iris Seuren, Stella Toonen, Lieke van der Maas, Moyra Besjes, Natasja Lauwers, Tessa van der Heijden, Renée Wouters, Jessie Raijmakers)

special thanks to:
Fontys ArtCoDe, Catalogtree, Lisah Baert, Tom Buiting, Slagerij Beerens, worstenmakerij Reinders, boerderij Prins Willem Alexanderschool Veldhoven, Mony Koopman, Marjolein Mostert

some nice details:
1. The design for the tableware is based on the blaze of the horse. 70% of these markings are genetically transferred. The pigment that is used to colour the tableware is built up as a family tree according to this system of transferral. Every new generation of plates has 70% of the colour from its predecessor. A new colour is added to the remaining 30%. 
2. At the end of his life, a horse has two possible destinations: the slaughterhouse or the destructor, where the animals are incinerated and converted into energy. A symbiotic form agreement was found in the “Fricandle”: a candle in the form of a “frikandel” that actually contains 2% of processed horse fat.
3. Dining at The Fat Pony is more than just eating horse; we offer guests a full and optimal horse experience. All aspects of the horse will be discussed. The behaviour, accessories and appearance of the horse have inspired the Fat Pony’s interior. Shapes such as used in horse jumping have been the inspiration for the tables, a saddle is the starting point for the chairs. 
4. The horse meat from The Fat Pony comes from Butcher Beerens in Best. Traditionally, they personally select which horses come into the butcher shop. We were able to watch a horse being boned and cut into steaks and stew meat. The Fat Pony menu is based on the different parts of the horse. We wanted to avoid eating only the entrecote of ten horses and having the rest of the animal go to waste. 
5. Of course you should have tasted the menu:

Turnip soup
celeriac soup with thyme oil and toast with haycheese and apple (v)
Charcuterie de Cheval
dry sausage, pastrami and horse sausage with pickles and carrot jam
Troika
salt crusted beet, pickled beetroot and roasted beets with dill yoghurt on salad of dandelion leaves (v)
Pulled Horse
pulled horse on a horse milk bun with haysin sauce and a spicy cucumber salad
+
Italian Stallion
classic Italian pasta ragù: stew in tomato sauce with pappardelle and trefoil
Pumping Iron 
Limburg-style stew in dark beer and apple, served with carrot, mashed potatoes with spinach and stewed apple
Americo’s Present
tartelette of pastry with puy lentils in yoghurt, Irish cheese and mashed sweet potatoes (v)
Hay hay hay de Haas
hay flamed horse steak with horseradish butter, served with roasted red onion, red wine sauce, sprouts and fried potatoes
+
Horse Fig
pure chocolate mousse with roasted pecans, pistachio, soaked figs and candied orange peel
Oat Cookie
with stewed apple and homemade vanilla ice of horse milk
Carrot cake with coffee
you know what that means