"When you’re in South Australia, you could be eating oysters plucked fresh from the ocean one day and visiting picturesque vineyards the next."
- Cemre Narin, Academy Chair for World's 50 Best
Tasting Australia is where foodies come to discover what’s new on the menu.
Be it a collaboration among world-class chefs, an inimitable tasting of beer, wine or spirits, or an evening soaking up the charred flavours and aromas of Town Square, Tasting Australia is unique and moreish food and beverage experiences.
In the 1980s, Adelaide’s food scene became the zeitgeist for the decade. With alumni including the master of fusion cuisine Cheong Liew, much-loved cook Maggie Beer and baker/chef Phillip Searle, Australia’s southern capital was pumping with culinary energy and innovation.
Today, Adelaide has reclaimed its mantle.
The title of Gourmet Traveller’s Restaurant of the Year has returned to Adelaide for 2018 – awarded to Restaurant Orana – for the first time in 20 years. The Weekend Australian’s Hottest Chef title went to Jock Zonfrillo, executive chef of Restaurant Orana.
Natural winemakers from Basket Range in the Adelaide Hills are attracting global attention while the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy has immortalised the Turkey Flat 2016 Barossa Grenache.
Tasting Australia celebrates all this and much more.
For 10 days Tasting Australia is your passport to the premium, unprecedented eating and drinking experiences that only South Australia can offer.
As one of the country’s longest-running food and wine festivals, Tasting Australia has evolved with the industry and continues to offer innovative events and indulgent adventures.
It's also been named by Fodor's Travel as one of the most exciting food festivals in the world!
Tasting Australia started in 1997 as a media focussed festival, led by Ian Parmenter and the Consuming Passions team. In 2014 the event took a new direction with the management brought within Events South Australia (ESA) – the South Australian Government’s major events arm – under the leadership of chef and television personality Simon Bryant, wine expert Paul Henry and Australian food icon Maggie Beer as patron.
Today the festival is led by Jock Zonfrillo and Simon Bryant with Cheong Liew as patron.
Showcasing the best of the country alongside the home-grown heroes - be they chefs, winemakers, producers, restaurateurs or other – Tasting Australia brings together a full-bodied, locally grown program of activity.
Long lunches, exclusive dinners, farm tours, tastings, masterclasses, sharing and conversation; they’re all there.
Above all, Tasting Australia offers up Adelaide as the launchpad to unforgettable experiences that will leave you hungry for more.