Tasting Australia

[Vee]

As Will has said elsewhere in this forum, Adelaide is THE food capital of Australia.

Tasting Australia is a unique international event which contributes to our fine reputation as a gourmet mecca.
The Adelaide festival goes from strength to strength and this year will feature new interactive events, more participation, youth activities, regional experiences and the arts.

Add the dates for the 2012 Tasting Australia into your calendars. 26 April to 3 May 2012.

Some notes from their website.
http://www.tasting-australia.com.au/

Since its inception in 1997, Tasting Australia has become a huge international success. The festival is the perfect opportunity for food and drink professionals, the world’s food, drink and travel media and the public to enjoy the best that the nation and particularly South Australia has to offer in terms of produce, food products, wine and beer, hospitality and tourism.

Tasting Australia provides a showcase for the world’s top culinary talents.
International guests for 2012 include Tony Hadley, Richard Fox, Mark Hix and Martin Bosley.
Read more: http://www.tasting-australia.com.au/new ... -Australia.

Tasting Australia festival director, Ian Parmenter says the international line-up will be matched by a yet-to-be-released Australian and South Australian bill which he says will be “world class”.

Mr Parmenter said the 2012 Tasting Australia will be the most interactive yet, with the program featuring special events for amateur foodies and the public.
“Festival-goers will be front and centre at the 2012 Tasting Australia as we have introduced new interactive events and tweaked others to encourage more participation.

“There will be a special focus on youth activities, regional experiences and the arts, which will be served up with an amazing array of hands-on experiences for young and old.”

http://www.tasting-australia.com.au/

The full program will be released in February 2012.

[SRW]

Wasn't sure where to post this, but not so unique for much longer. Let's hope this isn't another example of SA pioneering a great event only to drop the ball and let others copy and supersede us.

Sour taste as Western Australia spruiks food festival
Kevin Naughton, InDaily, 14 September 2012

WHILE South Australia is apparently still looking for a replacement organiser for its successful Tasting Australia food and wine showcase, Western Australia has stepped into the vacuum.

WA’s Tourism Minister has just launched Gourmet Escape, putting his state in the international food and wine spotlight in November.

The pitch from WA is that some of the world’s best chefs, food and wine critics and celebrities will attend WA’s new premium food and wine event in the Margaret River Wine Region.

Margaret River? Yes, that’s where Tasting Australia founder and former director Ian Parmenter is based – and much of the program looks very familiar.

Indaily revealed in April last year that Parmenter had fallen out of favour with Tourism SA officials.

Those same officials promised at the time that “the replacement process was in hand”.

The timeframe for a replacement was shifted out to 2012 and Events SA general manager Hitaf Rasheed told us in February this year: “We are down to the last few and are in the process of making a decision,” she said, which suggested an announcement just prior to May’s Tasting Australia was on the cards.

That date passed without an announcement. Our inquiries to the SA Tourism Minister Gail Gago’s office yesterday about the year and a half search for Parmenter’s replacement went without an answer by today’s publication deadline.

Things are moving on in WA though.

Its Tourism Minister Kim Hames is spruiking the four-day Margaret River Gourmet Escape as an “annual event with the potential to develop into the highest-profile food and wine festival in Australia and the Asia-Pacific Region”.

“Australia has a few good food and wine festivals, but Margaret River Gourmet Escape will be a truly international standard event, providing a fantastic attraction for locals and visitors, as well as priceless promotion for the Margaret River Wine Region and WA as a whole,” Dr Hames said.

“It is my great pleasure to announce that the first major signing for Gourmet Escape is Heston Blumenthal, the owner of the famous Fat Duck restaurant in the UK and the new restaurant Dinner By Heston Blumenthal, recently rated one of the 10 best restaurants in the world in San Pellegrino’s annual list of the best.”

In another major coup, Rene Redzepi from Denmark, whose restaurant Noma was recently ranked the world’s No. 1 for the third time, will also appear at Gourmet Escape, as well as Australian favourite Justin North of Becasse in Sydney, Perth’s rising star Matt Stone of Greenhouse, and Dany Angove, the celebrated head chef at Leeuwin Estate.

The list of events scheduled for the WA’s Gourmet Escape bears a remarkable likeness to the structure of Tasting Australia, suggesting that Indaily’s story of May this year was on the money.

Ian Parmenter confirmed to Indaily on May 2 that the individual elements within Tasting Australia were owned by his Consuming Passions team.

