“We wouldn’t be much of a food and drink festival, if the food and drink wasn’t interesting,” starts Melbourne Food and Wine Festival Creative Director Pat Nourse.
Nourse is speaking to Hospitality about the World’s Longest Dinner. Set to take place on Wednesday 17 June, Nourse says the new event is inspired by the World’s Longest Lunch, which has been a fixture at the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival since its inception in 1993.
The dinner will see 400 people gather at Chadstone, with three prominent young chefs working together to produce a menu that Nourse says he cannot wait to eat again.
The chef talent includes MasterChef Australia Winner and Vue de Monde Chef Nat Thaipun, Carnation Canteen Chef Audrey Shaw, and Madeleine de Proust Founder and Former Attica Head Pastry Chef HyoJu Park.
“This is a really exciting event. The food and drink is going to be great, and it’s a showcase of three food talents who I think are, it’s fair to say, some of the most exciting new voices in food in Australia,” says Nourse.
“The food is essential, it’s the thing that gets people through the doors, and we asked them [the chefs] to give us a few names of winemakers that they love, who are interesting, and up-and-coming here in Victoria. We’ve ended up at a really good place with those drinks as well.”
The event will kick off with canapes designed by the three chefs, including kangaroo laab tartlet with toasted rice, fish sauce and mint; scallops on the half shell with piquillo peppers and fennel seed; and gougères with cheese and Victorian black truffle.
The canapes will be paired with a sparkling Chardonnay from Nadeson Collis.
The entrée, crafted by Thaipun, is Victorian snapper with kombu oil, ginger, and grapefruit, paired with a Warragul Sauvignon Blanc Sémillon from Entropy Wines, which Nourse says is “a little bit unusual, super delicious, and shows off how interesting Sauvignon Blanc can be”.
The main course, led by Shaw, includes a roasted aged O’Connor beef with bagna cauda and braised greens; pink-leaf salad with citrus mustard dressing; and Dutch cream potatoes. The wine pairing for this course is a Mise en Place Syrah from Yarra Valley.
“Audrey’s main course is so generous, and so delicious. I’m really excited to showcase Victorian beef, it’s just so flavorsome and it’s got the right amount of tenderness,” says Nourse.
“It’s a really good time. This is what you want to be eating on a wintery night in Melbourne, with 400 of your closest friends.”
The dessert, created by Park, includes a Light to Night moon blanc with chestnut mousse, blackcurrant, and charcoal sable. The dessert will be paired with a Light to Nightcap cocktail developed by Nick Tesar which features Marionette Nocino, dry cassis, and Gospel Solera Rye with cacao.
Nourse says the festival has often “kicked around” ideas for how they can build on the world’s longest lunch.
“Here we are. I think everyone who goes will be blown away, like I was,” he says. “It’s nice when these things really come together. It’s one of the best parts of the jobs – getting smart, creative, and interesting talent together. It’s a real blessing.
“I have every reason to believe that this one is going to be a smash, and hopefully there are more like it.”
To find out more about the World’s Longest Dinner, visit here.
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