March Into Merivale launch party

Another year, another March Into Merivale launch party, but this year's was definitely my favourite so far!

I've been lucky to work on Merivale's PR over the last 3 years and just wanted to post about the night as it was lots of fun and want to encourage more people to check it out!

March Into Merivale is the food and wine festival (21 Feb - 15 April) held by the Merivale Group across all of their venues including ivy, Establishment, Lotus Bistrode CBD and new baby Ms G's.

This year's crazy creative theme is 'The Art of Food', so all of the chefs and owner Justin Hemmes got dressed up in their favourite food-inspired attire. Sweet!

The idea of the night was that guests purchased a $20 ticket which entitled them to 6 tasting plates and 2 drinks. Now it might not sound like much, but I had about 5 dishes and was completely stuffed!!

Each of Merivale's 11 restaurants had a stall, either outside at Ash Street or up in The ivy Room, all with two different dishes to try. My favourites of the night had to be the spicy Buffalo Wings San Choi Bow from Ms G's, the gigantic Wagyu Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce from Mad Cow and the dainty Juniper Scented Venison with Cauliflower and Coffee-Cocoa from est.

This was all washed down with a glass of bubbly and a delightful Felix tonic - gin with homemade bitter orange tonic. Delish!

Some of our lovely food blogger friends have written full reviews with lots of pics, so please check them out if you want to see more - http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com/ http://www.chocolatesuze.com/

For the next 2 months, there are over 50 yummy events as well as $33 meal offers across the Merivale Group, so get stuck in! Details here - http://www.marchintomerivale.com/

Chow down folks!

Helen

Wok + Wine

Last night, my friend Jane and I attended an event called Wok + Wine in a cool warehouse space in Alexandria.

The idea is that 40 strangers get to share 40 pounds of jumbo prawns and 40 bottles of wine around a large communal table and get stuck in! The concept started in New York in 2008 as a way to get strangers who love food and wine and who wouldn't otherwise meet to get together and strike up a conversation.

Last night's event was the first ever in Sydney and the 10th city to now host the hands-on feast.

We entered the warehouse through a scary horror movie-esque car park at around 7pm and were greated by Peter and Lizzie, the organisers, with a firm handshake and a glass of chilled Wild Rock Sauvignon Blanc. We then stood around for a while unsure of what to do, before making our way over to the huge communal table covered in banana leaves and chunks of bread.

After a few more vinos everyone began to mingle, then a huge wok full of steaming hot prawns was poured onto the banana leaves. An explanation was given on how to eat them (Rip, Lick, Bite, Suck!) and all formalities went out the window as we dived into the yummy crustaceans.

A couple of pounds of prawns later and we were all covered in prawn juice, full of wine and chatting away with our two new best friends!

All in all, the event was lots of fun and a great way to meet new people in a relaxed environment. I would definitely recommend it. Check out the website for the next events - Wok + Wine.

Helen aka All-Prawned-Out