Sydney Festival Fast Festival Feasts

Idea: Go to some restaurants as part of the Sydney Festival Fast Festival Feasts

On their website the Sydney Festival Fast Festival Feasts are said to be "throughout the Festival, between 12noon and 1pm and/or 6pm and 7pm, ... receive a main course with a glass of Stoneleigh wine, a Kronenbourg 1664 beer or a bottle of Tasmanian Rain water for just $30 ... New for 2011 - you can now experience a Premium Fast Festival Feast where you will be treated to two courses with a glass of Stoneleigh Rapaura Series wine or a bottle of Tasmanian Rain sparkling water for just $55." I'm going to definitely be heading to any many of these as I can fit in.

Ones I want to go to include: 

Assiette Proscuitto wrapped ballontine of quail, sauté of corn & celery, crispy quail egg.*Panfried dory, emulsion if mussels and fennel, saffron gnochi.*

Becasse Marinated heirloom vegetables with aged organic grass fed wagyu bresaola.*
Steamed barramundi with shellfish bisque, crushed potatoes and coriander.* 

est. Salad of heart of palm, cucumber, pink grapefruit, red radish, mustard cress.*
Pan roasted mulloway fillet shaved fennel, asparagus, witlof, preserved lemon, dill oil.*

Ash Street Cellars Wagyu skirt steak, roast Portobello mushrooms, porcini puree, salmoriglio.*

Mad Cow Angus flank steak (200g Rangers Valley 300 day grain fed), spicy barbeque sauce with shoestring fries and green salad.*

Ocean Room Ocean tasting plate: pan seared salmon fillet, tuna sushi roll, salt and peppered king prawn.*

Wildfire Wagyu flat iron steak 200g, burnt eggplant, variations on onion, aerated potato ‘veloute', rosemary and oxtail jus.*

Something else I'm a little bit obsessed with: [TOYS] Collective. It is: "a collective born from the desire to prove what the next generation can do when left to their own devices, Taste of Young Sydney [TOYS] is about action: pushing the culinary envelope, rather than trash-talking the status quo. 2010 has seen [TOYS] present two dinners and a cocktail event so far, showcasing chefs Dan Hong (Lotus), Morgan McGlone (Flinders Inn), Mitchell Orr (Josephine Pignolet Young Chef of the Year 2010), Darren Robertson (ex-Tetsuya), Pasi Petanen (Marque Restaurant), Monty Koldrovic (Becasse), Annemarie Rodrigo (Bistrode), Tomislav Martinovic, Yu-ching Lee, & Adriano Zumbo. [TOYS] is not for the faint-hearted, with previous themes being ‘Phat’, ‘Skin & Bones’ and ‘Bubbles’. ... [TOYS] is a moving feast that promises to continue delivering exciting gastronomic events to Sydney." II can't wait for the 2011 events!

Another foodie mention will be the Secret Foodies events of 2011.

There's so many great foodie things to head to this year, I can't wait!

Reviews of these to come.

Secret Foodies at Mumu Grill

27^th October @ Mumu Grill

Last night I wrangled up the girls to head out to a secret location to dine with fellow food lovers. This of course being a Secret Foodies event. Secret Foodies event number 11 to be precise. You get a theme for the night, last night’s being “don’t panic it’s organic,” the area of Sydney that it will be held in (North of the Bridge) and then await further instructions. The text a few hours before the event told us the location was Crows Nest and then 1 hour before we get the address of the restaurant. It was Mumu Grill!

This is the second Secret Foodies event I’ve been to, and they’re always a lot of fun. Most dishes are share plates, so that you get to try a great range of meals, there’s a drink involved (normally a cocktail) and the chef or owner of the restaurant talks you through what you’re eating.

Last night was a bit of a meat fest. If you were up for a salad, you were at the wrong place. Mumu Grill is Sydney’s only sustainable steakhouse. This means that everything is organic or sustainable, and a lot of the produce is local. They also have a great wine list to match the food.

The Slow Roast Prime Rib of Organic “Red Poll” with Kipfler Pots and Horseradish Cream was a good hearty meal, and the crunchy potatoes were amazing. The asparagus entree was cooked perfectly, and the Brown Sugar Pavlova with Pineapple and Passion Fruit Sauce was a standout. The only meal that I didn't enjoy as much was the suckling pig, but that's just down to personal taste, as pork, crackling and coleslaw (all of which were in it) aren't really my thing.

We got to meet some interesting people on our table, and Alex, aka Ms Darlinghurst, leads the night with her bubbly personality. You can’t avoid getting caught up in the fun. Oh, and did I mention that you get to wear masks! To keep it all very secret of course. We all share a story about the weirdest thing that we’ve ever eaten, a wasabi Kit Kat being one of them, and Ms Darlinghurst asks our chef about all things food. All round it was a great night. Plenty of food, great wine and lots of fun.