knowing meat knowing you – a haa!

Clint and Lizzie Batchelor set up Knowing Meat Knowing You after a holiday, breaking free from the monotony of a 9 to 5 job in London. Clint had always been the go to friend for meat-based meals and started to perfect his burger.  When I say ‘perfect’, he is still on this journey.  Expect near perfection from Knowing Meat Knowing You with their foods which are all locally sourced and prepared on site. They’re also huge Steve Coogan fans, hence the name.  Based in Harbourside at Folkestone Harbour, Folkelife went to meet them.

Clint: “I’d been in this really boring 9 to 5 job in London and had taken redundancy.  We’d only been together a few months by this point and went off on holiday.  Lizzie asked me what I would do if I could do anything in the world, and I said I would cook.  I love food, I’ve always loved preparing meals and barbeques and I can get a bit… obsessed… in perfecting recipes. “

Lizzie: “That was in 2016, and I was, and still am, working 3 days a week in London.  We set up our gazebo in Bromley from a Friday to Sunday and served our signature burger and it went down really well.”

the signature burger

Clint: “The Bromley Bad Boy is our signature burger.  It’s essentially a cheeseburger with a couple of juicy beef patties.  We don’t do smash burgers, we like them big and juicy.  There’s some nice Red Leicester cheese on there with a yellow mustard glaze, smokey mayo, some pickles and onions, and a dab of ketchup.”

Lizzie: “Clint has always been the best cook in our friendship group, and he would sort you out with a decent barbeque.  This was the test to see if they’d just been being nice, but we all knew he was good. 

“It’s important to us to work with local suppliers, but really work closely with them.  We started like this in Bromley, got friendly with a local butcher and baker, and that’s what we’ve done here too.  Watson and Neal are going to supply our meat.  We’ve been working with them to get the right patty which is a mix of brisket beef and rib skirt.  It holds the juices well and has a great flavour to it.”

Clint: “Docker have perfected the burger bun which is a sweet potato bun.  It is spongy and holds the juices really well.  You know when you have a brioche bun and it disintegrates as you are eating?  Well, this doesn’t do that.  It has a great flavour, is vegan, so works with our vegan and vegetarian options as well as doing its job with the burgers.”

Lizzie: “A lot of businesses say they use local suppliers, but we really do.  If we can build up a good relationship with our butcher and baker then we are really part of the community here in Folkestone.”

Discovering folkestone

Clint: “Well, I’m from Bromley so the Kent Coast has always been on my radar.  We’d come down to Margate, Ramsgate and Folkestone in the summer when I was a kid.  But a good friend of ours moved down here in about 2018 and we would come and visit, and slowly fell in love with the place. 

Lizzie: “The street food scene in London is really hard to get into, there are lots of people trying in quite a small space.  Then when we came here you could see the energy in what was going on at Folkestone Harbour.  We learned about what Sir Roger De Haan had been doing in supporting creatives from all industries, and the commissioning model here was a big part of helping us make the decision to come here.  But the vibe here is to support independent businesses.  You get that from the Harbour and you get that from the visitors to the Harbour.”

10 minute commute

Lizzie: “We moved down here in January 2025 and have a 10 minute commute to work.  We wanted to be a part of what’s going on here, having seen it as a punter, we want to share our food with everyone.”

Clint: “As well as the burger we have fried chicken, which is a buttermilk fried chicken burger with a secret six spice blend.  So secret that Lizzie doesn’t even know what’s in it.  We call it our Crispy Fried Chick Chick Burger and there’s a twist in the crispy coating… I’ve put Frazzles in there too. That is served on our Docker buns with some chipotle mayo.  

“There will be some fried chicken wings with various sauces – Buffalo, and maybe some Korean Sticky Wings too. There are a million different wings I’d like to try out on people so expect to see some specials and we’ll find out which are people’s favourites.

“There are loaded fries too, with truffle and Parmesan. And dirty fries with a homemade cheese sauce smothered over them.”

go a bit wild

Lizzie: “We sometimes show off foods from other areas of the world.  Nothing too out there, but certainly things that we love to eat, and think it’s rude not to share;  arancini, crochettas and other tasty crispy things!  

“Street food though is that, it’s from the street and the ingredients should be from as close to you as possible.  It’s a craft, and should be kept as much a craft as possible. 

“It’s why our ethos of knowing our local providers is important to us, and also that our packaging supports our community too, and doesn’t clutter up with waste that we can’t dispose of.  It’s not the cheapest or quickest way of doing things, but it’s the best way, in our opinion.”

first sight of home

Clint: “The Harbour has a real edge to it, you can feel this is an exciting place to work, and to be creative, it’s raw in a way. It’s not your run-of-the-mill seaside town. It’s different.”

Lizzie: “I love the history that’s steeped in the location here.  Knowing that those soldiers left to fight, and came back seeing this as their first sight of home.  It’s something special, and important that we keep that alive. The artwork that’s around is thrilling too, I love the Antony Gormley.  Everywhere you look the place has been thought about, and I love that.  We’re really exited to be a part of it.”