Best clear the diary from June 29 through to July 7, and for the three weeks leading up for that matter, because Scenic Rim Eat Local Week is set to unveil the 2019 program on May 9, and every event is a must-attend!
Featuring more than 90 events from Canungra to The Lost World, Beaudesert to Boonah, Tamborine Mountain to Kalbar, Scenic Rim Eat Local Week is the ultimate backstage pass to the farms, wineries and food stories of the region. The famed event presents the opportunity to meet the people behind the produce and the flavours, in a celebration that features festivals, farm-gate events and culinary experiences for foodies of all ages. Set against the natural beauty of the Scenic Rim, a region of more than 4,200 square kilometres of rich volcanic soil surrounded by ancient mountains and home to thousands of famers and food creators, Eat Local Week is one of the most authentic food festivals in the world.
The full program will be announced on Thursday May 9 at The Overflow Estate 1895 at Wyaralong, an historic grazing property and vineyard in the heart of the Scenic Rim between Beaudesert and Boonah.
The program is overflowing with must-see and must-taste experiences, from degustations and the Kalfresh Carrot Day where you can pick your own, to Jamming with the Lambs at Towri Sheep Cheeses where farmers Carolyn and Dallas working with Spicers Retreats’ Executive Chef Cameron Matthews create a truly amazing scene, with roaring fires, live jazz and lambs to cuddle, to Kate Raymont’s Degustation at The Overflow Estate 1895 and O’Reilly’s Canungra Valley Vineyard’s Longest Lunch which sees the shared table grow longer every year! There’s camel cheese tasting, beer and wine lunches, and a long table lunch on a sixth generation working Dairy Farm prepared by Glen Barratt, one of Queensland’s finest chefs. Breakfast with the Jersey Girls @ Tommerup’s Dairy Farm will also launch their new micro-creamery which is an exciting addition for the Scenic Rim.
Committed to providing the younger generation with their own journey of food discovery, experiences for the kids include a visit to Greenlee Farm, a working macadamia nut farm running tours exclusively for Eat Local Week, the Alpaca Picnic @ Mountview Alpaca Farm (just down the road from Greenlee), the Little Farmer Humpty Day @ Summer Land Camels and the famous Winter Harvest Festival, Eat Local Week’s signature event held at Aratula on July 6 (which is for all food lovers!).
Carefully curated to celebrate the food and drink stories of the Scenic Rim, Eat Local Week 2019 boasts a rollcall of Ambassadors including Queensland’s food doyenne Alison Alexander, Wild Canary Executive Chef Glen Barrett, Three Girls Skipping’s Caroline Jones, Homage Restaurant at Spicers Hidden Vale’s Ash Martin and The Wolfe’s Josue Lopez among others.
While the main program for Eat Local Week runs from June 29 to July 7, a program of seven entrée events will be held from Sunday May 5.
Scenic Rim Mayor Greg Christensen said Scenic Rim Eat Local Week was a very real conduit between the paddock and the plate for the thousands who attend every year. “Eat Local Week is a time to reconnect with where food comes from, and we’re keen to spread the word that much of it comes from just down the road from Brisbane, in the Scenic Rim!” said Mayor Christensen. “Over the past few years interest in the provenance of food has skyrocketed as people want to know the story of what is going in their mouths. We embrace this interest, and through Eat Local Week, we welcome people to ground zero of food production! We need people to value and understand the importance of our agricultural areas – so that they fight to celebrate them and to protect them. Connecting our farmers and growers with chefs to create incredible dining experiences, and then witnessing the looks on people’s faces as they taste the produce, see the settings or meet the locals, is truly memorable. Paddock to plate is a term used all too often in restaurants around the world, but it is practised first hand here during Eat Local Week, and indeed every week,” he said.
Eat Local Week not only showcases the region as a food-bowl but also as a leading destination, driving tourism, fostering community pride and generating ongoing economic benefits for the primary producers and the wider community. Last year Eat Local Week attracted more than 37,000 visitors to the Scenic Rim region, contributing more than $2 million to the local economy.
The Scenic Rim is just one hours’ drive from Brisbane.