The SA Tourism Commission still owned the Tasting Australia name but without the presence of Parmenter and his team, it was not much more than a name.

Tasting Australia was an Ian Parmenter invention, first pitched to South Australian in 1994 and held from here from 1997 – but his 15 year association with the SA Tourism Commission had soured in the past couple of years.

While the commission pondered the future, Parmenter’s colleagues Marina Libia and David Evans at event management group Consuming Passions, started shopping around for other interested parties.

Key sections of the Adelaide event such as the World Food Media Awards, Battle of the Chefs, Chefs Showcase and various Master Classes were being shopped to other locations such as Singapore, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.

It’s no surprise then to read in WA’s parliamentary Hansard that “the high-profile chefs and celebrities attending Margaret River Gourmet Escape will be involved in a range of events, including a Gourmet Village, dozens of masterclasses, pop-up restaurants, cooking demonstrations, wine theatre, wine-matching programs, meet the winemaker sessions, live music, and premium wine and produce”.

The World Food Media Awards have become an “Icon Celebration – A highlight event awarding an icon of the industry each year” and there’s also a “Beach BBQ –with a high-profile chef as host each day”, “Lunch in the Vines – an indulgent long-table lunch at one of Margaret River’s best known wineries, featuring leading chefs and sommeliers” and more.

One of the features of Tasting Australia was the lead-p event where regional food and wine was showcased.

WA’s Minister says; “There will be a regional food and wine trade program in the lead up to Gourmet Escape, as well as an extensive hosted familiarisation program, where visiting journalists and critics are shown around the State.

“So other regions cannot only participate in the event but also share in the national and international media coverage it will attract.”

While the expertise of Parmenter and his team is evident, the WA Government has spent what Indaily understands is between two and three million dollars to engage global events group Brand Events.

“Brand Events is involved in 16 ‘Taste’ festivals around the world and is uniquely positioned to deliver the highest profile international line-up of any culinary event in Australia and the region,” Regional Development Minister Brendon Grylls said at the event launch recently.

WA’s Gourmet Escape is on November 22-25. Whether South Australia has found anyone to run Tasting Australia by then is yet to be seen.

Gail Gago would have to be the most useless minister this Government has to offer. She's made no great policy strides in any of the portfolios she's (unjustifiably) held, but rather presided over problem after mishap.

[Matt]

Just quietly, I cannot bear the word "gourmet" and this bizarre Aussie obsession with it.

Whacking the word "gourmet" in front of anything and everything drives me spare.

Utter wank - really grinds my gears.

[Matt]

...but back on topic, (gourmet gripes aside), sad that an SA idea appears to have been pinched again - particularly when their line up is that impressive. Pretty much a who's who of big names in food.

[Wayno]

I love the various food & wine events on offer in SA. Trouble is every state (& country) has similar events, and all declare, with scant objective evidence to support their claims, to be the best in <insert continent/country/region here>.

Truly difficult to earn & hold a reputation for such events.

[Vee]

Tasting Australia, a great success! It will become an annual event from 2016.

Over 80 'events' were held during the past week, in the city and across SA regions, with the Town Centre hub in the rejuvenated Vic Sq. (Brilliant location)

Tasting Australia ..wraps up today following a successful eight days of eating, drinking and thinking in some of South Australia’s top culinary locations. Confirming the event would be an annual fixture of the event calendar from 2016, Tourism Minister Leon Bignell said holding Tasting Australia every year would help cement South Australia’s reputation as the food and wine capital of the country.

...

The Town Square, which attracted tens of thousands of visitors, created heart and soul for the festival bringing regional fare to the city and a central location for eating, drinking, sharing and thinking.

“These have all created lasting memories for visitors and locals alike, and have put our unique produce and regions on show,” Mr Bignell said.

He congratulated Events South Australia, the creative directors, chef Simon Bryant and wine expert Paul Henry and patron Maggie Beer – on the success of this year’s festival.

“This festival has been revitalised under new leadership and the result has been an event with great depth, an event which tells a story of South Australia and Australia and one which has been embraced by South Australians, visitors, media and industry alike,” Mr Bignell said.

“This festival has been revitalised under new leadership and the result has been an event with great depth, an event which tells a story of South Australia and Australia and one which has been embraced by South Australians, visitors, media and industry alike."

