The vibe was very relaxed at the sixth annual Taste of Sydney, held in the gorgeous fields of Centennial Park. One expects chaos and long queues as people run around sampling as much as they can in their chosen four-hour session; I mean, we are talking about some of the finest restaurants in and around Sydney setting up stalls side-by-side with exhibitions and pop-up bars. Instead of the frustrating queues, lack of seating, and hurried atmosphere, there was a feel-good vibe, a smooth layout, and a whole heap of distinctive stalls to cater to your every foodie and alcoholic desire - as long as you had enough crowns.
If you wanted to make the most of everything on offer then Taste of Sydney proved an expensive day out; but expense is consistently justified with both quality and diversity this year.
On one side of the park you have Woolloomooloo gem Aki's Indian Restaurant - serving up their gorgeous crispy eggplant chips (8 crowns) - and the pristine Swedish-shine of the Rekorderlig Cider lounge, while on the other you have festival-newcomer and hipster hangout IconPark - a restaurant-and-bar focused crowdfunding platform which showcased six concept restaurants - and the popular Tasmanian Pavilion - which just made me want to pack my bags and move to the picturesque island state post-haste.
Loading up on crowns (the festival's official dollar-for-dollar currency) was an easy process. There was a main booth near the entrance where cash or card could buy you all the crowns you wanted (in dominions of 10) on a little eftpos-like card; small top-up tents were placed around the park for convenience.
A nice refuge from the early-afternoon heat was the gorgeous Rekorderlig lounge, complete with snow white lounges, red carpeting, and an acoustic performance that paired well with the self-contained atmosphere of the tent. Every available flavour of Rekorderlig - including the new, excellent, Apple & Guava - was stocked at the bar.
The festival's best cocktails were hard to pick. On one hand you had the colourful Cointreau Fizz Lounge serving up concoctions which used the newly-launched Cointreau Noir, a liquor which takes that famous orange liquor flavour and infuses it with fine champagne Cognac for a highly unique taste. This mixed well with the several cocktails available. On the other hand, the popular Galliano tent went for sweet, easy-to-drink cocktails, including the best (and lightest) Ristretto Martini I've ever tasted. Their paddleboard samplers were commonplace all round the festival grounds.
Another 'best I've ever had' was found at the nice little Fever-Tree stall. This brand focuses on something which is just as important to cocktails as alcohol: premium natural mixers; think tonic water, lemonade, and ginger ale. It was here I discovered that my long-time hate for Gin & Tonic was just because I was using terrible quality tonic water. The ubiquitous mixture here was superb. As one of the staff explained to me, a big part of the great taste comes from the natural, high quality ingredients that they source; this includes quinine from the Congo and hand cold-pressed orange from Tanzania.
With my fair share of alcohol - including <>Lychee-infused beer and some gorgeous Frank's Cider from the aforementioned Tasmanian Pavilion - it was time for some more food, and ToS regulars Efendy were more than happy to satisfy my need; their Duck, Haloumi, and Wild Weeds Gozleme (8 crowns) was just what I needed after my palate had been assaulted with hard-hitting liquor. The gozleme was nice and soft, with tender duck leg given a nice texture by string haloumi and barberries.
The excellent 'Destination Dining' concept proved a winner, bringing in quality food from Hunter Valley (Muse Retaurant), Whale Beach (Jonah's), and Avoca Beach (Rojo Rocket). There was much to try as these restaurants rotated throughout the weekend; from Muse's Milly Hill Lamb Shoulder (14 crowns) to Rojo Rocket's Sashimi Tuna Tostada (14 crowns). Seeing as I was there on the Saturday, it was Jonah's that caught my attention with some brilliant Honey & Cardamon Glazed Pork Belly (12 crowns) with came with pumpkin, apple, and pork scratching on the side and delicious Confit Huon Salmon (10 crowns) with wasabi, radish, soy and singer dressing. These two dishes gave me only a small sample of what's on offer but it was more than enough to make me want to day-trip on out to the gorgeous area to taste more of what Jonah's has to offer.
After some addictive Polenta Chips with Gorgonzola Sauce (10 crowns) from Bloodwood I found myself in the cut-off garden that was Country Kitchen which was home to the interesting Bug Shop, some ice cream with chocolate crickets was nice enough, the crickets proving to be quite tasty in the generous scoop. There were talks on sustainability from Rebecca Sullivan alongside Q&A's with guest chefs and target 100 farmers.
Learning more about the complex process of sourcing the right foods and drinks was a big part of the weekend. Tents like the Taste Kitchen and Dilmah Chef's Skillery hosted head chef's from many of the featured restaurants, plus those from places like the new and delicious Swine & Co and the infinitely popular Gelato Messina; these were weekend-long hubs for people to learn and grow their skills. Celebrity Cruises showcased the Food and Beverage Matching Masterclass tent which explored matching cocktails, beers, and wines to dinners and lunches. And the Lurpak Cooking School drew many because MasterChef star Julia Taylor was hosting neat cooking classes throughout the four-day festival.
The Plumm Wine Theatre also sought to educate the masses with innovative wine classes offered all weekend, including the Plumm Wine Glass Experience presented by Matt Skinner which was an eye-opening demonstration of just how significant the difference in taste can be depending on your wine glass; this class also came with a box of four gorgeous (and MASSIVE) Plumm wine glasses. This large tent was perched to the always-excellent Cake Wines stall which was consistently buzzing with vibrant wine-lovers throughout the weekend.
Indeed this was not only a festival to showcase some of the best restaurants and exhibitors from across Australia, but a time to brush up on foodie knowledge, hone your kitchen skills, and grow as both a consumer and creator of delicious food and drink.
Much of the younger crowd flocked to the Beer & Cider Hall to delve into the rapidly growing interest in craft beers and ciders, as well as sneak a couple of tastings into their day. Though it was IconPark that drew the brightest crowd, each invited to judge between six concept restaurants who were competing for a 3 month season at IconPark's East Sydney location. My personal favourite was Sedgewick Ave which infused their love of NYC hip-hop culinary creations inspired by the 5 boroughs; their Brooklyn's Finest De-boned Free Range Wings with Grilled Watermelon and light Blue Cheese Sauce (10 crowns) was undoubtedly one of the best dishes I had all weekend.
Having tried Longrain's excellent offerings at a prior event, I skipped the tempting Crispy King Prawns (12 crowns) and went straight for Chur Burger, loving their Crispy Pork Belly (8 crowns) burger; the chilli caramel, aiolo, and mint slaw filling speaking highly for the restaurant's knack for producing some of the best burgers in town.
I ended my experience at the fantastic Dilmah tent right near the entrance, enjoying their High Tea Experience which included heavenly tea-infused chocolates made by passionate brand ambassador Peter Kuruvita as well as some world-class teas (my favourite being the exceptional Acai Berry with Pomegranate & Vanilla); a perfect end to to my first - and definitely not last - Taste of Sydney.
In similar fashion, Taste of Melbourne will take the city to foodie paradise during the weekend of November 13-16. More info can be found HERE
Where applicable, images supplied and used with permission. All other images taken by Chris Singh