Savour the flavours of Tasting Australia

Overnight experiences to unexpected places, a Town Square Kitchen dinner that embraces sustainability and reducing food waste, an ode to instant cup noodles and an open-flame progressive dinner at Adelaide’s hottest new restaurant arkhé are just some of the curious and unique events on offer when Tasting Australia returns this April.

The 2022 event features the most diverse program yet. It will showcase the best that South Australia has to offer across more than 200 events and 11 regions for 10 delicious days from April 29 to May 8. The festival hub, Town Square in Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga returns in 2022. It offers diverse bites from food vendors as well as beverages sure to impress. Town Square will be open every day of the 10-day festival. It’s the perfect spot for locals and visitors alike to get into the CBD and explore all there is to see, do and taste.

What’s on the menu?

“The program truly offers something for everyone,” says Karena Armstrong, co-Festival Director. “The Town Square Kitchen Express Lunch series is very exciting. Where else but Tasting Australia can you experience a dish from one of the world’s best chefs like Dave Pynt (Burnt Ends, Singapore) or Rosheen Kaul (Etta, Victoria) for $40 with a glass of wine?”

Chef Adam Liston of Adelaide’s Shobosho, ShoSho and Shomen Ramen is just one of the many chefs to feature in the Tasting Australia 2022 program. He’ll be joining chefs including Louis Tikaram (Stanley) and Amy Hamilton (Liberté) to cook with the legendary Cheong Liew OAM for a Legends Dinner event. Liew is credited as one of the first chefs to introduce Aussie diners to the power of fusion cuisine, expanding our culinary horizons as a result.

“He created a dish years ago that he called Four Dances of the Sea,” Liston says. “It was four bites of different seafood-style dishes. It’s one of his most iconic dishes. So I’m recreating that in my own form for the event.”

Program highlights at Tasting Australia 2022

The Tasting Table

Enjoy a series of intimate tastings from Adelaide’s best and most loved venues. Each of the venues features a guest presenter and an array of rare wines. They all offer an individualised experience for you to explore the best of South Australia. Taste, talk and share great wines in a setting that lets you discover the people and places that shaped them.

Town Square Kitchen

The best of long lunches and dinners are waiting for you at Town Square Kitchen. Enjoy a meal presented by top chefs as they bring you the most craft-dazzling food for brunch, lunch or dinner. With 10 tempting options to choose from, you can watch the chefs at work while you enjoy a drink with friends in Adelaide’s city centre.

Tasting Australia Airlines

Savour pristine South Australian seafood on a full-day adventure at festival favourite Coffin Bay. Experience the awe-inspiring grandeur of the Flinders Ranges in an all-new outback odyssey. Or discover the rugged beauty of a Coober Pedy, known for the glittering opals its red soil yields. Each event features top chefs, such as Tasting Australia patron Simon Bryant, Attica’s Ben Shewry and Africola’s Duncan Welgemoed.

The Noodle Cup

You’ve never had instant noodles like this before. Following the 2021 success of The Festival of Sausage in Bread, the University of Adelaide and Adelaide University Union return with a celebration of another comfort food classic: cup noodles. The Noodle Cup brings together Morgan McGlone of Belles Hot Chicken fame and Victor Liong from Melbourne’s Lee Ho Fook. They’ll be armed with quality seasonal SA produce to pimp up cup noodles.

Express Lunches

In a rush but still want to catch the best food on offer at Tasting Australia? Express lunches offering quick bites are the perfect experience for you. Town Square Kitchen offers a fun, engaging session for you to enjoy a delectable meal with South Australia’s finest wine. With a world-class chef running each session, bring your friends and enjoy.

Pie Life

Join top Australian chefs at a classic Adelaide pub to celebrate the delicious possibilities of pie. A diverse line-up will put their spin on this beloved dish across a lively night at The Lion Hotel. Chefs include Thai Australian chef Terry Intarakhamhaeng (Soi 38); award-winning pastry chef Lauren Eldridge (Berowra Waters Inn); Justin James (Restaurant Botanic); and Ben Devlin (Pipit). The Lion’s resident chef Brendan Boothroyd is also set to star.

arkhé and Friends

Take Adelaide’s hottest new venue, add three celebrated chefs and you have the recipe for a very special event. Joining arkhé head chef Jake Kellie will be Matt Stone, resident of the Future Food System project in Melbourne’s Federation Square. They’ll also be joined by Stanley’s Louis Tikaram. The trio has prepared a night of open-flame cooking, showcasing the stunning new Norwood venue with a progressive dinner.

Wasted

This dinner will see co-Festival Director Karena Armstrong (The Salopian Inn) craft four courses alongside Ben Devlin and South Australia’s Kane Pollard (Topiary). Settle in for delicious dishes that maximise local produce and use ingredients often overlooked amid the bustle of a busy kitchen. Armstrong, Devlin and Pollard are passionate about curbing food waste as well as showing how less familiar fare shines in deft hands.

Tasting Australia presented by RAA Travel will run from April 29 to May 8. To check out the full program and to book, head to the Tasting Australia website.