General News
6 September, 2023
Food carnival was drawcard
SOME of Australia’s top chefs and hospitality talent helped draw 10,000 people to Douglas Shire for the seventh Taste Port Douglas.
The four-day festival brought 10,000 visitors from across Australia and overseas, more than doubling its local population last month in the idyllic Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort.
Over four days, 20 of Australia’s leading chefs and industry experts, including Guy Grossi, Ian Curley, Jerry Mai and Matt Preston, showcased the best of the region’s tropical produce across Port Douglas, joining forces with local producers and restaurants to dish out a curated culinary program of gourmet events.
Visitors to the festival enjoyed a gastronomic weekend of culinary masterclasses, signature dinners and unique dining experiences.
Taste Port Douglas event founder and culinary director Spencer Patrick (above) said the organisers were “so thrilled to welcome some of Australia’s most revered culinary talent to Port Douglas, to dish up an incredible program of collaborative events, that you would not see anywhere else in the world”.
“The commitment from all those involved, year-on-year, has been crucial in elevating the festival’s reputation to what it is today – one of Australia’s most unique and highly anticipated gastronomic weekends – putting Far North Queensland’s produce, producers and suppliers in the national spotlight,” he said.
Highlights from the weekend include, La Dolce Vita: In Italian Feast with Guy Grossi and La Cucina e Bar, A Night of Fire x Flames of the Forest with Ben Williamson and Terra Firma dining, the Sheraton Village Festival and masterclasses.
The all-star lineup features festival favourites and new faces, including Matt Preston (journalist, author, TV presenter), Adam D’Sylva (Lollo, Coda, Tonka), Jerry Mai (Pho Nom, Bia Hoi), Laura Sharrad (Nido Bar & Pasta), Ben Williamson (Anges, sAme sAme, Honto), Alastair McLeod (TV presenter and chef) and Jake Nicolson (Blackbird and Donna Chang).
Presented by Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort, the festival celebrates the greater Port Douglas community and local businesses across the event, solidifying the region’s reputation as a premier culinary destination.
