FIVE OF THE BEST FOODIE EVENTS
Who doesn’t love a dinner party? Amber Macpherson has found five foodie highlights coming up on the Gold Coast’s culinary calendar
AUGUST 21 Champagne dinner YAMAGEN, QT GOLD COAST
East meets west at QT Gold Coast restaurant Yamagen’s champagne dinner event on August 21. Yamagen will offer a six-course dining experience paired with wines from Champagne Billecart-Salmon, one of the world’s oldest family-owned champagne producers. “It is a night celebrating the perfect duo that is seafood and champagne, personally one of my favourites,” Yamagen head chef Adam Lane says. “Guests will be treated to Pacific oysters with smoked ikura, seared tian of scallop, salmon, avocado and foie gras with tosazu. They will then be guided to scampi tempura and robata king prawns to name a few.” Tickets are $219 per person, including four glasses of Billecart-Salmon champagne.
AUGUST 25
Hellenika Long Lunch MIAMI MARKETTA
In its third year, the Hellenika Long Lunch at Miami Marketta has got the formula right. “We’re trying to keep it as close as we can to previous years,” organiser and Hellenika owner Simon Gloftis says. “People have enjoyed it — we all listen to some music, have a bit of a dance, everyone’s in a good mood.” Fans of Mediterranean feasting look forward to the event all year, which Simon describes as the full experience of his Nobby Beach Greek restaurant in a unique setting. “If people haven’t been, it is the full Hellenika banquet,” he says. “We have the grilled octopus, the saganaki cheese, roast lamb, fish, probably the biggest bowl of Greek salad you’ll ever see, and Greek beer and wine. It’s a festival atmosphere, a Greek band plays all day. Everyone’s in a good mood from the start. The staff love it.” If you’re thinking of buying a ticket, start limbering up now — the evening always wraps with a traditional Greek dance. “At the end they play a big Zorba. The first year a quarter of the crowd got up, last year threequarters got up and we had to go around the whole Marketta,” Simon says. Hellenika Long Lunch starts at midday on August 25. Tickets are $127.50.
AUGUST 29
Mario’s 30th Birthday MARIO’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT
Three decades in business is cause for celebration, so head along to Mario’s Italian Restaurant and toast to the venue’s longevity. On August 29, Mario’s will transform its restaurant into a banquet hall with 12 long tables, encouraging diners to interact as if they were at an Italian family feast. The merrymaking will include four courses of pizza bread, a shared entree platter, a choice of any main dish and a dessert. “There were simply too many popular dishes to choose from, so we are giving guests the chance to choose their all-time favourite main from our entire menu,” says co-owner Andrew Dimattina. Tickets are $60 per person.
AUGUST 31
White Party Long Lunch
SURFERS PARADISE MARRIOTT RESORT & SPA
Swish lunches feel better when you’re raising money for charity. Surfers Paradise Marriott’s White Party Long Lunch invites the community to indulge in a two-course fundraising lunch for the Gold Coast Hospital Foundation on August 31. The $139 ticket includes a four-hour beverage package, live entertainment from Brown Suga and a Lisa Brown fashion show. Make sure your whites are looking their brightest — the dress code is snow, head to toe.
SEPTEMBER 8
Twilight Table ORACLE BLVD, BROADBEACH
There’s something magic about dining alfresco as the sun sets. Twilight Table is back for another year, but the springtime reschedule will offer a milder ambience as diners taste five courses from five restaurants. “Last year it was held in July and it was a little bit chilly,” The Oracle Boulevard marketing manager Chelsea Steber says. “This year we’ve done it for slightly warmer weather, more of a spring theme.” Meccabah, The Bavarian, Mamasan Kitchen, Social Eating House and The Cuban will present one course each to guests at the long table that will stretch through the closed Oracle Boulevard. Twilight Table will be held on September 8 from 4pm. The tickets are $195 and include a paired wine per course.