“This has been a week to celebrate what our state does well all year round – serving up delicious food and world-class wine, beer and spirits – while also showcasing experiences and destinations related to our produce.
"Research shows people travel annually for food and wine events, and we aim to capitalise further on this through the annualising of Tasting Australia.”

A new feature of this year’s festival was the Town Square in Victoria Square, where foodies could join a class teaching cooking skills, see a renowned chef cook their signature dish, listen to industry debates, sample food and wine from around the state and treat themselves to fabulous lunches.

...

Tasting Australia has been held biennially for 15 years and has become one of Australia’s biggest eating and drinking festivals, attracting industry professionals, media and foodies from all over the world.

http://tastingaustralia.com.au/tasting- ... m-2016.htm

[Will]

Whilst I attended the Town Square event and found it superb, I couldn't help but think it is somewhat parochial of us to call the event "Tasting Australia" and only have South Australian produce. For future events I would like us to make the event more inclusive of other states.

[Vee]

Whilst I attended the Town Square event and found it superb, I couldn't help but think it is somewhat parochial of us to call the event "Tasting Australia" and only have South Australian produce. For future events I would like us to make the event more inclusive of other states.

I had the same thoughts, Will but on reflection, I'm quite comfortable with the focus on local produce, delicacies, tastings, wines, beers etc and our home grown foodie etc chefs/celebrities.

I think the name is brilliant (just like some others invented and protected by our Events SA group? eg Tour Down Under). The Town Square hub was fabulous and Sweets Streets (Leigh and Peel) a real buzz.

I do support the emphasis on our SA produce and SA foodies and this promotes our regions as well as the city. The wider influence suggested by the Australia moniker can be satisfied by including guest chefs etc in the foodie demonstrations and panels. It was great to see the chefs from various establishments taking the opportunity to sample fresh SA produce at the hub in the Square.

The event does attract interstate and overseas visitors, guests, writers/bloggers etc and it's an important opportunity to showcase the breadth, quality and talent of what SA has to offer. The program was comprehensive and inclusive and offered a good balance between free/affordable and premium events, offerings.

And it does go a long way to promoting the boast to "cement South Australia’s reputation as the food and wine capital of the country", as per the article mentioned previously.

This event (and many, many others) helps to broaden our calendar beyond the now tired and BS stereotype of 'Mad March' and not much else.

A few pics from social media to share
http://instagram.com/p/njx-Frr0xK/
via @iatemywaythru

http://twitter.com/TastingAus/status/46 ... 20/photo/1

http://twitter.com/TastingAus/status/46 ... 12/photo/1

Pics via @TastingAus

http://twitter.com/AlinaEacott/status/4 ... 48/photo/1
via @AlinaEacott

Leigh and Peel Streets were 'sweet streets'
http://twitter.com/TastingAus/status/46 ... 92/photo/1

[Vee]

An extensive report on Tasting Australia 2014 - on the Table for Two food blog (Billy Law), complete with masses of photos to record this year's happenings. Scroll through the article - photos and captions to capture the extent, flavour, diversity and success of this event.

Tasting Australia is growing its reputation and participation - and this year's event was outstanding. The event was well organized and the program was imaginative and diverse, giving it broad appeal. The Town Hub in Victoria Square provided a central and very visible face and publicity for the overall event, much like the TDU Village.

T-A adds a great option to the April-May events Adelaide - SA calendar and should help to throw off the backhanded 'Mad March' tag and thinking that some journos/scribes, others? use to belittle our spread of events/offerings.

Tasting Australia has done it again this year. The new team has definitely brought a refreshing touch to the festival with a new direction. It was so successful that they have decided to held Tasting Australia annually start from 2016.

Table for Two:
http://atablefortwo.com.au/2014/05/tast ... -australia

[Wayno]

T-A adds a great option to the April-May events Adelaide - SA calendar and should help to throw off the backhanded 'Mad March' tag and thinking that some journos/scribes, others? use to belittle our spread of events/offerings.

I agree completely Vee. Fingers crossed VSQ is completed in the not too distant future and T-A expands as well!

[Napier Leo]

Royal Adelaide Wine Show Public Tasting worth a go?

[rev]

The 2020 event has basically been cancelled now. Originally was pushed from March to October but it's now even October is off the table and it will be back on again in 2021 at this stage.

[Hex]

The dates for 2023: Friday 28th April to Sunday 7th May

https://tastingaustralia.com.au/news/ta ... -announced