This year’s Tasting Australia program is hearty. From Friday 8 May to Sunday 17 May, more than 150 events roll out across the state, spanning long lunches to wine parties.
Town Square, the festival’s free CBD hub, is an easy entry point, with local food vendors, bars and plenty of space to settle in with a drink and friends.
If you’re keen to lean a bit more into the program this year, we’ve pulled together ten ticketed events to check out.
Here’s our round up >>
SAT 09.05 // A SPEED DATE WITH GIN
1:30pm / Hains & Co, Adelaide
Three South Australian distillers – Prohibition Liquor Co, 23rd Street Distillery and Threefold – go head-to-head across three tasting rounds, each with 20 minutes to win you over with their gins and the stories behind them. Between pours, you’ll be served a mini cocktail and small plates like pan-fried halloumi with honey, and gourmet sausage rolls with shiraz pepper chutney. Set inside Hains & Co’s nautical laneway space, let the Saturday session set the tone for the rest of your evening.
TUE 12.05 // PERFECT PAIR – THIRSTY TIGER TACOS
11:30am / Journey Beyond Lounge, Town Square
Perfect Pair is a crash course in wine pairing. New Town Square vendor Thirsty Tiger Tacos brings Balinese chicken tacos and miso mushroom tacos into the mix, while festival drinks curators Meira Harel and Banjo Harris Plane guide you through what works well together, what doesn’t, and why. Time to finally learn a thing or two about tannins.
WED 13.05 // PERFECT PAIR – PLEASE SEND NOODS
11:30am / Journey Beyond Lounge, Town Square
Round two of Perfect Pair brings carbs into focus. Also new to the Town Square line up, Please Send Noods serves up a fresh pasta and noodle fusion, with spicy pork sausage alla sake or mushroom ragu to choose from. The sommelier guidance continues, with the festival drinks curators offering their wine wisdom.
THU 14.05 // PERFECT PAIR – KUTI SHACK
11:30am / Journey Beyond Lounge, Town Square
Thursday’s Perfect Pair lets seafood take the spotlight. Goolwa’s Kuti Shack dishes up pipis in chilli jam and saltbush, as well as fried mulloway with green papaya and coriander salad. Expect spice, crunch and coastal flavours, matched with a lesson in wine pairing.
THURS 14.05 // GOOD NEIGHBOUR – O.MY X TOM CAMPBELL
7:00pm / Good Neighbour, Town Square
Good Neighbour is Town Square’s long table series, inviting a rotating lineup of SA chefs into the kitchen. For the Thursday edition, Thelma’s Tom Campbell joins O.My’s Blayne Bertoncello for a four-course dinner shaped by seasonality and sustainability. The menu moves from raw tuna with radicchio and seaweed, through to roasted venison with blueberries, finishing with kelp ice cream.
FRI 15.05 // LUNCH AT GOOD NEIGHBOUR – JESSIE SPIBY X IT’S OLIO
12:00pm / Good Neighbour, Town Square
Chef Jessie Spiby cooks up a long lunch built around olive oil and her signature preserves. Known for her time on MasterChef and now leading Bowden café My Grandma Ben, she teams up with Fleurieu producer It’s Olio for an three-course Autumn menu. Expect the likes of Lost Loaf sourdough with green tomato pickles, panko crumbed Coorong mullet with tangy slaw and pickled fennel, plus a glass of wine alongside.
FRI 15.05 // TASTING AUSTRALIA CLUB SERIES – POLISH CLUB
7:00pm / Dom Polski Centre, Adelaide
Tasting Australia’s Club Series steps inside Adelaide’s cultural institutions, where Polish Club brings a night of ritual, vodka and pierogi. Chefs Agnes Wyszomirska (Ondeen), Imogen Czulowski (Africola), Matt Stone and Phil Helyard (Peel Street Restaurant) cook alongside the Dom Polski kitchen crew to serve a four-course polish feast. Expect a journey through recipes that have stood the test of time.
SAT 16.05 // TASTING AUSTRALIA CLUB SERIES – GREEK CLUB
7:00pm / Evia Greek Club, Woodville South
There’s nothing quite like a full Greek spread done properly. Think taramasalata with pita, fried fetta with honey, lamb on the spit, blackened eggplant and a baklava ice cream sandwich to finish. Ozge Kalvo (Olympus Dining), Jason Roberts and Callum Hann (Roma, Olive, Pantry on Prospect) join the club cooks for the big four-course menu in a homage to Greece and its glory.
SAT 16.05 // BIG GRAPE ENERGY
8:30pm / Drinks Academy, Town Square
A wine party that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Curated by sommelier Chayse Bertoncello, Big Grape Energy brings canapés alongside wine in the form of tastings, shots and cans, to be enjoyed by a good time crowd. There’s enough structure to learn something new, with plenty of room for a dance.
SUN 17.05 // GONDOLA GONDOLA FT. CAL STUART-BISHOP
Multiple times / Gondola Gondola, Peel Street
Mensa chef Cal Stuart-Bishop takes over Gondola Gondola for a menu that blends Southeast Asian flavours with Mediterranean influence. It’s layered, adventurous, and well suited to Gondola Gondola’s moody Peel Street setting.
Tasting Australia presented by Journey Beyond: Friday 8 May to Sunday 17 May