SCENIC RIM EAT LOCAL WEEK – ENTRÉE EVENTS:
Noosa on the Mountain, Sunday 5 May 2019
It’s the culinary coming together of two famed foodie destinations, at a lunch to remember prepared by Noosa’s David Rayner and the Scenic Rim’s Kate Raymont, staged on top of the world with breath-taking views from the Queensland border to Brisbane. This event features the award-winning The Lime Caviar Company finger limes and a visit to the farm, which is one of the world’s largest finger lime farm, established by Ian and Margie Douglas.
Farm Tour and Long Lunch @ Tommerup’s Dairy, Saturday 25th May
Picture spectacular views of open fields, breath-taking mountain scenery in the Lost World Valley and a stunning avenue of old Blue Gums and the scene is set for an amazing long lunch and farm tour in this special collaboration between Wild Canary Bistro and Tommerup’s Dairy Farm, all just over an hour’s drive from Brisbane hosted by fifth generation farmers Kay and Dave Tommerup and Scenic Rim Regional Food Ambassador Glen Barratt. A highlight of this lunch includes Tommerup’s ethically raised grass-fed veal and heritage breed free range pork, raised on creamy Jersey milk, fresh from the dairy – an exceptional immersive farm and food experience.
Play With Your Food Returns, Sunday 16 June
After a hugely successful inaugural art and food workshop in 2018, Eat Local Week returns to the stunning Black Hall with a new workshop centred around local food hosted by artist Nikki Malone and Scenic Rim Regional Food Ambassador Caroline Jones of Three Girls Skipping. Paint, eat, sip, talk, repeat.
Wild Canary Scenic Rim Producer’s Dinner, Friday 21 June
This five-course degustation dinner will be perfectly seasoned with stories direct from the region’s top producers at the famous Brisbane-based Wild Canary and is a dining event not to miss! Hosted by Executive Chef, and Scenic Rim Regional Food Ambassador Glen Barratt.
Spicers Hidden Vale Roaming Degustation, Sunday 23 June.
Hosted by Ash Martin, Executive Chef of Homage Restaurant and Scenic Rim Regional Food Ambassador, this extraordinary food experience includes a tour to the smoke house, the market garden and the fermenting room with tastings at each stop, before finishing with a degustation lunch under the famous Spicers fig tree where the very best produce from the Scenic Rim will be cooked over a coal pit.
Witches Falls at The Wolfe – a wine and food pairing Journey, Thursday 27 June
This Brisbane-based event will be hosted by Scenic Rim Regional Food Ambassador and celebrated Chef Josue Lopez at his Brisbane restaurant The Wolfe. The five-course dining adventure features local produce and takes inspiration from Witches Falls wines. Not to be missed.
THE MAIN COURSE – HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EAT LOCAL WEEK PROGRAM
SATURDAY 29 JUNE
· Scenic Rim Farm Tour with Alison Alexander
· Kalfresh Carrot Day
· Jamming with the Lambs with Cameron Matthews @ Towri Sheep Cheeses
· Degustation @ Kooroomba
SUNDAY 30 JUNE
· Breakfast with the Jersey Girls @ Tommerup’s Dairy Farm see their new micro-creamery
· Longest Lunch @ O’Reilly’s Canungra Valley Vineyards
· Degustation @ The Overflow Estate with Kate Raymont
MONDAY 1 JULY
· Greenlee Macadamia Nut Farm Tours & Tastings
· Alpaca Picnic @ Mountview Alpaca Farm – just down the road from Greenlee – make a day of it!
TUESDAY 2 JULY
· A to Z of local bites @ The Picnic Parlour
· Mt Barney Lodge Bush Tucker Tracker
WEDNESDAY 3 JULY
· Little Farmer Humpty Day @ Summer Land Camels
· Children’s Cheese Making Workshop @ Towri Sheep Cheeses
THURSDAY 4 JULY
· Play with your Food for kids with Nikki Malone @ Black Hall
· Pethers Sensory Experience
FRIDAY 5 JULY
· Ladies long lunch tour with Alison Alexander
· Sunset Dinner @ Royston House
· Scenic Rim paddock to plate taste discoveries tour
SATURDAY 6 JULY
· WINTER HARVEST FESTIVAL
SUNDAY 7 JULY
· Moda in the Vines @ The Overflow Estate 1895
· Long Lunch @ Spicers Peak Lodge
· Sunday Long Lunch @ Mason Wines
SCENIC RIM EAT LOCAL WEEK
June 29 through to July 7, 2019
Phone: 07 5540 5111
Web: eatlocalweek.com.au
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