News bites: food events coming soon

25th June 2021 | Eativity editors

With many Australians unable to leave their state – or even their homes (sorry, Sydney) – appetites are ripe for local food events that don’t require travel beyond borders. Or local government areas (sorry again, Sydney). Luckily there is much deliciousness on the menu, including the food events and offerings that we’ve listed below. From award-winning cheese and crisp cannoli to ploughman’s picnics and oysters with a dash of culture, foodies can look forward to some tantalising taste experiences… and even a little magic.

Food events: That's Amore Cheese
With cheese this good, who needs the gin? Although we won’t say no…

For the love of cheese

That’s Amore Cheese has added more awards to its list of achievements. The cheesemaker took home 4 medals at the 2021 Royal Queensland Food & Wine Show Awards last month. In addition, That’s Amore won 14 Dairy Industry Association of Australia awards this week.

For Melburnians wanting to snaffle a taste of award-winning cheese, That’s Amore will be hosting a cheese and gin-matching night on July 2. The business is partnering with local gin-maker Imbue Distillery to create the event. Linguanti and the founders of Imbue Distillery will guide the tastings, while also sharing their knowledge of the production process.

That’s Amore has also launched cheese and pasta-making classes for winter. There’s a beginners’ cheesemaking class, a mozzarella class and a tortellino and ravioli class on offer.

Tickets to the cheese and gin night are available here. You can book your cheese and pasta classes here. For more on That’s Amore, head to thatsamorecheese.com.au

Food events: Sixty Smith
Too much Netfilx and takeaway? Get your culture cred back in one fell swoop with Oysters + Art.

Support the arts while eating oysters, dahling

Also in Melbourne, Smith Street neighbourhood bar Sixty Smith will play host to 10 Melbourne artists this Sunday as its Oysters + Art exhibition takes over the venue.

After a decidedly slow 12 months for local creatives, Oysters + Art offers artists the chance to showcase their artwork at a relaxed food event. Each piece will be available for purchase both on the day and across the month. To accompany the art, Sixty Smith will be serving up $2 oysters. You can choose from natural, fennel and yuzu or chilli jam and seafood nahm jim alongside Sixty Smith’s usual Thai, French and Spanish-inspired menu. Think cured ocean trout, slow-cooked pork neck and eggplant popcorn. Oh yeah.

Bookings are essential. You can book at sixtysmith.com or by calling (03) 9417 6864.

Food events: Cannoleria
Top tip: for pastry lovers looking to conceive this year, cannoli is traditionally a symbol of fertility.

Goodbye soggy cannoli

Melbourne’s Cannoleria, which was created by That’s Amore, will be making even more Victorian foodies happy. The Sicilian dessert specialist has announced long-term weekend pop-up food events at Westfield Geelong. After a few casual pop-ups in the shopping centre, the Cannoleria team quickly realised the demand for their crunchy, delicious cannoli. They’ve now committed to every Friday, Saturday and Sunday until the end of 2021.

“Our Geelong customers have told us they’ve driven into Melbourne to buy our cannoli,” says Dario Di Clerico, Cannoleria co-founder. “But, as we all know, cannoli are never as good a few hours later. No one wants soggy cannoli.” True that.

One of Cannoleria’s brand new custom kiosks will be home to the pop-up store. Made to order in Italy, the kiosks look like a permanent stand but have the convenience of folding into themselves. This makes them easy to move from one place to another.

You can find Cannoleria Geelong opposite Peter Jackson at Westfield Geelong every Friday, Saturday and Sunday until the end of December. For more on Cannoleria, head to cannoleriabythatsamore.com.au

Harry Potter-themed experience
Talk about a chamber of secrets – the location of this event is currently under wraps.

Grab your wands, wizards

For those who love a good mystery – and for avid Harry Potter fans – a spellbinding high tea is on the horizon this September. A special Sydney-based Harry Potter-themed experience promises to deliver magical interactive characters and activities, along with potion-making classes and Butterbeer. To add to the otherworldly feel, no one yet knows where the event will be held. Ticket-holders will be sent clues about the location 30 days before the event. However, you won’t find out the location until seven days beforehand.

Three sessions per day will be held from Thursday, September 23 to Sunday, September 26. For more info and to buy tickets, head to trybooking.com. But you’ll probably want to get in quick. Harry Potter fans are notoriously zealous.

Food events: Regatta Hotel
Another fun fact: the ploughman’s lunch was invented by UK marketers in the 1950s to sell more cheese.

Spend winter in the vineyards

Brisbanites won’t need to leave the city to enjoy a vineyard experience this winter. The iconic Regatta Hotel will be transforming its open-air courtyard into a winery setting this season, with a special Winter in the Vineyards food activation.

Available Wednesday to Sunday from 11:30am, the Regatta Hotel Courtyard will be offering a mulled wine and antipasto-style menu featuring baked Jersey brie, goat’s cheesecake in sesame pastry crust and a ploughman’s picnic, which includes a large salumi (cured meats) share plate, a bottle of Brockenchack wine and a take-home picnic blankie. The mulled wine cart will be available between 2 and 6pm, with live music from 3pm.

This Sunday, June 27, the Regatta Hotel will also be hosting a Harvest Festival to celebrate local produce. The free-entry festival will see pop-up market stalls featuring a variety of local cheeses and antipasto from producers like Olympus Cheese, Salumi Australia and Chinchilli Sauces. A special food menu will also feature all the local produce for the day.

For more info on Winter in the Vineyards and the Harvest Festival, click here.