We ate and drank our way through Taste of Sydney 2014 sampling dishes from seventeen of the latest and greatest restaurants NSW has to offer. Porteno, Chur Burger, Rojo Rocket, Four In Hand and Efendy were just a few restaurants on this all-star line up. But it wasn’t all about gastronomy. Check out some of the drinks highlights from this years festival hosted in Centennial Park:
The Rekorderlig Cider bar had some of the friendliest people pedalling their passionfruit cider and with cosy beanbags scattered in the sun it was the perfect place to soak up the good vibes.
The Galliano Bocce Lanes had Rick James’ ‘Give It To Me Baby’ luring people in while bartenders Jonathan Coates, Connell Newport and Stefano Silvestri mixed up a trio of Galliano cocktails. All their shaking and stirring culminated into an Amaretto Sour, Pallino and an Espresso Martini (my personal favourite).
The Garden Bar was a great place to chillax with fruity cocktails and live music and the coolest teepee style tent.
Then it was on to the Fever Tree stall, the premium sparkling water used to make killer gin and tonics. Fever Tree is another name for the Cinchona tree, the bark of which produces quinine that adds the bitterness to the tonic water. Fever Tree’s James Johnstone informed me that they have a plantation in the war-torn Congo Republic and that they literally “go to the end of the world to get the product”. Now that’s taking pride in your work!
The Sensology tent hosted special cocktail making classes throughout the day showing us how to make the perfect pina coladas while the Patron tent taught us the art of margarita making.
Of course Taste is a big gastronomical wonderland so you couldn’t go without trying a few weird and whacky things. A stall with a sign reading ‘Eat a Bug’ beckons further investigation. Ever had ice cream with crickets, mealworms, ants or ‘mixed’ insects sprinkled on it? “We sell the bugs dried in containers as well” said the guy behind the stand. The Edible Bug Shop breeds the bugs in special conditions and then dries or roasts them to give them a nice crunch. Not sure i’ll race to try bugs on ice cream but give me another crispy pork belly burger from Chur Burger any day!
Taste of Sydney
Check out our interview with Festival Director Simon Wilson