This coming Saturday more than 17 000 food lovers are expected to gather at the largest gastronomic celebration on the northern NSW event calendar – the 7th Annual Sample Food Festival.
Twenty-six of the region’s best restaurants and caterers will produce $5 and $10 tasting plates inspired by their signature dishes – a fraction of the cost of dining in their well known establishments.
Award-winning Sean Connolly (The Balcony Bar, Byron Bay), will have a signature plate on offer while TV’s Paul West (Foxtel Food Channel’s River Cottage Australia) and original Ready Steady Cook chef Matt Golinski will battle it out in the Olsson Salt Celebrity cook off.
Being held in the picturesque village of Bangalow, 10 kilometres from Byron Bay, the Festival will also play host to more than 100 lifestyle exhibitors including local growers, artisans and boutique distilleries.
Punters ‘sampling’ delights at last year’s festival.
Renowned brewery Stone & Wood will offer a range of beers with Cape Byron’s Brookies Gin and the Tweed Valley’s Ink Gin joining the line up.
Festival founder Remy Tancred said the Festival is designed to celebrate the region’s vast array of top quality farmers, producers, chefs and artisans. “There will be cheese-makers, macadamia farmers, spice artisans, Asian street food specialists, fruit growers and dozens more delicious opportunities to try our region’s amazing fresh produce,” said Remy. “We have live music, baby animals for the little ones, cooking demonstrations, gifts and home wares as well as the chance to try to best food from our amazing region.”
Le Cordon Bleu’s Blue Ribbon and logo would be known to almost anyone with an interest in food and beverages. Now in its fifth year, the Le Cordon Bleu Master of Gastronomic Tourism is the only post-graduate degree of its kind available in Australia. Talking to festival goers about the Masters of Gastronomic Tourism is the key motivation for Le Cordon Bleu’s involvement in Sample 2017.
The ‘MGT’ is designed so that students can explore the ‘gastronomic tourism experience’ from business studies and academic perspectives, add their own creative input and create graduate opportunities for work or further study.
With the exception of our MGT Residential, now an annual three-day series of gastronomic adventures hosted by Le Cordon Bleu and current students (often working professionals), the degree is delivered entirely online. Graduates of the program typically work in food and wine business, media and tourism. Le Cordon Bleu Australia’s Senior Brand Manager Sophie Davies will be a member of our expert panel for our networking event ‘Ahead Of The Curve’.
The first event in the 2017 SampleFoodFest program, Ahead Of The Curve combines food, business and networking. An expert panel including Sophie Davies of Le Cordon Bleu Australia will be hosted by MC Kerry O’Brien will meet at the Bangalow Hotel, Wednesday 30th August. The panel will discuss their own unique entrepreneurial paths and what’s working in food and business right now. To book tickets to this unique event go to: Ahead of the Curve
Local chefs Kartrina Kanetani (Town), Bret Cameron (Harvest), Monique Guterres (Hungry Like The Wolf) will join visiting chefs Matt Golinski, Luca Ciano, Ben Williamson and Clayton Donovan to complete the 2017 line up.
