Dinner with a score, Pot + Provenance, Taste the World
Upcoming food and drink happenings in South Australia, including a four-course meal with musical accompaniment in the Botanic Gardens, Taste the World, a Pot + Provenance collaboration dinner, and long lunches on the Palais.
A Feast for the Senses – March 14
This event is a coming together of two worlds – that of Paul Baker, head chef at Botanic Gardens Restaurant, and Chris Lloyd, a South Australian concert pianist. Baker will provide a four-course menu, matched with drinks, while Lloyd creates a unique ambiance with his music. Tickets are $160 and available here. The Botanic Gardens Restaurant will host another special event on April 20, when Baker pairs up with My Kitchen Rules judge and 4fourteen owner Colin Fassnidge and PorkStar for a “Tail of Two Swines” dinner celebrating the “not-so-humble pig”.
Pot + Provenance – March 11
King William Road staple The Pot has invited regional restaurateur Michael Ryan, from Beechworth eatery Provenance, for a collaboration dinner showcasing both his and host chef Emma McCaskill’s culinary skills. It will be a homecoming of sorts for Ryan, who graced The Pot’s kitchen in its earlier iteration as The Melting Pot in 2001-2002, as well as a demonstration of the evolution of the restaurant itself. Tickets to the seven-course dinner are $165 per person and available by emailing [email protected] or calling 8373 2044.
Taste the World at WOMADelaide – March 9-12
If you’re heading to WOMADelaide this weekend, don’t forget to check out Taste the World in the Speakers’ Corner of Botanic Park, where festival musicians swap their instruments for cooking utensils. This year will feature 15 cooking sessions over three days, with artists from around the world showing how to make dishes including Fatteh Chicken, Cuban Fried Rice, Ceviche, and Haggis Pakora with a Chivas Whisky Sauce. See the full program here. Also worth seeking out is new WOMAD bar The Botanical, which will be showcasing a range of SA gins.
Long Lunches on the Palais – until March 18
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One of last year’s Palais long lunches. Photo: Adelaide Festival
Curated by Gill Minervini (Dark MOFO Winter Feast), the Adelaide Festival’s series of long lunches on the Riverbank Palais continue until March 18. Guest chefs still to host lunches are Jared Ingersoll (March 10), Alex Herbert (March 11), Jordan Theodoros (March 12) and Janet Jeffs (March 18). The cost is $169 for a long-table meal which includes canapes, entrees, mains and desserts, with matched wine by Penfolds and beer by Coopers available for purchase. Read more here.
Homeless Grapes Project – March 10
Inkwell Wines will once again host the Homeless Grapes Project, which will see punters pick grapes that will become an Inkwell Shiraz. All proceeds from the wine’s sale will go to the Hutt St Centre. In the event’s first iteration, $45,000 was raised, helping provide 1500 plates of food and other essentials for 150 people. The picking event is sold out, but keep an eye out in the coming months for what is possibly McLaren Vale’s most conscientious shiraz.
St Patrick’s Day at 55ml – March 17
Gouger-adjacent red-brick small bar 55ml will be taking over Mill Street for a celebratory St Patrick’s Day event. Café Troppo will provide the eats, a roster of musicians will provide Irish tunes, and Guinness will flow from behind the bar. Best St Patrick’s Day dress will win a bottle of Jamieson’s. The event is free; for more information see the event page.
East End Wine Down – March 24
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The East End Wine Down is back for its 15th year in 2018, and with it comes a collection of 100 South Australian wines to try, as well as street food and DJs setting the mood all afternoon. Among the 50 wineries will be a contingency of “minimum interventionists, the eccentric and the rebels”, as well as a roster of beer, cider and spirits. The event will run from 12pm until 5pm on Saturday, March 24. Tickets can be purchased here.
Glendi Greek Festival – March 23-25
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Glendi Greek Festival and will also see it move to a new home in Victoria Square. Along with a weekend of music, dance, art and culture, you can also expect an array of Greek food such as souvlaki, loukaniko (sausage), spanakopita, loukoumades, baklava, galaktoboureko (sweet custard pie), crepes and more.
For the Love of BBQ – March 24
The South Australian BBQ competition season has kicked off, and to celebrate, Up in Smoke – the Beer and BBQ Festival-affiliated competition – is hosting a season launch event at a secret Barossa location, curiously titled Riverside Smokehouse. Dougal McFuzzlebutt, Kaneo Boase and Alana Brabin will be on the tools, providing a bunch of smoked eats to prep you for the coming competition season. Tickets and further information are available here.
The Festival at Basket Range – April 7
Celebrate another harvest season with a batch of the Adelaide Hills’ most interesting and eclectic winemakers at The Festival at Basket Range. Many of the producers from the 2017 event at Basket Range Oval will be in tow, along with some newcomers. There will be live music, great food, interactive activities for the kids, and very good wine. For more information, keep an eye on the event page.
Tasting Australia – April 13-22
A gin bar in the Town Square at last year’s Tasting Australia.
The program for this year’s Tasting Australia features more than 140 events across 10 days in April, including workshops, master-classes, degustation dinners, foraging adventures and underground feasts. The festival will open with a Surrealist Ball at the new d’Arenberg Cube in McLaren Vale, with other special events this year including “Tasting Australia Airlines” – a full-day luxury experience to SA culinary regions such as Kangaroo Island, Coffin Bay and the Limestone Coast – and the inaugural TA National Spirit Awards (more about that here). See the full program online.
Urban Wine Walk – May 19
This self-guided wine-tasting experience offers the chance to sample wines from makers such as La Prova, Yeti & the Kokonut, Hither & Yon, The Lane Vineyard and Chaffey Bros Wine Co at West End bars including Udaberri, Electra House, Hains & Co, MYLK Bar and La Buvette. Tickets are $55 and must be purchased prior to the event. For details see the Facebook event page.
News, tips and information?
Please send details of any upcoming food and/or drink events to: [email protected].
