Food Drink

Marco Pierre White To Hold Free Tasting Australia Session This Week At Vic Square

By Molly Peters

Posted on May 1, 2017

We’ve got your first look at Tasting Australia’s new Town Square and some very exciting news about celebrity Chef Marco Pierre.

A free session on the Town Square stage this week will give fans a chance to hear from legendary UK chef Marco Pierre White at Tasting Australia.

Marco’s appearance – to be followed immediately afterwards by a book signing – is part of the Chef’s Journey series, where stars of the culinary world will discuss how they found their way. It includes South Australian talent in Duncan Welgemoed, Simon Bryant and Jock Zonfrillo, plus guests Lennox Hastie, Sophie Zalokar, Analiese Gregory and Alex Herbert. Chef’s Journey sessions begin at noon Sunday 30 April – Tasting Australia’s opening day – and continue on Wednesday 3 May and Sunday 7 May.

The new-look Town Square in Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga is now open and set to welcome tens of thousands of people across the eight days of Tasting Australia. Offering the season’s best flavours, world-class chefs, live music, meet-the-winemaker sessions and more, it’s a launch-pad to Adelaide’s top eating and drinking experiences during the festival and beyond. Marco will be on stage at 6:30pm on Wednesday and stay on in the Living Library to sign copies of his acclaimed cookbooks. It’s fans’ last opportunity to catch him in Adelaide, with his three ticketed Tasting Australia events selling out within hours of going on sale.

Open for lunch and dinner daily, the beating heart of Town Square is two-fold. Charred is the street food centre of the festival where stall holders will offer flame grilled, wood-fired, roasted, toasted, smoked and charred wares. Using fire as the only heat-source, popular eateries/producers will be serving delicious and comforting dishes day and night.

Vendors include:

Pizzatecca serving wood-fired pizza and arrosticini
La Boca Bar & Grill serving asador-style beef
Comida serving wood grilled chicken and charred corn
The Henry Austin serving roasted lamb and heirloom carrots with macadamia and muntrie
Coriole who will slow-roast a whole cow
B-d. Farm Paris Creek serving fondue and cheese toasties
Gelista serving Bombe Alaska, plus many more.
The Glasshouse Kitchen is the new showpiece restaurant of the festival, constructed from a series of stylishly themed glasshouses. Collaboration dinners featuring culinary stars including Marco and Ana Ros (World’s Best Female Chef 2017, Hiša Franko in Slovenia) will see menus devised with Adelaide’s local heroes that
showcase regional produce.

Tasting Australia creative director Simon Bryant said the festival hub would be a hive of activity in 2017, with a fresh image and theatrical cooking that tastes, looks and smells good.

“Fire has been a favoured cooking method for hundreds of years, but it’s always exciting when it has a resurgence in popular culture,” he said.

“Cooking with fire is more involved, more tactile, there’s more flavour and smell – it’s sensory. And it incorporates everything from making small-goods and smoking them to baking sourdough from scratch.

“In contrast to the raw, dark feel of the coals and fire, the Glasshouse Kitchen will be glowing with world-class talent and unforgettable, one-off menus.

“To have Marco, Ana, Clayton Wells (Automata, Sydney), Paul Carmichael (Momofuku Seiōbo, Sydney) cooking alongside Jock Zonfrillo (Restaurant Orana), Cheong Liew, Paul Baker (Botanic Gardens Restaurant) and others will bring a lot of energy to the city and the state.”

Some of the festival stars will also take up residence at Charred, offering insider tips to their signature cooking styles and the opportunity for the public to try their food at a more casual price.

The Premium Wine Bar, Beer and Bubbles bar and Bottle Shop Gin bar will be open daily, run by East End Cellars, and offer South Australia’s best wines, artisan spirits, craft beers and ciders and more. There’ll be tastings with the producers, and ticketed masterclasses exploring Penfolds Grange, Rockford Basket Press, natural and sparkling wine and more.

Local brands including Lobo Cider, Hills Cider Co, Applewood, Hills Distillery, KI Spirits and more will take up residence in the new-look Town Square for the week, with live music adding to its inviting atmosphere.

Town Square opening times:
Sunday 30 April 11am – 11pm
Monday 1 May 11am – 2.30pm
Tuesday 2 May 11am – 2.30pm
Wednesday 3 May 11am – 11pm
Thursday 4 May 11am – 11pm
Friday 5 May 11am – midnight
Saturday 6 May 11am – midnight
Sunday 7 May 11am – 5pm